WWYZ

WWYZ
City Waterbury, Connecticut
Broadcast area Greater Hartford
Branding Country 92-5
Slogan "Hartford's Country Music Station"
Frequency 92.5 MHz
First air date August 1, 1961 (1961-08-01)
Format Country
ERP 17,000 watts
HAAT 268 meters (879 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 74205
Former callsigns WATR-FM (1961–1973)
WENU-FM (1973)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations WHCN, WKSS, WPOP, WUCS
Webcast Listen Live
Website Country925.com

WWYZ (92.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, and serving the Greater Hartford radio market. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country music radio format. Local hosts are heard most of the day, with the syndicated CMT After Midnight with Cody Alan heard overnight. On weekends, WWYZ features the syndicated shows Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 and The Bobby Bones Show.

The studios and offices are on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford. The transmitter is in Meriden, on West Peak in the Hanging Hills.[1]

History

WATR-FM

The station signed on the air on August 1, 1961, as WATR-FM.[2] It was owned by the Gilmore Family, which also owned AM 1320 WATR and Channel 53 WATR-TV (now Channel 20 WCCT-TV).

The call sign stood for the city of license, WATeRbury. At first, WATR-FM simulcast WATR 1320 programming. In the early 1970s, it switched to an easy listening format. In 1973, it briefly changed to WENU-FM. Also in 1973, it was bought by Winnipeg Broadcasting, making it now co-owned with another Waterbury station, AM 1240 WWCO.[3] The new owners changed the call letters to WWYZ, calling the station "The Music Lover's WISE Choice."

The Natural 92

With easy listening music available from numerous FM stations in Connecticut (95.7 WKSS, 99.9 WEZN, 100.5 WRCH, 101.3 WKCI) management decided to make a change. In June 1976, under program director Bob Craig, it switched to soft rock as "The Natural 92 WWYZ." It was similar to 92.3 WKTU in New York City (now WNYL), describing its music as "laid back and mellow."

The station played the softer cuts from popular rock albums but did not play adult contemporary songs from the Top 40. Ironically, WKTU in New York gave up soft rock in June 1978, switching to disco music, while WWYZ continued with its soft rock sound another five years, eventually transitioning to a more standard soft adult contemporary playlist.

Switch to Country

Between 1981 and 1988, new Soft AC stations began competing with WWYZ, including WEZN and WRCH, which made the transition from easy listening, as well as Waterbury-licensed Magic 104.1 WIOF (now WMRQ). By the late 1980s, WWYZ ownership changed again, and the station was reunited with its original AM counterpart, WATR.

The new owners decided WWYZ was not able to attract enough listeners in the crowded field of Adult Contemporary stations. Around 1990, WWYZ switched to a country music format, making it the only FM country station audible in most of Connecticut, including the large cities of Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury, New Haven and Bridgeport. Even though Connecticut is not normally associated with country music, WWYZ is usually one of the top FM music stations in the Hartford ratings.

In July 1999, WWYZ was bought by AMFM, Inc.[4] The following year, AMFM was acquired by Clear Channel Communications, which changed its name in 2008 to iHeartMedia, Inc.


References

  1. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WWYZ
  2. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-33
  3. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1975 page C-33
  4. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2001 page D-81

Coordinates: 41°33′47″N 72°50′42″W / 41.563°N 72.845°W / 41.563; -72.845


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