WFLY

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WFLY
File:WFLY-FM.png
City of license Troy, New York
Broadcast area Capital District
Branding FLY 92.3
Slogan Albany's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency 92.3 MHz
First air date August 18, 1948
Format Contemporary Hit Radio
ERP 17,000 watts
HAAT 259 meters
Class B
Facility ID 832
Transmitter coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Callsign meaning W Frank Loyd York (station founder)
Owner Pamal Broadcasting
(6 Johnson Road Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stations WAJZ, WKLI-FM, WROW, WYJB, WINU
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.fly92.com

WFLY (FLY 92.3) is a Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to Troy, New York[1] and serving New York's Capital District as well as the surrounding areas, including the Adirondacks. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and is considered their flagship station. The studios are located at 6 Johnson Road, Latham, NY. The transmitter is located along the Helderberg Escarpment antenna farm in New Scotland. WFLY is the oldest FM radio call sign currently in use in the Albany market (since 1948).

History

WFLY signed on in 1948 as the radio station of the The Troy Times Record newspaper,[2] then published by Frank Loyd York. The Troy Record had initially wanted to use the FM signal to transmit facsimile copies of their newspaper to subscribers during overnight hours.[3] The station was programmed with classical music, news and local interest programs. Upon sign on, it had an Effective Radiated Power of 5.4 KW. Beginning in 1949, it was a member of the Rural Radio Network,[4] receiving network programming via an over the air relay of WVCV in Cherry Valley. The Rural Radio Network dropped most of its farm content and switched to mostly classical music which was originated at WQXR in New York City. This was received via over air relay from WKIP-FM on Mount Beacon. This affiliation lasted until 1960, when the Rural Radio Network folded. The classical music continued as locally produced programming.

By the late 1960s the FM audience was changing and the Troy Record had a difficult time funding the station. In 1970 the station switched to a Top 40/Oldies Rock format with live DJs. At that point they were known as "The Big 92". DJs on "The Big 92" included Craig Stevens, Gary Mitchell, Rex Gregory, Dale Lane, Bob Harris, Bob Roberts, Johnny Lance and Chris Calvert. Though the station (the first commercial FM rock station in the Albany market) did very well with the new format, protests over the format flip among classical music listeners were intense and a partial victory was claimed in late 1971 when the Troy Record sold WFLY to Functional Broadcasting. The programming was changed to an easy listening/classical hybrid. The partial return of classical was not successful given the sign-on of WMHT-FM as a full-time classical station. By this time, there were already two other easy listening outlets in the Albany, Schenectady, Troy market.

Functional lost money on WFLY and sold the station in early 1975. After the sale, the station changed programming to an automated album-oriented rock format, billing itself as "sophisticated rock." WFLY went adult contemporary in 1977, and then reverted to top 40 in 1979 as The New FLY 92 FM. In 1986, the station was sold to Five States Tower Company,[5] owned by Rob Dyson, who also owned WPDH and WEOK in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1988, it was subsequently sold to Jim Morrell's Albany Broadcasting. The second go-around of Top 40 was the charm as WFLY caused the eventual deaths of AM powerhouses WTRY and WPTR. Under program director Todd Pettingill, then a little know DJ from WBUG in Amsterdam NY, the station anchored itself securely in the CHR format. In the following years, most rivals eventually failed, though three stations; WGFM/WGY-FM (99 GFM, later Electric 99 WGY FM) from 1982 to 1990, WKLI-FM (K100) from 1996 to 1999, and WKKF (102.3 Kiss FM) since 2000 have survived for an extended period (though WKKF has more recently been directly competing against WFLY's sister station WAJZ). In 2005, the station rebranded with the full frequency as FLY 92.3 and tweaked its format to be more modern rock-leaning to separate itself more from co-owned WAJZ (which had taken on a more rhythmic playlist); however, over time, the station has reverted to a more mainstream contemporary hit radio format.

Programming

WFLY has aired a Contemporary Hit Radio format since 1979, the second longest-running commercial format in Capital District radio (WGNA-FM's country music format has been in place since 1973), and is also one of the oldest "heritage" stations in the format. The station has also been through several playlist evolutions throughout the years; however, the station has stayed true to a CHR format for over 30 years.

Former staff

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ The Troy Times Record, August 18, 1948, Evening Edition
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ The Troy Times Record August 5, 1949, Evening Edition
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links


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