WAMC (AM)
Satellite of National Public Radio | |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | WAMC |
History | |
First air date | August 1, 1930 | (as WBGF in Glens Falls)
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Albany Medical College (original licensee of WAMC-FM) |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 4683 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°41′21″N 73°47′37″W / 42.68917°N 73.79361°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WAMC (1400
WAMC is a
History
WAMC was first licensed on August 1, 1930,[3] to W. Neal Parker and Herbert M. Metcalfe as WBGF in Glens Falls, New York, and initially broadcast on 1370 kHz.[4]
In 1932, the station's license was assigned to O. T. Griffin and G. F. Bisssel, representatives for the
In late 1934, the call letters were changed to WABY,[10] when Al Kelert moved the station to Albany.[11] This made WABY one of the first stations to broadcast from New York's capital city, along with WOKO (now WOPG). WABY moved to 1400 kHz in 1941 due to the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) frequency shift.
In its early years, WABY was a
In 1961, the station changed to a high energy
In February 1999, Bendat sold his stations to Tele-Media, Inc., which switched the AM side to an all-news format by day with simulcasting of WABY-FM (the former WEMX, which itself would flip to
On April 22, 2002, after 68 years, the WABY calls left 1400 kHz as Galaxy replaced it with WHTR. The new call sign reflected a new format: a hot talk simulcast with a new move-in station at 93.7 FM. (As a tribute, a radio station in Mechanicville adopted the WABY call letters from 2002 to 2014; that station's owners then moved the call sign to a co-owned station in Watervliet).
The talk format was short-lived, and that August, 1400 and 93.7 switched to modern rock; while WHTR-FM concurrently changed its call sign to WKRD, 1400 retained the WHTR calls. Galaxy sold WHTR to Northeast Public Radio in February 2003, giving it the WAMC calls (with 90.3 FM modifying its own call sign to WAMC-FM as a result). The WABY call sign was displayed on the WAMC tower until recently,[when?] although the current WABY broadcasts from a different location.
See also
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAMC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WAMC-AM
- ^ "AM Query Results: First Licensed" (FCC.gov)
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 30, 1930, page 3.
- ^ "WGBF (sic) Now WESG", Broadcasting, May 15, 1932, page 15. This report incorrectly lists WBGF's call letters as "WGBF" and the Elmira Star-Gazette as the "Sun-Gazette".
- ^ "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, April 30, 1932, page 11.
- ^ "Applications: May 19" , Broadcasting, June 1, 1932, page 28.
- ^ "Ithaca Station Changes Control and Call Letters", Broadcasting, October 15, 1932, page 8.
- ^ "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, September 30, 1932, page 14.
- ^ "Changes to List", Radio Service Bulletin, December 15, 1934, page 44.
- ^ "Changes to List", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1934, page 7.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1941 page 139. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
External links
- WAMC in the FCC AM station database
- WAMC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WAMC (covering WBGF / WESG / WGLC / WABY from 1930-1981)