WALK-FM
Encyclopedia
WALK-FM, known on-air as "WALK 97.5," is a radio station on Long Island
with an adult contemporary format. Located on 97.5 FM
, the station is licensed to Patchogue, New York
. The stations slogan is "Long Island's Best Variety." It can be heard on air frequently during commercials and ends with "WALK 97.5." Its transmitter is located on Telescope Hill
in Farmingville, New York
.
radio station. As has its sister station in New York City
, WLTW
, WALK has in recent years run a full schedule of Christmas
music during the holiday season.
One of WALK-FM's longest running shows was "Klein til 9 and again til 10" hosted by Bob Klein.
's Good Morning America
in December 2005. It was a live report from the WALK-FM studios as the host of GMA asked Mark and Cindy about Holiday music on radio stations. After the report, Cindy accused Mark of paying off the cameraman since the camera was only focusing on Mark. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4189/is_20051216/ai_n15943937
. Weeks after, WALK-FM released a second channel on the HD signal (HD-2), a country station, which Clear Channel states that WALK-FM HD-2 is the first country station on Long Island in years. The station can be heard through a HD Radio
Device or on the WALK-FM website. http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ffbuz4807814jul09,0,5869737.story
WALK is one of the hundreds of Clear Channel
stations that are up for sale after an announcement from the company that it is planning to go private. WALK-FM was purchased by Clear Channel in 2000.
Long-time WALK veteran Dave Shnayer, known as JD Howard on-air, died after a four-year battle with lymphoma. The death was announced the following afternoon by Holly Levis. http://www.walkradio.com/pages/jocks.html?feed=106670&article=335436 http://www.newsday.com/news/obituaries/ny-lishna225471795nov22,0,7552814.story
WALK dropped "yesterday and today" of its slogan "Long Island's Best Variety" in May 2010. Around that time, the station began decreasing the amount of music from the 1970's to one-to-two songs per hour, basically making the station a borderline Hot AC station.
On May 16th, 2011
, Longtime veteran KT Mills was replaced by Nick Parker. Parker was weekend Air Talent at WALK-FM, as well as an On-Air Personality on Z100, New York. The new show, Parker & Friends airs weekday afternoons from 3pm-10pm. The station moved towards an adult top 40 direction by December 26, 2010
due to the demise of WMJC (now WIGX), but reverted to adult contemporary a few months later. However, the station still reports as AC per Mediabase
& Nielsen BDS.
magazine.
Other nominees included WMJX
in Boston, KOST
in Los Angeles, WLTW
in New York, WBEB
, in Philadelphia, and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
with an adult contemporary format. Located on 97.5 FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
, the station is licensed to Patchogue, New York
Patchogue, New York
-Notable citizens:* Franc D'Ambrosio, Broadway Actor, best known for being the longest running Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Graduated Pat-Med HS 1981* Michael Fagan, professional bowler...
. The stations slogan is "Long Island's Best Variety." It can be heard on air frequently during commercials and ends with "WALK 97.5." Its transmitter is located on Telescope Hill
Telescope Hill
Telescope Hill, at , is the highest point of elevation in the Town of Brookhaven, on Long Island, New York, United States. The hill is located at the end of Tower Hill Ave., on the border of the ZIP codes of the hamlets of Selden and Farmingville, and west of Bald Hill.Notably, Telescope Hill was...
in Farmingville, New York
Farmingville, New York
Farmingville is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 16,458 at the 2000 census.Farmingville is in the Town of Brookhaven...
.
Beginnings
WALK-FM, which first went on the air in 1952 as part of the Island Broadcasting System, is a Clear Channel CommunicationsClear 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...
radio station. As has its sister station in New York City
New 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...
, WLTW
WLTW
WLTW is a radio station with an Adult Contemporary format in New York City.The station is often number one or close to it in Arbitron ratings for New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the station generated more revenue than any other radio station in the New York market...
, WALK has in recent years run a full schedule of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
music during the holiday season.
One of WALK-FM's longest running shows was "Klein til 9 and again til 10" hosted by Bob Klein.
WALK-FM on Good Morning America
The WALK Breakfast Club, the weekday morning show hosted by Mark Daniels and Cindy, was featured on ABCAmerican 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...
's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
in December 2005. It was a live report from the WALK-FM studios as the host of GMA asked Mark and Cindy about Holiday music on radio stations. After the report, Cindy accused Mark of paying off the cameraman since the camera was only focusing on Mark. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4189/is_20051216/ai_n15943937
WALK Today
In mid-2006, WALK-FM started broadcasting in HD RadioHD 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...
. Weeks after, WALK-FM released a second channel on the HD signal (HD-2), a country station, which Clear Channel states that WALK-FM HD-2 is the first country station on Long Island in years. The station can be heard through a HD Radio
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...
Device or on the WALK-FM website. http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ffbuz4807814jul09,0,5869737.story
WALK is one of the hundreds of Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
stations that are up for sale after an announcement from the company that it is planning to go private. WALK-FM was purchased by Clear Channel in 2000.
Long-time WALK veteran Dave Shnayer, known as JD Howard on-air, died after a four-year battle with lymphoma. The death was announced the following afternoon by Holly Levis. http://www.walkradio.com/pages/jocks.html?feed=106670&article=335436 http://www.newsday.com/news/obituaries/ny-lishna225471795nov22,0,7552814.story
WALK dropped "yesterday and today" of its slogan "Long Island's Best Variety" in May 2010. Around that time, the station began decreasing the amount of music from the 1970's to one-to-two songs per hour, basically making the station a borderline Hot AC station.
On May 16th, 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
, Longtime veteran KT Mills was replaced by Nick Parker. Parker was weekend Air Talent at WALK-FM, as well as an On-Air Personality on Z100, New York. The new show, Parker & Friends airs weekday afternoons from 3pm-10pm. The station moved towards an adult top 40 direction by December 26, 2010
2010 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2010.-Events:*Date Unknown: CHOI/Quebec City flips from Alternative Rock to News/Talk.*January 4: KJCS/Lufkin, Texas goes silent....
due to the demise of WMJC (now WIGX), but reverted to adult contemporary a few months later. However, the station still reports as AC per Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
& Nielsen BDS.
On-Airstaff
The current lineup is as follows- Weekdays:
- Monday thru Friday:
- 2am-5am: Bill Terry
- 5am-10am: Morning Show: The WALK Breakfast Club - Mark Daniels & Cindy with Donna Vaughan - News/Traffic & Pat Pagano - Weather
- 10am-3pm: Patrick Shea
- 3pm-10pm: Nick Parker
- 10pm-2am: Tommy Conway
- Weekends:
- Saturday-Sunday:
- David North, Jeffrey Wands, Kelly Dyson
Awards
In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets Adult Contemporary station of the year award by Radio & RecordsRadio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
magazine.
Other nominees included WMJX
WMJX
WMJX is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. It has an Adult Contemporary format. The station's transmitter is located atop the Prudential Tower in Downtown Boston...
in Boston, KOST
KOST
KOST is a radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with an adult contemporary musical format. It is one of three adult contemporary formatted radio station in the Los Angeles/Orange County area, the others being sister station KBIG and CBS-owned KTWV...
in Los Angeles, WLTW
WLTW
WLTW is a radio station with an Adult Contemporary format in New York City.The station is often number one or close to it in Arbitron ratings for New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the station generated more revenue than any other radio station in the New York market...
in New York, WBEB
WBEB
WBEB is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it serves the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1963 under the call sign WDVR. The station is currently owned by Jerry Lee...
, in Philadelphia, and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.