WBVG

WBVG (AM 1050) is a radio station serving Baldwinsville in the Syracuse, New York, metropolitan area. WBVG is owned by Leatherstocking Media Group.

WBVG
CityBaldwinsville, New York
Broadcast areaSyracuse, New York
Frequency1050 kHz
First air dateFebruary 25, 1959
FormatOldies
Power2,500 watts day
19 watts night
ClassD
Facility ID7712
Transmitter coordinates43°10′46″N 76°20′19″W
Call sign meaningBaldwinsVille
Former call signsWSEN (1959-1993)
WFBL (1993–2003)
WSEN (2003-2017)
OwnerLeatherstocking Media Group, Inc.
Sister stationsNone

History

WBVG began operations on February 25, 1959 as WSEN and was licensed by Century Radio Corp. Owners Robert Stockdale, Donald Menapace, and James Lowery started WSEN as a current hits and standards station, but changed to country in 1962 and was the first country station "north of the Mason-Dixon line." On air personalities Early Williams and Fred Lewis played the current country hits and announced with a western "twang", unique to central New York at that time. In 1967, sister station WSEN-FM (now WOLF-FM) began operations as a full-time country outlet, thus complimenting its AM sister station. Century Radio sold the stations in 1974 to Sentry Radio, led by principal owners Roger O'Connor, Robert Orenbach, and manager Shirley Zakrazek, one of the early female station managers. A more "modern" approach was taken which resulted in a younger audience and larger sales dollars. In 1977 "Downes, Merchant and Company", a two man team of Ted Downes and Bill Merchant, took over the morning show along with a cast of characters. Other on air talent included Dick Kuklinski, Bob Mason, Ed McKee, and Al Jenner, with Dave Kramer and Pete McKay on production. In 1979, chief engineer Richard Kane donated $1500 in a stock purchase so the station could go to stereo, and led by new Program Director Daniel Dunn, attained record audience ratings for the station and its, by then, "progressive country" format, with artists such as Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Waylon Jennings. WSEN flipped to its current oldies format in 1986.

2000s

WSEN was owned by Buckley Broadcasting, who simulcast the current oldies format on both the AM and FM, during much of the 2000s until being sold in 2008 to its current ownership.

2010s

WSEN split from simulcasting WSEN-FM in 2011; this came as part of a national trend for oldies outlets transitioning to classic hits. At the time, WSEN/WSEN-FM was airing 1960s and 1970s music. As part of the split, WSEN became a "true oldies" outlet and picked up the 1960s (and aded 1950s) music while WSEN-FM shifted to classic hits and added 1980s music to its catalog.[1]

In 2016, Leatherstocking Media Group sold sister station WSEN-FM 92.1 FM (now WOLF-FM) to the Family Life Network, which in turn sold WSEN-FM to Craig L. Fox. When the call letters of WSEN-FM were changed to WOLF-FM, Fox changed the call letters of one of his stations, WNDR-FM 103.9 FM, to WSEN-FM. He insisted that Leatherstocking Media Group change the call letters of WSEN to avoid confusion with his FM station. The call letters of the station were eventually changed to WBVG on August 14, 2017.

On September 18, 2016, WSEN went silent for technical reasons. The station resumed broadcasting on July 10, 2017, with a 1950s and 1960s Oldies format, but went silent again on August 15, 2017. The station signed back onto the air July 23, 2018, with the WBVG call letters only to go off the air again soon afterwards. In the summer of 2019, WBVG signed on once again with a commercial-free 1950s and 1960s Oldies format.

References
  1. "WSEN Trades Casey's 70s Countdowns for the 80s | CNYRadio.com / CNYTVNews.com". Cnyradio.com. 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2012-09-12.

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