WYXL is a radio station

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...

 in Ithaca, New York

Ithaca, New York

The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...

 that programs an adult contemporary format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications

Saga Communications

Saga Communications is a broadcasting company that owns and operates stations in 26 markets in the United States. The company, which is based in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, primarily operates radio stations , but it also operates 9 television stations Saga Communications is a broadcasting...

 since 2005. It is co-owned with WHCU

WHCU

WHCU is a radio station in Ithaca, New York that programs a news/talk format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications since 2005.-History:...

, WQNY

WQNY

WQNY is a radio station broadcasting a Country music format. Licensed to Ithaca, New York, USA, the station serves that market and occasionally has appeared in the Elmira-Corning ratings, as the station can be heard well in the eastern and northeastern parts of that market...

, WIII

WIII

WIII may refer to:* Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia* WIII 99.9, a radio station in Cortland, New York, United States* WSTR-TV, whose former calls were WIII, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States...

, and WNYY

WNYY

WNYY is a radio station broadcasting a Talk/Personality format. Licensed to Ithaca, New York, USA, the station serves the Ithaca area...

. It is known as "Lite Rock 97.3." It was known as just "Lite 97" for at least two decades.

History

The station signed on in 1948 as WYFC, broadcasting at 95.1 mHz. It was a charter member of the Rural Radio Network

Rural Radio Network

The Rural Radio Network was an interconnected group of six commercial FM radio stations spread across upstate New York and operated from Ithaca, NY -- the first all-radio, no-wireline network in the world...

. http://www.fybush.com/site-020116.html Early on, it was obtained by Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. Cornell changed the call letters to WHCU-FM to match those of the AM

Amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...

 station it already owned

WHCU

WHCU is a radio station in Ithaca, New York that programs a news/talk format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications since 2005.-History:...

. The station was known as WHCU-FM as early as March 1951. http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/70.html. At some point in its early history, the station moved to its current frequency.

Cornell built new studios for the stations in downtown Ithaca in 1957.

Cornell University sold WYXL and WHCU to Eagle Communications in 1985. Six years later, the stations moved into a new complex on Hanshaw Road, northeast of Ithaca in the town of Dryden

Dryden (town), New York

Dryden is a town in Tompkins County, New York, USA. The population was 13,532 at the 2000 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Dryden and one named Freeville...

.

WYXL is also one of the first stations in the nation to rebroadcast its HD subchannels on its analog translators. Its HD-2 channel is a syndicated CHR service known as Hits 103.3, using the W277BS translator. Hits 103.3 signed on in September 2008, shortly after the debut of WFIZ "Z-95.5" FM. The 103.3 translator prior to HD service at WYXL had been an FM simulcast of WNYY

WNYY

WNYY is a radio station broadcasting a Talk/Personality format. Licensed to Ithaca, New York, USA, the station serves the Ithaca area...

.

Its HD-3 channel launched in September 2009 as 98.7 The Vine, a blend of AAA with lesser known independent artists and some local bands. It broadcasts on the W254BF translator, which was acquired from Clear Channel in 2009. The translator, formerly on 98.3 FM at much lower power, was used to rebroadcast WPHR 106.9 FM while it was located in Auburn.

WYXL previously had a translator on 95.5 FM that simulcasted WHCU

WHCU

WHCU is a radio station in Ithaca, New York that programs a news/talk format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications since 2005.-History:...

, but the translator was shut off prior to the sign on of WFIZ.