WSYY-FM

WSYY-FM
City Millinocket, Maine
Broadcast area Central Penobscot County, Eastern Piscataquis County and Southern Aroostook County of Maine
Branding The Mountain 94.9
(in reference to Mount Katahdin)
Slogan "Radio With An Attitude"
Frequency 94.9 MHz
First air date 1978 (as WKTR at 97.7)
Format Adult Hits/Full-Service
(Daytime-Only)
ERP 23,500 watts
HAAT 211 meters
Class C2
Facility ID 33470
Transmitter coordinates 45°42′58″N 68°47′54″W / 45.71611°N 68.79833°W / 45.71611; -68.79833
Former callsigns WKTR (1978-1984)
Former frequencies 97.7 MHz (1978-1984)
Affiliations CBS Radio
Owner James Talbott
(Katahdin Communications, Inc.)
Sister stations WSYY-AM, WKTJ-FM
Webcast Only available during local sporting events
Website themountain949.com

WSYY-FM (94.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting for approximately 18⅓ hours per day, 7 days a week (from 4:55AM through 11:15PM ET) under the slogan, "Radio With An Attitude". Playing a mix of oldies/classic hits, adult contemporary, rock music, and some country crossovers, the station broadcasts an Adult Hits/Full-Service format for approximately 16 hours per day, from 6:00AM through 10:00PM ET (reserving the first and, also, the final hour of their broadcast day to When Radio Was).13 Licensed to Millinocket, Maine, United States, the station's broadcast signal serves the Central Penobscot County, Eastern Piscataquis County, and Southern Aroostook County Maine areas, and the station is licensed to serve the town of Millinocket, Maine, the very town where its studios/offices and tower site are located. The station is currently owned by Katahdin Communications, Inc.[1]

Sports


The Mountain 94.9 carries local high school sports in season. The Mountain 94.9 had also carried the complete schedule of Red Sox Baseball (from 1997 through 2015, prior to becoming a Former Affiliate in 2016[2], which was when Millinocket's affiliation with the Red Sox Baseball would ultimately be transferred over to co-owned WSYY-AM, thus concluding the frequent interruptions to the music on The Mountain 94.9 during Baseball season).[3]

CBS News Radio


The station currently features programming from CBS Radio and carries CBS News Radio at the top of every hour (and has been an affiliate of that network for many decades).[4]

History


WSYY-FM originally went on the air in 1978 on 97.7 FM as WKTR, upgrading to its current facilities in 1984 on 94.9. Prior to their The Mountain 94.9 branding, WSYY-FM used to be referred to as North Country 95, airing a full-time Country Music format.[5][6] The current format, branding, and slogan was probably adopted around March 1, 2004, when Katahdin Communications, Inc. assumed control of WSYY-FM & WSYY-AM from Katahdin Timberlands, LLC (as a result of the radio station facing increasing land disputes), initially as a short term lease agreement but the transfer of ownership ultimately became permanent.[7] Those same land disputes would eventually lead to a loss of WSYY-FM's 23,500 watt transmitter location (featuring an antenna HAAT of 211 meters); as a result, WSYY-FM may have been operating under a Special Temporary Authority License (a 12,000 watt facility with an antenna HAAT of 68 meters via Hammond Ridge on Lake Road, about two miles from Millinocket Municipal Airport), ever since as long ago as late 2007, pending a planned permanent move to a 22,000 watt facility with an antenna HAAT of 198.4 meters (from just off Nicatou Road in Medway, well east of WSYY-FM's old or current transmitter tower location).[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] On November 23rd, 2016, the CP for this proposed move was modified to a 45,000 watt facility with an antenna HAAT of 146.7 meters, the first time this proposed move has ever received official approval from the FCC.[15][16]

Syndicated Programming


WSYY-FM is one of the two Maine affiliates—apart from WLOB—of When Radio Was (7 days a week from 5:00AM through 6:00AM ET and also from 10:00PM through 11:00PM ET), is one of the two Maine affiliates (the other being WWMJ) of The Acoustic Storm (Saturdays from 9:00AM through 12:00PM ET), is Maine's only affiliate of the Crook & Chase syndicated Country Music countdown programming (Sunday afternoons from 2:00PM through 6:00PM ET), and is an affiliate of the Blues Deluxe radio show.[17][18][19][20]

Signal


WSYY-FM/WSYY-AM are unusual in that while these stations are authorized to broadcast 24 hours a day, the stations both have sign-offs every day (WSYY-AM signing off at sun-down, broadcasting only on Weekends (but not between Monday-through-Friday) and WSYY-FM broadcasting for approximately 18¼ hours per day, 7 days a week, WSYY-FM's broadcast day concluding with the 11:00PM ET Top-of-the-Hour CBS Radio newscast and then a Nightly Sign-Off Announcement and then an instrumentation of the American national anthem, followed by Dead Air amidst a Transmitter Power-Down, not Signing Back Onto The Air until 4:55AM ET). In Old Town and also Bangor (and continuing southward and/or southwestward), the station has strong FM co-channel interference with Portland-market WHOM (which transmits from atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the tallest peak in the Northeast and had for a long time claimed on its website[21] that it has the largest coverage area of any FM station in the United States, its signal spanning five states: NH, ME, VT, MA, NY and also parts of Southern Quebec Province, Canada), this matter being especially problematic before dawn or after dusk. In favorable atmospheric conditions, a very weak signal of WHOM can be DX-ed in Millinocket during overnight hours (when WSYY-FM is off-the-air).

References

  1. ↑ "WSYY-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ WSYY-FM Discontinues Carrying Boston Red Sox Baseball
  3. ↑ "The WSYY-AM 1240 Website/Sports Affiliation Page Of WSYY Radio". TheMountain949.com.
  4. ↑ "The CBS News Radio Affiliation Page Of WSYY Radio". TheMountain949.com.
  5. ↑ "The Most Recent Internet Archive of The Former Website of WSYY-FM". Archive.org. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005.
  6. ↑ "The Most Recent Internet Archive of The "About Us" Page Within The Former Website of WSYY-FM". Archive.org. Archived from the original on March 28, 2004.
  7. ↑ ""WSYY Radio Threatened With Trespass" By Ken Anderson Mar 9, 2004". Magic-City-News.com.
  8. ↑ ""Radio Station Considering Move To Medway" By Nick Sambides, Jr., BDN Staff Nov. 01, 2007". Archive.BangorDailyNews.com.
  9. ↑ "Bangor Daily News - Google News Archive Search". News.Google.com.
  10. ↑ "Statistics And Contour Map Regarding WSYY-FM's Special Temporary Authority License (FCCdata.org - powered by REC)". FCCdata.org.
  11. ↑ "Details From WSYY-FM's Earliest "Granted" Application With The FCC Regarding WSYY-FM's Special Temporary Authority License". Licensing.FCC.Gov.
  12. ↑ "Basic Info About WSYY-FM's Earliest "Granted" Application With The FCC Regarding WSYY-FM's Special Temporary Authority License". Licensing.FCC.Gov.
  13. ↑ "An FCC-Issued Letter To WSYY-FM Regarding An Extension Request (Filed On October 5th, 2011) For Their Special Temporary Authority License". Licensing.FCC.Gov.
  14. ↑ "NERW 8/12/2013". Fybush.com.
  15. ↑ Radio-Locator information on WSYY
  16. ↑ fcc.gov
  17. ↑ "When Radio Was ("Find A Local Station")". RadioSpirits.com.
  18. ↑ "The Acoustic Storm Stations". AcousticStorm.com.
  19. ↑ "Crook and Chase Radio Stations". CrookandChase.com.
  20. ↑ "Blues Deluxe Radio Station Affiliates". data.EricJerardi.com.
  21. ↑ http://949whom.com/homs-signal-is-huge/
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