WROW
Encyclopedia
WROW is a radio station
broadcasting to Albany, New York
, with its towers in Glenmont, New York
. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting
(dba Albany Broadcasting) and runs a Adult Standards
/Oldies
format under the branding Magic 590. The station serves as the CBS Radio News
affiliate for the Albany market.
WROW is historically notable for being the station which launched Capital Cities Communications
which in 1985 purchased the American Broadcasting Company
and became one of the largest media companies in existence at the time of that purchase.
's CBS affiliation in order to get the rights to the CBS television affiliation for its new start-up TV sister station WROW-TV (today's WTEN
). In 1957, Hudson Valley Broadcasting became Capital Cities Television Corporation (later, Capital Cities Broadcasting in 1960, to reflect its increasing radio holdings including, WROW). The CBS affiliation has remained on WROW ever since, and was shared with sister station WKLI-FM (100.9), the original home of the Magic format, beginning in 2001.
With the golden age of radio soon ending, WROW decided to flip to a Top 40 format (the first such attempt in the Capital District
) in the late 1950s. Though initially successful, internal changes at Capital Cities led to WROW to be pushed to take on an easy listening
format which it did around 1963. At this point, WROW signed on sister station WROW-FM (today's WYJB
) which simulcasted the station, then began to "shadowcast
" (delayed simulcast) WROW after the FCC forced such simulcasts to be broken up to stimulate FM. The combined signal of WROW and WROW-FM led to the station(s) being one of the more popular stations in the Capital District for most of the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1983, Capital Cities sold the WROW stations to Dot Broadcasting, a group of local broadcasters. Soon thereafter, WROW would be sold once again to another local ownership group. Through this, not much changed though the aging of the easy listening format led to a split of WROW and WROW-FM in 1991 with WROW keeping the easy listening format. In late 1993, the WROW stations were bought by current owner Albany Broadcasting which put changes in both stations soon thereafter. In February 1994, WROW flipped to an all-news format by day with talk
programming nights and weekends. Though a good idea on paper, the news format had low ratings and was a high expense format and in 1996 the station flipped to a full-time talk format. A slow starter at first, the arrival for former WQBK host and program director Paul Vandenburgh to identical positions in 1997 helped matters and made the station a formidable second talk station next to WGY.
In 2007, WROW began overhauling its programming. Vandenburgh left WROW in October 2007 to become part-owner of WGDJ, a station on WQBK's former frequency. Leaving along with Vandenburgh to WGDJ were the Live from the Capitol report with Fred Dicker and the weekly interview show with Albany mayor Jerry Jennings
. Mike and the Mad Dog
, which had aired as WROW's afternoon show as a simulcast with WFAN
, was dropped at this time as well.
WROW discontinued the news/talk format on February 8, 2010, citing the difficulty of competing with WGDJ and WGY. The station then adopted its current format, which was moved from WKLI-FM, and simulcast on both stations for a time.
As a talk station, WROW programmed local programming in morning drive. The station's morning show was co-hosted by Steve van Zandt and Jackie Donovan. Various other local shows air on the weekends, and were for the most part retained following the format change.
Syndicated talk shows on the station included:
Weekend syndicated programs included Brian and the Judge
, Lars Larson
, and Bill Cunningham
; the first two of which previously aired on weekdays. The audio feed of NBC
's Meet The Press
also aired one hour after the program is broadcast on Albany NBC affiliate WNYT (WROW aired the Westwood One
broadcast). WROW also holds a sports play-by-play contract with the Albany River Rats
ice hockey team, and continues to do so even after the format change. Siena College
men's basketball was once carried on the station, but moved to WGDJ in 2009.
In the past, WROW has aired other daily syndicated shows including Brian and the Judge (and its predecessor hosted by Tony Snow
), Laura Ingraham
, and a simulcast of the WFAN
-based Mike and the Mad Dog
. Past local programming has included "Afternoon Drive with Sherman Baldwin," "Live from the State Capitol," now heard on WGDJ, "The Mark Williams Show
," and "The Scotto Show," hosted by Scott Allen Miller
.
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...
broadcasting 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...
, with its towers in Glenmont, New York
Glenmont, New York
Glenmont is a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York. Glenmont is in the northeastern corner of the town and is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany...
. The station is owned by 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...
(dba Albany Broadcasting) and runs a Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
/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 under the branding Magic 590. The station serves as the CBS Radio News
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 ....
affiliate for the Albany market.
WROW is historically notable for being the station which launched Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities redirects here. For the article about the seat of a government, see Capital .Capital Cities Communications was an American media company best known for its surprise purchase of the much larger American Broadcasting Company in 1985...
which in 1985 purchased the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and became one of the largest media companies in existence at the time of that purchase.
History
WROW signed on in 1947 when a startup company, the Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, acquired the rights to the frequency. At the outset, the station had the Mutual affiliation, switching to ABC in 1950. The relationship with ABC was short lived as in 1954 WROW took WTRYWOFX (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...
's CBS affiliation in order to get the rights to the CBS television affiliation for its new start-up TV sister station WROW-TV (today's WTEN
WTEN
WTEN is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Capital District of New York State and Western New England that is licensed to Albany. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter southwest of the Voorheesville section of New Scotland...
). In 1957, Hudson Valley Broadcasting became Capital Cities Television Corporation (later, Capital Cities Broadcasting in 1960, to reflect its increasing radio holdings including, WROW). The CBS affiliation has remained on WROW ever since, and was shared with sister station WKLI-FM (100.9), the original home of the Magic format, beginning in 2001.
With the golden age of radio soon ending, WROW decided to flip to a Top 40 format (the first such attempt in the Capital District
Capital region
A capital region, also called a national capital region, capital district or capital territory is a common term for the region or district surrounding the capital city of a country or any other administrative division...
) in the late 1950s. Though initially successful, internal changes at Capital Cities led to WROW to be pushed to take on an easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format which it did around 1963. At this point, WROW signed on sister station WROW-FM (today's 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...
) which simulcasted the station, then began to "shadowcast
Time shifting
Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
" (delayed simulcast) WROW after the FCC forced such simulcasts to be broken up to stimulate FM. The combined signal of WROW and WROW-FM led to the station(s) being one of the more popular stations in the Capital District for most of the 1970s and 1980s.
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
programming nights and weekends. Though a good idea on paper, the news format had low ratings and was a high expense format and in 1996 the station flipped to a full-time talk format. A slow starter at first, the arrival for former WQBK host and program director Paul Vandenburgh to identical positions in 1997 helped matters and made the station a formidable second talk station next to WGY.
In 2007, WROW began overhauling its programming. Vandenburgh left WROW in October 2007 to become part-owner of WGDJ, a station on WQBK's former frequency. Leaving along with Vandenburgh to WGDJ were the Live from the Capitol report with Fred Dicker and the weekly interview show with Albany mayor Jerry Jennings
Gerald Jennings
Gerald David "Jerry" Jennings is the mayor of Albany, New York, United States. A Democrat, Jennings won a shocking upset in the 1993 mayoral primary over Harold Joyce, who had the Democratic Party’s formal endorsement and had only recently been its chairman. In 1993, he won the general election,...
. Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog was an afternoon drive sports radio program based out of WFAN in New York City that featured Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network...
, which had aired as WROW's afternoon show as a simulcast with WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
, was dropped at this time as well.
WROW discontinued the news/talk format on February 8, 2010, citing the difficulty of competing with WGDJ and WGY. The station then adopted its current format, which was moved from WKLI-FM, and simulcast on both stations for a time.
Programming
In terms of music and execution, WROW is a rarity of sorts in modern day radio. The station is also locally programmed.As a talk station, WROW programmed local programming in morning drive. The station's morning show was co-hosted by Steve van Zandt and Jackie Donovan. Various other local shows air on the weekends, and were for the most part retained following the format change.
Syndicated talk shows on the station included:
- The Glenn Beck ProgramGlenn BeckGlenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
- The Radio FactorThe Radio FactorThe Radio Factor was a nationally syndicated talk radio program, which aired from 2002–2009 and was hosted mainly by Bill O'Reilly. The program, which featured host commentary with a mix of listener call-in and guest segments was broadcast live every weekday from the Fox News Channel studios in...
with Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly (commentator)William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television... - John GibsonJohn Gibson (media host)John David Gibson is an American radio talk show host. As of September 2008, he hosts the syndicated radio program The John Gibson Show on Fox News Radio. Gibson was formerly the co-host of the weekday edition of The Big Story on the Fox News television channel.-Early career:Gibson earned a BA...
- Dave RamseyDave RamseyDavid L. Ramsey III is an American financial author, radio host, television personality, and motivational speaker.Ramsey's syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show is promoted with a tagline that "It's about your life and your money," and it is heard on over 450 radio stations throughout the...
- Alan Colmes
- Joey ReynoldsJoey ReynoldsJoey Reynolds is the pseudonym of Joey Pinto, host of the U.S. radio program The Joey Reynolds Show via the WOR Radio Network. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV- in Buffalo at WGR TV 2...
Weekend syndicated programs included Brian and the Judge
Brian and the Judge
Brian and the Judge was a radio talk show syndicated by Fox News Radio. It was hosted by Fox News personalities Brian Kilmeade and Judge Andrew Napolitano. The show was launched to replace Tony Snow's radio show when he left the program to become White House Press Secretary in 2006. The show is...
, Lars Larson
Lars Larson
Lars Larson is a conservative U.S. talk radio show host based in Oregon. Larson hosts a national talk radio show, which as of 2009 is syndicated by Compass Media Networks...
, and Bill Cunningham
Bill Cunningham
Bill Cunningham is an American talk radio host. His full-time job is hosting The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, a local show on 700 WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cunningham now hosts Live on Sunday Night, it's Bill Cunningham, which is syndicated to over 300 stations by Premiere Radio Networks. He is...
; the first two of which previously aired on weekdays. The audio feed of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Meet The Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
also aired one hour after the program is broadcast on Albany NBC affiliate WNYT (WROW aired the Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
broadcast). WROW also holds a sports play-by-play contract with the Albany River Rats
Albany River Rats
The Albany River Rats were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center.- Founding to 2010 :...
ice hockey team, and continues to do so even after the format change. Siena College
Siena College
Siena College is an independent Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Loudonville, in the town of Colonie, New York, United States. Siena is a four-year, coeducational, independent college in the Franciscan tradition, founded by the Franciscan Friars in 1937. It has 3,000 full-time students and...
men's basketball was once carried on the station, but moved to WGDJ in 2009.
In the past, WROW has aired other daily syndicated shows including Brian and the Judge (and its predecessor hosted by Tony Snow
Tony Snow
Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow was an American journalist, political commentator, television news anchor, syndicated columnist, radio host, musician, and the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush. Snow also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and...
), Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
, and a simulcast of the WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
-based Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog was an afternoon drive sports radio program based out of WFAN in New York City that featured Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network...
. Past local programming has included "Afternoon Drive with Sherman Baldwin," "Live from the State Capitol," now heard on WGDJ, "The Mark Williams Show
Mark Williams (radio host)
Mark Williams is an American conservative activist and author based in Sacramento, California. He is the author of It's Not Right Versus Left, It's Right Versus Wrong; Exposing the Socialist Agenda and Taking Back America One Tea Party at a Time....
," and "The Scotto Show," hosted by Scott Allen Miller
Scott Allen Miller
Scott Allen Miller has worked in radio since 1992, doing stints as a disc jockey, a producer, and a talk radio host in such places as Kansas City, Tulsa, Los Angeles, and Albany, New York. He was most recently the morning drive host and program director at WROW in Albany.In 2008, Miller earned a...
.