WAGL (FM)

WAGL is an FM radio station licensed to Portville, New York. The station broadcasts at 96.7 MHz.

WAGL
CityPortville, New York
Broadcast areaOlean, New York
Frequency96.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Translator(s)99.1 W256BS (Olean)
First air date1985 (as WFRM-FM)
ERP460 watts
HAAT155 meters (509 ft)
ClassA
Facility ID21197
Transmitter coordinates42°3′4″N 78°25′11″W
Call sign meaningeAGLe
Former call signsWYEF (1985)
WFRM-FM (1985–2009)
WLMY (2009)
WBYB (2009–2011)
WVTT (2011-2019)
WAGL (2019)
WYAY (2019)
OwnerAndrulonis Media
(Colonial Radio Group)
Websitewww.wgwefm.com

Prior to 2009, the station was licensed to Coudersport, Pennsylvania.

History

The station known today as WYAY signed on in 1985 as WFRM-FM, the sister station to AM 600 WFRM. It was owned by the Farm & Home Broadcasting Company and was a member of the Allegany Mountain Radio Network. Historically, the station ran a satellite hot adult contemporary format, and during the mid-2000s, simulcasted WQRM. During this time, it was licensed to Coudersport, Pennsylvania.

The Allegheny Mountain Radio Network began disbanding in the mid-2000s. In 2008, shortly after applying to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the station to Portville, Backyard Broadcasting, owners of market leader WPIG, offered to buy the station, though the purchase eventually fell through (shortly after the failed sale to Backyard, that company also began divesting its radio interests). Colonial Radio Group, owners of WLMI and WXMT, followed with a lower bid, which was closed in July 2009.

Upon closing the deal, Colonial CEO Jeff Androlunis changed the call sign to WLMY (perhaps indicating a format similar to WLMI), then shortly to WBYB. Androlunis, upon signing on the signal, criticized WPIG's personality-driven format and use of classic country in its playlist, claiming he had done research that supported a new country station (Backyard Broadcasting, shortly after this, parked the WLMY calls on a station of its own, a hot-AC station in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Colonial had owned a station in Williamsport at the time.).

Among WBYB's initial programming was the Midday Mayhem with Mindy Cunningham, a program formerly heard on WPIG. Cunningham has since left the station and is now at WGWE broadcasting under another name. Kerry Monroe, who previously hosted afternoon drive and moved to middays after Cunningham left, is also a former WPIG announcer. After about a year of simulcasting WLMI's morning show, WBYB began carrying its own morning show hosted by Androlunis and a co-host named "Sweet Tea." As of 2011, WBYB picked up the syndicated Bob and Sheri program in the morning. The other prominent host on WBYB was Casey Hill, also formerly of WPIG; Hill hosted middays before moving to WGWE, then retiring and relocating out of the area. The Lia Show aired evenings.

WBYB carried broadcasts of Allegany-Limestone Central School sports in 2010 while W237CS carried Smethport High School athletics. Neither was reprised in 2011.

WBYB's mascot during its run in country music was Bob the Builder.

Frequency swap, move to Portville and change to talk radio
WVTT's talk radio wordmark

On October 19, 2011, WBYB's call signs were moved to FM 103.9 (then WVTT) in Kane, Pennsylvania.

From that point until the new WBYB was relocated to Eldred, Pennsylvania on May 16, 2013, WVTT and WBYB simulcast each other. The two stations joined Premiere Networks' talk radio network in January 2012. When WBYB moved to Eldred, it broke off from its simulcast and reverted to country music, a format that 103.9 had carried for nearly 30 years in Kane under the call sign WLMI.

Programming on WVTT (96.7), as of May 2013, included The War Room with Quinn and Rose, The Glenn Beck Program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Sean Hannity Show, and The Dave Ramsey Show. Although the network does not list its overnight programming, at last knowledge it was also carrying the Premiere lineup of America Now with Andy Dean and Coast to Coast AM. WVTT canceled its lone local program, Twin Tiers Morning News, on April 29, 2013, and effectively closed its newsroom; a smaller newsroom reopened in July. Weather forecasts are provided by the Radio Forecast Network. After Quinn and Rose was canceled in November 2013, WVTT revived its local morning show.

Change to top 40

In summer 2015, WVTT moved its talk radio programming to the HD2 channel and a low-powered translator W230BO (93.9). The main signal switched to top 40/hot adult contemporary. (Eventually, the talk format was discontinued when 93.9 was sold to a Pennsylvania broadcaster.)

Change to adult country and failed sale to Rick Freeman

On March 9, 2018, WVTT changed formats from top 40 to country, branded as "Eagle Country Throwbacks". The format complements WAGL's hot country format and includes a mix of 1980s and 1990s classics with recurrent hits from the past decade.[1] One month after the change, on April 24, 2018, Colonial announced it had sold the station, along with WXMT and WVTT-FM, to Rick Freeman in a deal involving cash and cryptocurrency. Freeman took over the stations on May 1; as of mid-June, the station remains unchanged and automated, with Colonial still identified as the station owner in station identification and bumpers voiced by Mr. and Mrs. Andrulonis still being used.[2][3] When cryptocurrency experienced a sharp decline in value in late 2018, the deal collapsed.

As part of a deal consummated in December 2018, the station adopted the WAGL call sign and the broader country format that was on 103.9 in March 2019. The 103.9 license (now WCGH) was spun off to Family Life Network.[4]

On June 10, 2019, the station changed its call sign to WYAY, temporarily parking those calls on the station as soon as they were made available until it could place them on the current WYAY in August, after which it changed back to WAGL. With WXMT being spun off to Bob Lowe in November, WAGL was Colonial's last broadcasting asset north of the Carolinas.[5]

On March 18, 2020, WGWE announced it had taken over the WAGL license and was simulcasting on that station.[6] Two days later, WGWE stated it had ceased doing so.[7]

References
  1. WVTT Olean Becomes Eagle Country Throwbacks Radioinsight - March 9, 2018
  2. Colonial Media Group selling local stations. The Bradford Era (April 24, 2018). Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  3. Taylor, Tom (April 25, 2018). More crypto-currency station sales ahead?. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  4. http://www.insideradio.com/free/deal-digest-scripps-completes-broadcast-radio-exit/article_b8fd6168-feaf-b11e8-945d-3f7e6e16951.html
  5. Fybush, Scott (November 18, 2019). The Twilight of Colonial. NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  6. https://twitter.com/wgwefm/status/1240337917547077633
  7. https://www.facebook.com/1059wgwe/posts/1122625224747288
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