WCTW
Encyclopedia
WCTW is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station
licensed to Catskill, New York
, and serving Columbia
and Greene
counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley
, the southern Capital District
, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts
. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
and broadcasts at 4.7 kW ERP
from the center tower of the three tower array used by former sister station WCKL, on Route 9-G in Greenport, NY. WCTW's signal can be received as far north as Albany
and as far south as Poughkeepsie; however, the station begins to mix with co-channel WCKM
and WTRY-FM
(on 98.3) north of Albany.
format as Z98.5. Being an all-local station outside of signing off overnights and some weekend programming, Z98.5 did well but given its position as a station in a small, unrated market going against established rivals such as WSPK
, WBPM
, and WFLY
the station began to lose money.
In late 1991, Straus Media (owner of WELV and WWWK in Ellenville) purchased WCKL and WQKZ. Looking to make the pairing of stations more attractive to advertisers and wanting to cut costs, Straus flipped WQKZ to a hot adult contemporary format as WCTW (The Cat) in February 1992 with the station going to satellite-fed programming outside of mornings which retained Z98.5 morning host Bob Johnson. Straus would later buy the cross-river
rivals of WCKL and WCTW, Hudson
-based WRVW
and WHUC
, in early 1995 giving Straus a practical monopoly on radio between Kingston and Albany. This would be followed in 1997 by Johnson getting a move to afternoons (with the studios moving from Catskill to Poughkeepsie alongside Straus' stations there) with the syndicated Bob & Sheri morning show coming to the station.
, itself a Straus station. Seeing an opportunity, Straus decided to flip WTND to a variation of WCTW under the WCTJ calls that August. W292CM would soon switch to simulcasting sister station WTHN and now relays WDST
.
The presence of WCTJ was both a blessing and a curse for WCTW. The addition of an audience in a rated market allowed the WCTW end of the Cat stations to work with a larger budget and allowed WCTW to phase out satellite programming given the ability to use such tools as voicetracking. However, the attempt to try to run one station as two became a strain given the distance and differences between the two areas and that air talent was doing double the work with staggered breaks between the two stations. A general glut of Hot AC music in the mid-Hudson Valley did not help matters as well and with Straus's sale to Clear Channel in 2000 the days of the WCTJ part of the simulcast were numbered.
WCTW and WCTJ were split in October of that year with WCTJ keeping a frozen, all-automated version of that format until December 23 of that year when it flipped to Rhythmic CHR WPKF
.
In April 2005, WCTW would change its format to adult contemporary with the Lite FM branding as part of an expansion of the brand throughout the Hudson Valley in an attempt to compete with Pamal Broadcasting
-owned rivals WHUD
and WYJB
.
In May 2009, WCTW reverted to hot adult contemporary, once again under the Cat branding. In February 2010, an unrelated radio station, WZMR
, flipped to a country format as 104.9 The Cat resulting in confusion between the two stations; however, a resolution has not occurred between the two stations.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Catskill, New York
Catskill (town), New York
Catskill is a town in the southeast part of Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 11,775 at the 2010 census. The western part of the town is in the Catskill Park....
, and serving Columbia
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
and Greene
Greene County, New York
Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Its name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. Its county seat is Catskill...
counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, the southern Capital District
Capital District
New York's Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is a region in upstate New York that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of the state: Albany County, Schenectady County, Rensselaer County, and Saratoga County...
, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...
. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and broadcasts at 4.7 kW ERP
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
from the center tower of the three tower array used by former sister station WCKL, on Route 9-G in Greenport, NY. WCTW's signal can be received as far north as Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and as far south as Poughkeepsie; however, the station begins to mix with co-channel WCKM
WCKM-FM
WCKM-FM is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Lake George , New York, USA, the station serves Essex, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. The station is currently owned by Regional Radio Group, LLC and features news and sports from ABC Radio...
and WTRY-FM
WTRY-FM
WTRY-FM, or 98.3 WTRY, is an oldies station licensed to Rotterdam, New York and serving New York's Capital District and Mohawk Valley. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower in between Altamont and Duanesburg, New York off U.S...
(on 98.3) north of Albany.
History
The 98.5 frequency, the first FM station in Greene County, first came into being in early 1988 as a construction permit bearing the WCKL-FM calls as a sister to WCKL. Originally, the plans for the station were to simulcast the popular standards format of WCKL but at some point in 1990 these plans were changed for the 98.5 frequency to go on its own under the WQKZ calls. With those calls, the station would begin testing late that August and on September 6 would sign on with a CHRContemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format as Z98.5. Being an all-local station outside of signing off overnights and some weekend programming, Z98.5 did well but given its position as a station in a small, unrated market going against established rivals such as WSPK
WSPK
WSPK is a CHR radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and broadcasting from studios in Fishkill. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts on 104.7 MHz at an ERP of 7.4 kilowatts from a tower at the top of Mount Beacon in Fishkill.WSPK's main coverage area is centered on the...
, WBPM
WKXP
WKXP is a country music station licensed to Kingston, New York and serving the Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower in Kingston....
, and WFLY
WFLY
WFLY is a Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to Troy, New York and serving New York's Capital District as well as the surrounding areas, including the Adirondacks...
the station began to lose money.
In late 1991, Straus Media (owner of WELV and WWWK in Ellenville) purchased WCKL and WQKZ. Looking to make the pairing of stations more attractive to advertisers and wanting to cut costs, Straus flipped WQKZ to a hot adult contemporary format as WCTW (The Cat) in February 1992 with the station going to satellite-fed programming outside of mornings which retained Z98.5 morning host Bob Johnson. Straus would later buy the cross-river
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
rivals of WCKL and WCTW, Hudson
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...
-based WRVW
WZCR
WZCR is an oldies radio station licensed to Hudson, New York, and serving Columbia and Greene counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley, the southern Capital District, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts...
and WHUC
WHUC
WHUC is a radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format. Located near Hudson, New York, USA, the station serves the Albany area. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and features programming from CNN Radio....
, in early 1995 giving Straus a practical monopoly on radio between Kingston and Albany. This would be followed in 1997 by Johnson getting a move to afternoons (with the studios moving from Catskill to Poughkeepsie alongside Straus' stations there) with the syndicated Bob & Sheri morning show coming to the station.
Poughkeepsie Expansion
In 1998, Poughkeepsie based translator W292CM (106.3 MHz) signed on with a simulcast of WCTW's programming. With nearly no promotion, WCTW showed in the Poughkeepsie ratings in the spring of 1999, nearly tying the full-power WTNDWPKF
WPKF is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River...
, itself a Straus station. Seeing an opportunity, Straus decided to flip WTND to a variation of WCTW under the WCTJ calls that August. W292CM would soon switch to simulcasting sister station WTHN and now relays WDST
WDST
WDST is a radio station licensed to Woodstock, New York. The station is owned by CHET-5 Broadcasting and broadcasts with 3 kW ERP from a tower in the Town of Kingston.WDST also broadcasts one translator:...
.
The presence of WCTJ was both a blessing and a curse for WCTW. The addition of an audience in a rated market allowed the WCTW end of the Cat stations to work with a larger budget and allowed WCTW to phase out satellite programming given the ability to use such tools as voicetracking. However, the attempt to try to run one station as two became a strain given the distance and differences between the two areas and that air talent was doing double the work with staggered breaks between the two stations. A general glut of Hot AC music in the mid-Hudson Valley did not help matters as well and with Straus's sale to Clear Channel in 2000 the days of the WCTJ part of the simulcast were numbered.
WCTW and WCTJ were split in October of that year with WCTJ keeping a frozen, all-automated version of that format until December 23 of that year when it flipped to Rhythmic CHR WPKF
WPKF
WPKF is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River...
.
WCTW post-2000
With the Clear Channel purchase of Straus came the later sale of the Catskill stations (and WBPM) to Concord Media, a front company with ties to Clear Channel that existed to warehouse additional stations controlled by Clear Channel. The Clear Channel/Concord combination moved the studios of those stations to a new location in Hudson and, with it, WCTW returned to a mostly-satellite fed format which would remain for the next several years.In April 2005, WCTW would change its format to adult contemporary with the Lite FM branding as part of an expansion of the brand throughout the Hudson Valley in an attempt to compete with Pamal Broadcasting
Pamal Broadcasting
Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio ownership with stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast and Florida. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1986 as Albany Broadcasting when business man James J. Morrell entered broadcast...
-owned rivals WHUD
WHUD
WHUD is an Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to Peekskill, New York. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts on 100.7 MHz at 50 kW ERP from a tower site in Philipstown, New York.-History:...
and WYJB
WYJB
WYJB is an adult contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Albany, New York and serving New York's Capital District as well as the surrounding areas, including the Adirondacks...
.
In May 2009, WCTW reverted to hot adult contemporary, once again under the Cat branding. In February 2010, an unrelated radio station, WZMR
WZMR
WZMR is a country music formatted radio station licensed to Altamont and serving New York's Capital District and surrounding areas. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting, and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Helderberg Mountains antenna farm in New Scotland...
, flipped to a country format as 104.9 The Cat resulting in confusion between the two stations; however, a resolution has not occurred between the two stations.