WDDY
Encyclopedia
WDDY is an AM radio station licensed to Albany, New York. It broadcasts in HD Radio
from facilities located in Delmar, New York, operating with 5000 watts of power on 1460 kHz. The station is owned by The Walt Disney Company
, and is a full-time affiliate of Radio Disney
.
, moving in 1928 to Mount Beacon, New York in southern Dutchess County
and serving Newburgh and Poughkeepsie
at 1430 kHz. Billed "The Voice of the Clouds" http://www.nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/beacontown.html for its transmitter site on its namesake mountain, WOKO's signal into the areas it wanted to target was poorer than anticipated and in 1930 the station was sold and moved to Albany, New York
becoming the first radio station licensed to that city.
With the move to Albany came an affiliation with CBS
whose programming had been previously cleared partially on WGY. The early 1940s saw some key changes as the CBS affiliation went from WOKO to upstart WTRY
and the station's frequency changed from 1430 to 1460 in the NARBA
frequency shift of 1941. In light of these differences, WOKO evolved into a locally-based format consisting largely of music independent of any network, a rarity in a medium market in that era. Notably, WOKO was a radio affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s before their move to Los Angeles.
The decline of variety formats on radio in the 1950s led WOKO to find a set format for its programming, settling on MOR during most of the 1960s, before flipping to Country. The station's country format lasted until 1978 after competition from FM rival WGNA
led WOKO to change formats to disco music. Coming into the format right after the peak of the disco fad and having to battle two decades of country heritage, the new format failed and in early 1980 WOKO returned to country. Though initially regaining some audience, the flip of the more powerful WPTR to country later that year wiped away any gains the station had made.
On August 23, 1982, WOKO ended its second attempt at country by flipping to a all-news radio
format simulcasting CNN Headline News
(then CNN2) most of the day with sports from the Enterprise Radio Network
at night. With this flip came new call letters: WWCN. Though low overhead, the new station also retained the low ratings of the previous format and soon added more talk programming. WWCN continued to struggle and folded in early 1987.
The demise of WWCN led to the return of the WOKO calls, this time running an oldies
format and converting to C-QUAM
AM stereo
(only the second station in the market, behind WPTR, to do so). This format was short lived as the next year WOKO was purchased by Barnstable Broadcasting, then owners of WGNA, with the sale closing in late 1988. Barnstable then took WOKO to a WGNA simulcast (minus some special programming and Albany-Colonie Yankees
games) under the WGNA calls with the FM becoming WGNA-FM. This arrangement would last for over a decade through several owners.
By the start of the 21st Century, the AM simulcast had become superfluous and after Regent Communications
acquired the WGNA stations in 2000, the 1460 frequency was put up for sale. In March 2002, Regent sold the station to ABC Radio which converted it to their Radio Disney
format, the only such Disney-owned outlet in Upstate New York. The station operated under the ABC Radio umbrella until the division's sale to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007. The Walt Disney Company retained total ownership of Radio Disney and its stations.
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
from facilities located in Delmar, New York, operating with 5000 watts of power on 1460 kHz. The station is owned by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, and is a full-time affiliate of Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
.
History
What today is WDDY began its life in 1924 http://www.ratzer.at/pdf/wwh02_77low.pdf as WOKO, at 1290 kHz http://members.aol.com/jeff560/nyam.html in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, moving in 1928 to Mount Beacon, New York in southern Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
and serving Newburgh and Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
at 1430 kHz. Billed "The Voice of the Clouds" http://www.nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/beacontown.html for its transmitter site on its namesake mountain, WOKO's signal into the areas it wanted to target was poorer than anticipated and in 1930 the station was sold and moved to Albany, New York
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...
becoming the first radio station licensed to that city.
With the move to Albany came an affiliation with CBS
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
whose programming had been previously cleared partially on WGY. The early 1940s saw some key changes as the CBS affiliation went from WOKO to upstart WTRY
WOFX (AM)
WOFX, known as Fox Sports 980, is an AM radio station broadcasting on 980 kHz licensed to Troy, New York. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and runs a sports radio format and is the Fox Sports Radio affiliate for the Capital District, Adirondacks, and...
and the station's frequency changed from 1430 to 1460 in the NARBA
North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty that took effect in March 1941 and set out the bandplan and interference rules for mediumwave AM broadcasting in North America. Although mostly replaced by other agreements in the 1980s, the basic bandplan...
frequency shift of 1941. In light of these differences, WOKO evolved into a locally-based format consisting largely of music independent of any network, a rarity in a medium market in that era. Notably, WOKO was a radio affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s before their move to Los Angeles.
The decline of variety formats on radio in the 1950s led WOKO to find a set format for its programming, settling on MOR during most of the 1960s, before flipping to Country. The station's country format lasted until 1978 after competition from FM rival WGNA
WGNA-FM
WGNA-FM is a country music-formatted radio station licensed to Albany, New York and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and broadcasts at 12.5 kilowatts from the Helderberg Mountains tower farm in New Scotland...
led WOKO to change formats to disco music. Coming into the format right after the peak of the disco fad and having to battle two decades of country heritage, the new format failed and in early 1980 WOKO returned to country. Though initially regaining some audience, the flip of the more powerful WPTR to country later that year wiped away any gains the station had made.
On August 23, 1982, WOKO ended its second attempt at country by flipping to a all-news radio
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
format simulcasting CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
(then CNN2) most of the day with sports from the Enterprise Radio Network
Enterprise Radio Network
Enterprise Radio Network was an all-sports radio network which operated briefly in 1981. It featured sports newscasts twice an hour, and sports talk during the evening and overnight.-Creation and programming:...
at night. With this flip came new call letters: WWCN. Though low overhead, the new station also retained the low ratings of the previous format and soon added more talk programming. WWCN continued to struggle and folded in early 1987.
The demise of WWCN led to the return of the WOKO calls, this time running an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format and converting to C-QUAM
C-QUAM
C-QUAM is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by Norman Parker, Francis Hilbert, and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in an IEEE journal....
AM stereo
AM stereo
AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for wireless radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers...
(only the second station in the market, behind WPTR, to do so). This format was short lived as the next year WOKO was purchased by Barnstable Broadcasting, then owners of WGNA, with the sale closing in late 1988. Barnstable then took WOKO to a WGNA simulcast (minus some special programming and Albany-Colonie Yankees
Connecticut Defenders
The Connecticut Defenders were a minor league baseball team based in Norwich, Connecticut. The team, which played in the Eastern League, was the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major-league club from 2003 until following the 2009 season, when the Defenders relocated to Richmond,...
games) under the WGNA calls with the FM becoming WGNA-FM. This arrangement would last for over a decade through several owners.
By the start of the 21st Century, the AM simulcast had become superfluous and after Regent Communications
Regent Communications
Townsquare Media is an American radio broadcaster, based in Greenwich, Connecticut., after it acquired sister companies Gap Broadcasting and GapWest Broadcasting, it owned 171 radio stations in 36 radio markets, with concentration in the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Mountain...
acquired the WGNA stations in 2000, the 1460 frequency was put up for sale. In March 2002, Regent sold the station to ABC Radio which converted it to their Radio Disney
Radio Disney
Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...
format, the only such Disney-owned outlet in Upstate New York. The station operated under the ABC Radio umbrella until the division's sale to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007. The Walt Disney Company retained total ownership of Radio Disney and its stations.
Trivia
- The Mount Beacon tower site used by WOKO prior to its move is today used by FM station WSPKWSPKWSPK 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...
. Though unforgiving to AM due to the lack of a ground system, Mount Beacon would prove to be ideal for FM as its terrain allows WSPK to be heard in parts of six states. - Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
had the main character listening to WOKO in his novel The Spy Who Loved Me - In 1990, the WOKO call letters resurfaced in Burlington, VermontBurlington, VermontBurlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
at a newly-launched country station at the behest of an employee who wished to honor the prior WOKO. Those calls remain there to this day and the station usually is tops in the Burlington ratings. - The WDDY call letters originally belonged to a small AM-radio station broadcasting from Gloucester, Virginia.