WNBM

WNBM
City Bronxville, New York
Broadcast area New York City area
Branding Radio 103.9
Slogan New York's Best Mix of R&B
Frequency 103.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1947
Format Urban Adult Contemporary
ERP 980 watts
HAAT 162.1 meters (532 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 14380
Transmitter coordinates 40°52′48″N 73°52′39″W / 40.880038°N 73.877537°W / 40.880038; -73.877537Coordinates: 40°52′48″N 73°52′39″W / 40.880038°N 73.877537°W / 40.880038; -73.877537
Callsign meaning W-New York's Best Mix
Former callsigns WFAS-FM (1947–1974 and 1982–2014)
WWYD (1974–1982)
Owner Cumulus Media
(Cumulus Licensing LLC)
Sister stations WFAS, WNSH, WABC, WPLJ
Webcast player.listenlive.co/33641
Website www.radio1039ny.com

WNBM (103.9 FM Radio 103.9) is a radio station licensed to Bronxville, New York. The station features an urban adult contemporary format and is owned by Cumulus Media. WNBM studios are located above Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the campus of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.[1]

Station history

WNBM's broadcast frequency of 103.9 MHz was originally occupied by WFAS-FM, which first signed on in 1947. Licensed to White Plains, New York, the station's targeted listening area was Westchester County and the lower Hudson Valley region. WFAS-FM initially simulcasted sister station WFAS (1230 AM) before adopting a separate full-service format; it later evolved into an easy listening station, and then an adult contemporary outlet by the mid-1980s. Its primary competitor through much of its history was another regional FM station, WHUD.

Addition of HD radio

Cumulus Broadcasting began adding HD Radio broadcasting to its stations in 2005. One of the first ten stations to add HD capability was WFAS-FM.[2]

Format change

In order to increase their reach of the New York metropolitan market, as well as increasing the value of the station, in 2012 Cumulus applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit to move the station's transmitter tower location to the Bronx and subsequently change the station's community of license to Bronxville, all in order to better target New York City itself. The permit was approved in mid-2013. Rumors on radio industry insider websites speculated that the station would change its programming format, and flip to either urban contemporary (to compete against Emmis Communications' WQHT and WBLS, and Clear Channel's (now iHeartMedia) WWPR-FM) or modern rock (which would fill the format hole in the market after WRXP flipped to a simulcast of WFAN in November 2012).

On Monday June 30, 2014, WFAS-FM's on-air staff bid farewell. At Midnight on July 4, WFAS-FM signed off its transmitter (located at 365 Secor Road in Hartsdale), after a set of "goodbye"-themed songs, which ended with "Graduation (Friends Forever)" by Vitamin C. Later that day at 9:00 a.m., the new Bronx transmitter signed on, and 103.9 FM began stunting with a ticking clock, and at 1:03 p.m., the station officially flipped to Urban AC as "Radio 103.9" under the new callsign WNBM.[3][4]

The WFAS-FM callsign and its programming continued to exist via online streaming and as the HD2 sub-channel of sister FM station WPLJ (replacing the True Oldies Channel after Cumulus announced the end of that network, which came a few days earlier). Additionally, on August 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM, WFAS-FM returned to the analog airwaves, broadcasting on W232AL (a low-power translator station licensed to Pomona, New York) at 94.3 MHz.[5]

WNBM's primary competition is WBLS, New York City's heritage Urban Contemporary outlet. The station serves as the New York affiliate of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and D.L. Hughley's afternoon program, both of which are distributed by Cumulus Media.

References

  1. ↑ "FCC ULS". FCC.
  2. ↑ "Harris Corporation Announces Multi-Deal Agreement as Exclusive HD Radio Supplier to Cumulus Broadcasting". AIB. April 25, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Radio 103.9 New York Debuts". RadioInsight. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "'Urban Adult' Station to Join New York Airwaves". The New York Times. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "WFAS-FM Returns To Westchester". RadioInsight. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
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