WDST
Encyclopedia
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:
WDST is known as a progressive station that was at the forefront of both the modern rock and adult album alternative
(triple A) formats. The station broadcasts from the Utopia Studios in Bearsville
, about 2 miles west of the Village of Woodstock.
. Initially, WDST featured a free-form format which was described as "public radio with commercials". From its sign-on until being sold in 1993, it used the slogan "The Bulldog of the Hudson Valley".
During this free-form period under Program Director Richard Fusco, the rock portions of the station's programming became the most listened to. WDST evolved its format more towards rock music, though free-form elements would remain until the early 1990s. Early hosts include Jeanne Atwood. The progressive rock
lean of the original format would evolve into an early modern rock
format by the mid-1990s. The rise of alternative rock
, a genre WDST had to itself, saw the station improve its overall listenership by the early 1990s.
In 1993, WDST was sold to CHET-5 Broadcasting along with WKNY
in Kingston
. Principal owner Gary Chetkof promoted Nic Harcourt
to the morning show and the station was programmed with an alt-rock format. WDST soon thereafter purchased a radio station in Arlington, New York
(a suburb of Poughkeepsie, New York) and simulcast
WDST on 96.9 FM MHz (also known as WDSP
). It was a natural extension for the 96.9 MHz signal, which debuted in the late 1980s as WEXP Next FM, offering an eclectic mix of modern rock and progressive rock elements.
In April 1997, WDSP and WKNY were sold to the Crystal Radio Group, owners of WPDH
and WRRV
. Because of the loss of the 96.6 MHz simulcast, much of the station's coverage south of Poughkeepsie was lost. In 1998, WDST moved its transmitter site to a tower on Hallihan Hill in the Town of Kingston, slightly north west of the city. This greatly improved overall coverage in the Hudson Valley. Small areas of coverage to the south were restored via translators in Newburgh (1998) and Poughkeepsie (The Poughkeepsie translator service being discontinued in August 2009). Shortly after the sale, then Program Director (PD) Nic Harcourt left for KCRW
in Los Angeles
, California
, where he hosted Morning Becomes Eclectic
until December 2, 2008.
In 2010, WDST celebrates its 30th anniversary. The station has plans to release two volumes of a 30th anniversary CD featuring live recordings from WDST's rich history of hosting top talent for in-studio performances, local concerts, and its annual Mountain Jam Festival
. Additionally, WDST's year-long 30th Anniversary Concert Series will feature performances in the Woodstock area by Assembly of Dust
, Amos Lee
, and The Hold Steady
to name a few.
, and "Young Brett" Pasternak are the current morning hosts. WDST middays are hosted by Carmel Holt, afternoons by Justin Foy, and evenings by Drew Frankel. WDST programming has evolved into a more mainstream Adult Album Alternative
(Triple A) format, with popular rock songs from the last 40 years (i.e. from the late 1960s) to the present.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
licensed to Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
. The station is owned by CHET-5 Broadcasting and broadcasts with 3 kW
Kw
kw or KW may refer to:* Kuwait, ISO 3166-1 country code** .kw, the country code top level domain for Kuwait* Kilowatt* Self-ionization of water Kw* Cornish language's ISO 639 code* Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada...
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 a tower in the Town of Kingston
Kingston (town), New York
Kingston is a town in Ulster County, New York, USA. The Town of Kingston is in the northeast part of Ulster County, north of the City of Kingston. Kingston is inside the Catskill Park...
.
WDST also broadcasts one translator:
WDST is known as a progressive station that was at the forefront of both the modern rock and adult album alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
(triple A) formats. The station broadcasts from the Utopia Studios in Bearsville
Bearsville, New York
Bearsville is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, USA. Bearsville is in the town of Woodstock, New York and is located along New York State Route 212, within Catskill State Park and just to the west of the hamlet of Woodstock. The highest known temperature in Bearsville was 101°F, which...
, about 2 miles west of the Village of Woodstock.
History
WDST first broadcast on April 29, 1980, from studios in Woodstock and a tower in Lake KatrineLake Katrine, New York
Lake Katrine is a hamlet Lake Katrine is a hamlet Lake Katrine is a hamlet (and census-designated place (CDP) in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 2,396 at the 2000 census....
. Initially, WDST featured a free-form format which was described as "public radio with commercials". From its sign-on until being sold in 1993, it used the slogan "The Bulldog of the Hudson Valley".
During this free-form period under Program Director Richard Fusco, the rock portions of the station's programming became the most listened to. WDST evolved its format more towards rock music, though free-form elements would remain until the early 1990s. Early hosts include Jeanne Atwood. The progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
lean of the original format would evolve into an early modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
format by the mid-1990s. The rise of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, a genre WDST had to itself, saw the station improve its overall listenership by the early 1990s.
In 1993, WDST was sold to CHET-5 Broadcasting along with WKNY
WKNY
WKNY is a radio station serving the Kingston, New York, area with an adult contemporary format. It broadcasts at a power of 1 KW from a single tower located off of Albany Avenue...
in Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
. Principal owner Gary Chetkof promoted Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt was, most recently, the Music Director for Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Before joining KCRW, Harcourt worked for eight years as a news director and music director at radio station WDST in Woodstock, New York...
to the morning show and the station was programmed with an alt-rock format. WDST soon thereafter purchased a radio station in Arlington, New York
Arlington, New York
Arlington is a community in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 12,481.Arlington is a suburb of the City of Poughkeepsie and is in the Town of Poughkeepsie...
(a suburb of Poughkeepsie, New York) and simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
WDST on 96.9 FM MHz (also known as WDSP
WRRB
WRRB is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Arlington, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts on 96.9 MHz at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Marlborough, New YorkWRRB's programming is...
). It was a natural extension for the 96.9 MHz signal, which debuted in the late 1980s as WEXP Next FM, offering an eclectic mix of modern rock and progressive rock elements.
In April 1997, WDSP and WKNY were sold to the Crystal Radio Group, owners of WPDH
WPDH
WPDH is a mainstream rock radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving from extreme Northern New Jersey to New York's Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts on 101.5 MHz at 4.4 kilowatts ERP from a tower site on Illinois Mountain in...
and WRRV
WRRV
WRRV is a modern rock radio station licensed to Middletown, New York and serving the mid Hudson Valley and Catskills of New York state plus nearby areas in New Jersey and Pennsylvania...
. Because of the loss of the 96.6 MHz simulcast, much of the station's coverage south of Poughkeepsie was lost. In 1998, WDST moved its transmitter site to a tower on Hallihan Hill in the Town of Kingston, slightly north west of the city. This greatly improved overall coverage in the Hudson Valley. Small areas of coverage to the south were restored via translators in Newburgh (1998) and Poughkeepsie (The Poughkeepsie translator service being discontinued in August 2009). Shortly after the sale, then Program Director (PD) Nic Harcourt left for KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he hosted Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, Mourning Becomes Electra.The show is hosted by Jason Bentley,...
until December 2, 2008.
In 2010, WDST celebrates its 30th anniversary. The station has plans to release two volumes of a 30th anniversary CD featuring live recordings from WDST's rich history of hosting top talent for in-studio performances, local concerts, and its annual Mountain Jam Festival
Mountain Jam (festival)
Mountain Jam is a three-day music festival in upstate New York, held at the world class Hunter Mountain ski resort the weekend after Memorial Day. In its short history, Mountain Jam has become one of the top music festivals in the U.S. and the premier festival in the Northeast. Rolling Stone...
. Additionally, WDST's year-long 30th Anniversary Concert Series will feature performances in the Woodstock area by Assembly of Dust
Assembly of Dust
Assembly of Dust is a rock band formed in 2002 by former Strangefolk frontman Reid Genauer. Genauer formed the band while enrolled in the MBA program at Cornell University...
, Amos Lee
Amos Lee
Amos Lee is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk, rock and soul. Lee has four albums on Blue Note Records and has toured as an opening act for Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, John Prine, Dave Matthews Band and Adele. In...
, and The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2004. The band consists of Craig Finn , Tad Kubler , Galen Polivka , Bobby Drake , and Steve Selvidge...
to name a few.
Programming
Greg Gattine, former PD WPDHWPDH
WPDH is a mainstream rock radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving from extreme Northern New Jersey to New York's Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts on 101.5 MHz at 4.4 kilowatts ERP from a tower site on Illinois Mountain in...
, and "Young Brett" Pasternak are the current morning hosts. WDST middays are hosted by Carmel Holt, afternoons by Justin Foy, and evenings by Drew Frankel. WDST programming has evolved into a more mainstream Adult Album Alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
(Triple A) format, with popular rock songs from the last 40 years (i.e. from the late 1960s) to the present.