WHYN-FM

WHYN-FM

Urban contemporary)[1]
Affiliations	Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WHYN, WRNX
History
First air date	December 1, 1947; 76 years ago (1947-12-01)
Former call signs	WHFM (1985–1987)
Call sign meaning	Holyoke and Northampton (communities originally served by WHYN (AM))
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	55758
Class	B
ERP	8,900 watts
HAAT	305 meters (1,001 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	42°14′28.33″N 72°38′54.32″W / 42.2412028°N 72.6484222°W / 42.2412028; -72.6484222
Translator(s)	HD2: 97.3 W247DL (Westfield)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	FM/HD1: Listen Live HD2: Listen Live
Website	FM/HD1: mix931.iheart.com HD2: 973thebeat.iheart.com

WHYN-FM (93.1

).

WHYN-FM has an

History

Early years

Aside from a period between 1985 and 1987 when the

By 1953, when WHYN-TV (now WGGB-TV) signed on from Mount Tom, only WHYN-FM was still transmitting from the mountain, as WMAS-FM had moved to the WMAS (now WHLL) tower in Springfield and WACE-FM had gone dark.^[7] That same year, WHYN-AM-FM's city of license was changed to Springfield.^[8]

Easy Listening

Until the 1960s, WHYN-FM 93.1 and WHYN 560 mostly simulcast the same programming. By the mid-1960s, while WHYN AM was playing

). In 1974, WHYN-FM was the pilot station for William B. Tanner's "Easy Going" jingle series. WHYN's long-time morning team consisted of Frank Knight and news man Ron Russell (DeMatteo). A number of other radio personalities worked on the station including Dave Mack, Bob Holland (a/k/a Holland Cooke), Rich Roy (later on WHYN). Dan Williams was the longest continual employee of WHYN-AM-FM, having started in the mid-1970s when Guy Gannett Broadcasting was the owner.

WHYN-FM continued to program an Easy Listening format late into the 1970s. After being purchased by Affiliated Communications, the station's format was switched to

format.

Soft AC

In the mid-1980s, WHYN-AM-FM were sold to R&R Broadcasting. The decision was made, by group

and the concept was that the station was "The Giant", a mythological entity broadcasting down to all the people of Southern New England.

After several months, it became obvious this approach was not working. Larry Caringer, hired by Anderson as assistant program director and morning host, was given the reins as PD. With Mary Ferrero as music director, the two fashioned a blend of rock and pop hits. Within one rating period, WHFM was number one in the 18–49 demographic. "Caringer and Friends" was the number one morning show in Springfield.

Change in ownership

In late 1987, WHFM was sold to Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting. The purchase of WHYN and WHFM involved a swap, of sorts. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, at the time, did not allow multiple ownership of stations in a market. So, in order to sell rock-formatted 102.1 WAQY, Wilks-Schwartz had to agree to change the format of their new FM (WHFM) to something that did not compete with WAQY. At the same time, WHFM reverted to its original WHYN-FM call sign.

Much of the air staff and other employees were fired. However, Caringer, Ferrero and Casey Palmer remained on-air. Caringer stayed on as PD through the format change, eventually giving up the position when it became obvious he was no longer making management decisions, but simply an order taker from the consultant in Seattle. "Caringer and Friends" newscaster Bill Hess took the PD position. Several weeks later, Hess fired Caringer – and took over the morning show. (Caringer had just been voted "Most Popular Radio Personality" by The Valley Advocate.) Ann Strong did mid-days and Casey Palmer was the afternoon jock. Evening DJ Mary Ferrero, who lost her position to Strong, exited to become the production director at WMAS-AM-FM and Jennifer Fox took her place on WHYN-FM.

WHYN and WHYN-FM were later sold by Wilks-Schwartz to Radio Equity Partners who later sold to Clear Channel Communications (now

as a general assignment reporter.

Hot AC

WHYN-FM for many years was known as "93WHYN" and was an adult contemporary station that also blended oldies from the 1950s and 1960s in its playlist. The station also aired "Jukebox Saturday Night", a program DJ Frank Holler started on WDRC-FM, along with an oldies show with Phil D-e-e (Drumheller), which initially aired on Fridays, then moving to Saturdays after the departure of Frank Holler in 1997. The program was moved to WHYN in 1999. The station began evolving into a "hot adult contemporary" format by the late 1990s, and in 2000, WHYN-FM was rebranded as a "Mix" station similar to Clear Channel's other "Mix" stations across the nation.

WHYN-FM was home to the Dan (Williams) and Kim (Zachary) morning show. They were heard on Springfield radio for more than 15 years before the two were let go in late 2011. The Dan and Kim morning show originally began on WHYN in 1995 before switching over to the FM in 1997. Dan had gone through a series of morning co-hosts following some ownership and program director changes. Kim replaced Bo Sullivan as Dan's co-host and the show improved in the ratings almost immediately. Evenings were being "voice tracked" by Jennifer Fox (who was working at Clear Channel in Vermont). Due to budget constraints, the station fired her in late 2006^{[citation needed]} and was replaced by the syndicated John Tesh show at night. Evenings now feature the syndicated On with Mario Lopez.

Translator

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	ERP (W)	HAAT	Class	Transmitter coordinates	FCC info	Notes
W247DL	97.3 FM	Westfield, Massachusetts	144790	250	−83 m (−272 ft)	D	42°5′5″N 72°42′12″W / 42.08472°N 72.70333°W / 42.08472; -72.70333 (W247DL)	LMS	Relays WHYN-FM HD2 ("97.3 The Beat")

References

External links

• Mix 93.1 website
• 97.3 The Beat website
• WHYN in the FCC FM station database
• WHYN in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• W247DL in the FCC FM station database
• W247DL at FCCdata.org