 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Syracuse metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 620kHz |
| Branding | Power 620 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBBS,WSYR,WSYR-FM,WWHT,WYYY | |
| History | |
First air date | 1941 |
Former call signs | WAGE (1941–1954) |
Call sign meaning | the word "when" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 7080 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 43°5′32.24″N76°11′20.73″W / 43.0922889°N 76.1890917°W /43.0922889; -76.1890917 |
| Translator(s) | 101.7 W269DT (Syracuse) |
| Repeater(s) | 106.9WSYR-FM-HD2 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | power620 |
WHEN (620kHz "Power 620") is acommercialAM radio station inSyracuse, New York. WHEN airs anurban adult contemporaryradio format and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc.[2] The station carriesThe Steve Harvey Morning Show and theKeith Sweat Hotel, which aresyndicated by iHeart subsidiaryPremiere Networks. The offices and studios are on Plum Street in Syracuse.[3]
WHEN is powered at 5,000 watts by day, using anon-directional antenna. To avoid interfering with other stations onAM 620, WHEN reduces power at night to 1,000 watts and uses adirectional antenna. Thetransmitter is off Old Liverpool Road inLiverpool.[4] Programming is also heard on 50 wattFM translatorW269DT at 101.7MHz.[5] It is also simulcast on theHD radio subchannel ofWSYR-FM-HD2 at 106.9 MHz.
WHEN firstsigned on in 1941 as a 1,000-wattdaytimer, started by local real estate agent Frank Revoir, under thecall sign WAGE.[6] At first it operated as aMutual Broadcasting Systemnetwork affiliate. Then it carried theNBC Blue Network and stayed with that service when it becameABC.
By the mid 1940s, WAGE got permission to broadcast at 1,000 watts around the clock. Daytime power was increased to its present 5,000 watts in 1949, while remaining at 1,000 watts at night.
In 1954, the station was acquired by theMeredith Corporation, founder ofWHEN-TV, the city's first television station, which had signed on in 1948. AM 620 became WHEN, sharing the television station's call letters. WHEN became an affiliate of theCBS Radio Network, replacingWFBL, and began airingmiddle of the road music with a sizable news staff. This was part of a five-station agreement that also sawKCMO-AM-TV andWOW-AM-TV switch network affiliations toCBS, as a compensation for the loss of Phoenix stationKPHO-TV's CBS affiliation; WHEN-TV was already the CBS television affiliate in Syracuse.[7]
In the 1970s, the station became famous for playing a jingle during the testing of theEmergency Broadcast System, a practice that was outlawed by theFederal Communications Commission by the end of the decade. This jingle version was spoofed by the bandNegativland in the song "It's All In Your Head FM". The producer of the song wasJerry Moss.
During the 1970s and 1980s, WHEN became a dominant station in the Syracuse metropolitan area, once again affiliating withABC for world and national news. Under the ownership first of Meredith Corporation and then of theRoy H. Park organization (Park Communications), WHEN regularly topped the ratings in prime 18-49demographic by offering afull-service personalityadult contemporary format with a 24-hour-a-day, 7 day a week newsroom operation.
WHEN was one of the pioneer adult contemporary stations in the country during the early 1970s. It was aimed specifically at young adult listeners who had grown up with the first generation of rock music and still enjoyed upbeat contemporary songs, but had begun to regard mosttop 40 stations as too juvenile in their presentation. The station blended an adult presentation with up-tempo music and full service information elements, serving as a model for other stations seeking a similar audience, along with format pioneers likeWGAR inCleveland,WGR inBuffalo andWNBC in New York City. The formula kept WHEN a market leader for a decade and a half, until late in the 1980s when many music listeners began moving to FM.
In the early 1990s, WHEN changed to atalk andsports format. In addition to daytime talk shows, the station featured play-by-play ofBuffalo Billsfootball,Syracuse Chiefs minor league baseball andSyracuse CrunchAHLhockey.[8]
In 1999, the station was bought byClear Channel Communications, a forerunner of current owner iHeartMedia. Clear Channel also owned WHEN's chief news/talk competitorWSYR, so WHEN became an all-sports station, allowing WSYR to concentrate on local news and talk programming. WHEN kept its schedule of Bills, Chiefs and Crunch play by play, and aired syndicated sports shows.
On December 22, 2010, WHEN changed its format tourban adult contemporary, branded as "Power 620". The format change preceded abandonment of the format on co-ownedWPHR-FM, which switched to a simulcast of WSYR on the FM band to fill in areas in Syracuse's western, southern and eastern suburbs where WSYR's AM directional signal pattern provides poor coverage.
The station uses the slogan "Central New York's Only R&B". AnFM translator at 101.7 MHz was added to broadcast WHEN programming on the FM dial in Syracuse and its adjacent suburbs.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W269DT | 101.7 FM | Syracuse, New York | 140439 | 50 | D | 43°3′1.2″N76°9′0.7″W / 43.050333°N 76.150194°W /43.050333; -76.150194 (W269DT) | LMS |