 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Binghamton |
| Frequency | 680kHz |
| Branding | US 96.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Classic Country |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBBI,WBNW-FM,WENE,WKGB-FM,WMXW | |
| History | |
First air date | August 5, 1946; 79 years ago (1946-08-05) |
Former frequencies | 1490kHz (1946–1952) |
Call sign meaning | "Winner" (former branding) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 67191 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 42°06′53″N75°51′16″W / 42.11472°N 75.85444°W /42.11472; -75.85444 |
| Translator | 96.9 W245BV (Endwell) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | us969 |
WINR (680AM, "US 96.9") is acommercial radio station broadcasting aclassic country formatlicensed toBinghamton, New York, and owned byiHeartMedia, Inc.[2] WINR's studios are on North Jensen Road inVestal.
By day, WINR is powered at 5,000 watts. Since680 AM is aclear channel frequency, WINR must reduce power at night to 500 watts to protect other stations from interference. Programming is also heard onFM translator 96.9 W245BV inEndwell. It uses the FM dial position in its moniker, "U.S. 96.9."
WINR is Binghamton's second-oldest radio station,signing on the air on August 5, 1946, at 1490kilocycles. It was anaffiliate of theNBC Red Network. The station was founded by the Southern Tier Radio Service, Inc., a firm owned by Donald W. Kramer (1907–1986), a Binghamton attorney who later served as that city's mayor from 1950 until 1957.[3][4][5][6]
Early print advertisements for the station, such as in theBinghamton Press[7] andBroadcasting magazine[8][9] featured the likeness of locally raisedthoroughbredExterminator, winner of the1918 Kentucky Derby who served as the inspiration for the WINR call letters ("Winner").
In April 1951 theFederal Communications Commission granted WINR permission to relocate from 1490 to its present dial location at 680 AM. The move occurred in early 1952.[10][11]
In August 1954, WINR was awarded aconstruction permit to build Binghamton's second television station. It took the call letters WINR-TV (channel 40) when it went on the air in November 1957.[12][13] Several months earlier in January 1957, Southern Tier Radio Service sold WINR and its channel 40 permit to theBinghamton Press, an arm of the then-Rochester-basedGannett Company newspaper chain.[14][15][16][17] WINR-TV was primarily anNBC affiliate, since the radio station also carried NBC programming.
Gannett split up the stations through separate sales in 1971: WINR radio was sold to aMobile, Alabama-based broadcaster, while WINR-TV went to tower manufacturer Stainless, Inc., which changed that outlet's call sign toWICZ-TV.[18][19]
In the late 1990s, WINR switched to anadult standards format. Its core artists includedFrank Sinatra,Dean Martin,Barbra Streisand andNat King Cole. In the early 2000s, WINR was host to the nationally syndicated nightlyadult standards radio program "The Clinton Ferro Program" starring Clinton Ferro. It ran from 2000 to 2002. The show was syndicated in 82 markets nationwide until Ferro's passing in 2002.[citation needed]
On January 25, 2012, WINR changed its format from adult standards tooldies, branded as "Oldies 680". On April 11, 2013, WINR rebranded as "Oldies 96-9" after the station added an FM translator, W245BV (96.9 FM) inEndwell.[20]
On December 8, 2014, WINR changed its format toclassic country. It began calling itself the moniker "US 96.9".[21]