WTNY

WTNY (790kHz) is acommercial AM radio station inWatertown, New York. The station airs atalk radio format and is owned by theStephens Media Group. Thestudios and offices are on Mullin Street.

WTNY
Watertown, New York

Frequency	790kHz
Branding	790 WTNY The News and Weather Station
Programming
Format	Talk
Affiliations	Premiere Networks Westwood One Fox News Radio
Ownership
Owner	Stephens Media Group (Stephens Media Group Watertown, LLC)
Sister stations	WCIZ-FM,WFRY-FM,WNER
History
First air date	April 29, 1941; 83 years ago (1941-04-29)
Former call signs	WWNY (1941–1981)
Call sign meaning	WaterTown,NY
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Class	B
Power	1,000watts
Translator(s)	95.9W240EA (Watertown)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.790WTNY.com

WTNY broadcasts at 1,000watts. By day it uses anon-directional antenna. But at night, to protect other stations onAM 790 it uses adirectional antenna with a three-tower array. Thetransmitter is on Ives Street Road.^[1] WTNY is heard onFM translatorW240EA at 95.9MHz.^[2]

Programming

edit

The station features a local weekday morning news and information show hosted by Bill Tinsley. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of mostlynationally syndicated conservative talk programs. They includeThe Glenn Beck Radio Program,The Dan Bongino Show,The Ben Shapiro Show,The Dave Ramsey Show,The Alex Jones Show,The Jim Bohannon Show andCoast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory.

Weekends feature repeats of weekday shows, as well as special interest programs on money and health. Sunday mornings feature asmooth jazz show,TheDave Koz Lounge. Most hours being with world and national news fromFox News Radio.

History

edit

On April 29, 1941, the stationsigned on the air.^[3] It was Watertown's second radio station, after 1240WATN went on the air only three months earlier. Thecall sign was originallyWWNY and it broadcast at 500 watts on 1300kilocycles. It was owned by the Brockway Company which also owned theWatertown Daily Times newspaper. WWNY had its studios in the Hotel Woodruff at 49 Public Square.

WWNY got aconstruction permit from theFederal Communications Commission to move to 790 kHz. That was coupled with a power increase to 1,000 watts, giving the station increased coverage. WWNY was anetwork affiliate ofCBS Radio, carrying its dramas, comedies, news, sports,soap operas,game shows andbig band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio."

In 1947, an FM station was added, WWNY-FM at 100.3MHz.^[4] The FM station largelysimulcast the programs on the AM station. Few people owned FM radios in the 1940s. Management saw little chance to make it profitable, so WWNY-FM was taken off the air in the 1950s and the license turned in to the FCC.

WWNY added a TV station in 1954, Channel 7 WCNY-TV.^[5] Because the TV station islicensed toCarthage, New York, outside Watertown, the two stations did not have the samecall sign. When the FCC relaxed the rules, the TV station switched toWWNY-TV. (TheWCNY-TV call letters are now used on aPBS television station inSyracuse, New York.)

In 1981, the TV station was sold toUnited Communications. WWNY-TV got to keep its call letters, so AM 790 slightly changed its call sign toWTNY. Through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, WTNY had amiddle of the road format of popular adult music, news, sports and talk. But in the 1990s, listeners switched from AM to FM for music. So WTNY added more talk shows and eventually went with anall-talk format. It remained a CBS Radio affiliate for world and national news coverage. In the 2000s, it switched toFox News Radio as its news network. CBS affiliation was picked up by rival talk station WATN1240 AM.

Alan Walts, the station's longtime morning host, retired in 2019.[1] He was replaced by veteran Northern New York broadcaster Bill Tinsley.^[6] WTNY added anFM translator in 2021. W240EA at 95.9MHz went on air on July 8 at 3:15 PM.