WABY
Encyclopedia
WABY is a radio station
broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format. Licensed to Mechanicville, New York
, USA, the station serves the Albany area. The station is currently owned by Anastos Media Group, Inc. (an ownership group headed by New York City television news anchor Ernie Anastos
) and features programing from ABC Radio.
WPTR legend "Boom Boom Branigan" (Joe Motto), who also owned other small AM stations around the Northeast US, purchased WMVI in 1979. Following the change in ownership, the station had a hybrid format of oldies, standards and big-band music, which underwent very little change until the early 1990s. During the late 80's, WMVI had secured a construction permit to switch to 1160 kHz with 50,000 watts daytime power and modest nighttime power. However, ownership could not afford the upgrades the station needed for high-power, directional operation and the permit was left to expire. Later, WMVI did secure another permit to switch to 1160 kHz with 5 kW days / 570w nights, non-directional. Coming under Branigan's ownership once again in late 1995, WMVI would return after a brief period being off the air with an oldies/variety format which featured Branigan himself as the centerpiece of the station. Though the format proved popular with local listeners, the station had an extremely difficult time retaining advertising accounts due to repeated transmitter & 'telco' STL failures, forcing the station off the air repeatedly, sometimes for days at a time. As station employees moved to more secure jobs and operating funds became scarce, Branigan leased the station in 1998 to a group which aired Black Gospel music. Again, money shortages and aging, unreliable equipment forced Branigan to sell the station outright.
In August 2000, Anastos Media bought WMVI and brought it back on the air as a testing format of 1960s-70s music as Sunny 1160 before entering a simulcast with co-owned pop-standards station WUAM in Saratoga Springs. Two years later, WMVI would take the abandoned WABY calls as a tribute to its former rival and the station whose death led to its rebirth.
The WUAM portion of the simulcast ended in April 2008, with the format change of WUAM to an audio simulcast of local cable TV news outlet Capital News 9
.
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 a Adult Standards/MOR format. Licensed to Mechanicville, New York
Mechanicville, New York
Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population is 5,196 as of the 2010 census. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents....
, USA, the station serves the Albany area. The station is currently owned by Anastos Media Group, Inc. (an ownership group headed by New York City television news anchor Ernie Anastos
Ernie Anastos
Ernie Anastos is an American Emmy Award-winning New York City television news anchor. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, and has worked for several television stations in New York City during his career.-Career:...
) and features programing from ABC Radio.
History
WMVI, Mechanicville, NY, signed on the air in 1973 at 1170 kHz with 250 watts, daytime only operation. It was originally owned by John Farrina and had a middle-of-the-road (MOR) format focusing on standards and big bands. Early disc jockeys included Don Kirby, John Butler, and Rene' Tetro. WMVI had a race wire installed and broadcast thoroughbred and harness racing results three times per hour from 1PM until sign off, a unique feature in the Albany region. This helped the station gain an audience above what would normally be expected for a small radio station competing directly with larger Albany stations.WPTR legend "Boom Boom Branigan" (Joe Motto), who also owned other small AM stations around the Northeast US, purchased WMVI in 1979. Following the change in ownership, the station had a hybrid format of oldies, standards and big-band music, which underwent very little change until the early 1990s. During the late 80's, WMVI had secured a construction permit to switch to 1160 kHz with 50,000 watts daytime power and modest nighttime power. However, ownership could not afford the upgrades the station needed for high-power, directional operation and the permit was left to expire. Later, WMVI did secure another permit to switch to 1160 kHz with 5 kW days / 570w nights, non-directional. Coming under Branigan's ownership once again in late 1995, WMVI would return after a brief period being off the air with an oldies/variety format which featured Branigan himself as the centerpiece of the station. Though the format proved popular with local listeners, the station had an extremely difficult time retaining advertising accounts due to repeated transmitter & 'telco' STL failures, forcing the station off the air repeatedly, sometimes for days at a time. As station employees moved to more secure jobs and operating funds became scarce, Branigan leased the station in 1998 to a group which aired Black Gospel music. Again, money shortages and aging, unreliable equipment forced Branigan to sell the station outright.
In August 2000, Anastos Media bought WMVI and brought it back on the air as a testing format of 1960s-70s music as Sunny 1160 before entering a simulcast with co-owned pop-standards station WUAM in Saratoga Springs. Two years later, WMVI would take the abandoned WABY calls as a tribute to its former rival and the station whose death led to its rebirth.
The WUAM portion of the simulcast ended in April 2008, with the format change of WUAM to an audio simulcast of local cable TV news outlet Capital News 9
Capital News 9
YNN Capital Region is a 24-hour cable news television channel on Time Warner Cable in New York's Capital District and an affiliate of Your News Now. The channel debuted on October 11, 2002 as Capital News 9, nearly a year after originally planned due to various delays in infrastructure and staffing...
.
External links
- WABY audio stream 24 kbit/s stream which can be accessed with dialup connection