WWHT

WWHT (107.9 FM, "Hot 107-9") is a radio station that is licensed to Syracuse, New York. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format.

For the former Newark, New Jersey television station that used the WWHT calls, see WFUT-TV.
WWHT
CitySyracuse, New York
Broadcast areaCentral New York
Frequency107.9 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingHot 107.9
SloganAll The Hits
Programming
FormatFM/HD1: Top 40 (CHR)
HD2: 1990s music ("iHeart90s")
Ownership
OwneriHeartMedia
(iHM Licenses, LLC)
History
First air date
1956 (1956) (as WONO)
Former call signs
WONO (1956–1979)
WRRB (1979–1988)
WRHP(1988–1993)
WHEN-FM (1993–1996)
Technical information
ClassB
ERP50,000 watts
HAAT152 meters (499 ft)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
WebsiteHot 107.9

WWHT broadcasts in HD Radio.

History

The station signed on the air as WONO in 1956, with a classical music format. In 1979, the station's new owner, Roy H. Park Broadcasting, changed its call sign to WRRB and installed a country music format. Over the next decade and a half, 107.9 FM has changed formats and call letters several times; these formats included adult contemporary, album-oriented rock, easy listening/classical (as WRHP), and country again (as WHEN-FM, "Hit Country 108").

In 1996, WHEN-FM was sold to Cox Communications, owners of country format competitor WBBS (B104.7). On June 10 of that year, the station flipped to contemporary hit radio (CHR) with new call letters WWHT.[1] WWHT was one of a group of five stations included in a trade between Cox and Jacor Communications in 1999 when Cox exited the Syracuse market.[2] Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) subsequently acquired Jacor in April 1999.[3] While classified as a mainstream CHR and playing mainstream pop and rock, WWHT focused heavily on rhythmic and dance hits.

In 2010, WWHT added more rhythmic songs and reduced non-rhythmic content, a trend that several top-40 stations were adopting at the time, and by January 2011 had shifted completely to rhythmic top 40. This resulted in WWHT being moved from the mainstream top 40 reporting panels of both Nielsen BDS and Mediabase panels to their respective rhythmic panels in November 2011. In October 2012, WWHT returned to mainstream top 40, dropping almost all rhythmic-only content, but because most of the station's programming was voice-tracked, Nielsen BDS did not include its playlist in its Top 40/CHR panel.

HD Radio

WWHT broadcasts in HD Radio with three subchannels:

  • WWHT-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the analog FM signal.
  • WWHT-HD2 broadcasts "iHeart90s", a commercial-free all-1990s hits channel from the iHeartRadio streaming radio platform. The HD2 subchannel serves as the originating station for this service.

References
  1. http://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1996/R&R-1996-06-14.pdf
  2. "Cox Radio to Exchange Radio Stations with Jacor and Clear Channel". PR Newswire. 11 February 1999. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  3. Hofmeister, Sallie (5 October 1999). "Clear Channel to Buy Radio Leader AMFM in $15.9-Billion Deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2016.

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