 | |
| Broadcast area | Capital District |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 93.7MHz |
| Branding | Air1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian worship |
| Affiliations | Air1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| History | |
First air date | 1980 (in Corinth) April 22, 2002 (Scotia) |
Former call signs | WSCG (1980-91, Corinth) WZZM-FM (1991–2001, Corinth) WHTR (2001-02, Corinth) WHTR-FM (2002) WKRD (2002-04) WEGB (2004) WEGQ (2004-06) WOOB (2006-07) |
Former frequencies | 93.5 MHz (1980–2002, Corinth) |
Call sign meaning | W AlbanYAirI |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 1,250watts |
| HAAT | 215 meters (705 ft) |
| Translators | 104.3 W282BI (Coxsackie) 104.3 W282AD (East Windham)[1] |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | air1.com |
WYAI (93.7FM) is a listener-supported, non-commercialChristian worshipradio station licensed toScotia, New York, and serving theCapital District andMohawk Valley. The station is owned byEducational Media Foundation and broadcasts at 1,250wattseffective radiated power from a location nearRotterdam Junction, New York. The station is anowned-and-operated station (O&O) of EMF'sAir1 network.[2]
The history of WYAI dates back to December 1981, when 93.5 signed on inCorinth as country station WSCG. WSCG was a live 24-hour-a-day operation throughout the 1980s, that ran into financial difficulties in the early 1990s. In early 1991, WSCG left the air, returning under new ownership in the summer of 1991, as beautiful music station WZZM. WZZM encountered financial problems of its own by early 1993, and left the air itself. It returned to the air, during the summer of 1993, as an Oldies station. It abruptly left the air again in March 1994. It returned to the air in May 1994, still doing oldies, but flipped to country two weeks later asZ-Country 93.
In the late 1990s, Bradmark Communications began studies for moving the station down to the Albany market and selling it at a profit. These plans were expanded when Bradmark sold the stations to Vox Media in 2000, which in March 2001, moved the oldies format of 107.1 WHTR to 93.5, and relaunched the Z-Country format as the locally-runWFFG (Froggy 107.1). Galaxy purchased the station in late 2001, and surprisingly retained the WHTR calls with the move, a rarity among move-in stations.
WHTR moved into the Albany market fromCorinth (when it was moved to 93.7 MHz to protectWZCR's signal) in 2002, signing on at 3:00 p.m. on April 22, 2001. The call letters initially remained WHTR at that time, and took on theHot Talk 93.7 name with ahot talk format and simulcast on AM 1400 (the original WABY, now known asWAMC). The station's key personalities were formerWPYX morning co-hostJohn Mulrooney in morning drive and the syndicatedOpie and Anthony show in afternoon drive; most weekend programming was a simulcast ofK-RockWKRLSyracuse, albeit with local ads. Within four months, Mulrooney was fired and the "Sex for Sam" incident endedOpie andAnthony's original syndication attempt.
Outside of drivetimes, the WKRL simulcasts on WHTR-FM were the highest rated programs on the station (impressive given the presence of two full-time stations, WHRL (nowWGY-FM) and WQBK-FM (nowWPBZ-FM), in the market). With a hole to quickly fill, on August 30, 2002, the station took on theWKRD calls and flipped tomodern rock asK-Rock 93.7. The station became notable for hiring formerWGY afternoon host JR Gach for mornings in January 2003 after being released from WGY. This format was simulcast on 1400 until Galaxy sold that station in April 2003.
However, on January 22, 2004, WKRD abruptly flipped toclassic country as93.7 The Eagle, taking on theWEGB calls, which were quickly switched toWEGQ to alleviate confusion with television stationWRGB. For nearly two years, WEGQ playedDial Global satellite-fed classic country music from the 1960s to 1980s. The station had only one local personality under this format, formerWYJB afternoon personality Chris Holmberg who left for Galaxy on the heels of WYJB's first #1 (12+) ratings book.
On January 4, 2006, after simulcasting theEagle format onWRCZ (which was formerly94 Rock) for about a week, the station relaunched as93.7/94.5 The Bone, taking on theWOOB calls.The Bone had amainstream rock format with the taglineEverything That Rocks, and featuredJ. R. Gach in mornings with co-host Pi and traffic gal Alecia.
On February 16, 2007, theBone format ended anticlimactically right in the middle of the song "Ride the River" byEric Clapton, when Galaxy Communications exited the Albany market and sold both stations to Educational Media Fund in afire sale. WOOB was converted to anAir 1 O&O, broadcasting aChristian CHR format, and later changed its calls toWYAI several months later on July 6, 2007.
42°51′25″N74°04′01″W / 42.857°N 74.067°W /42.857; -74.067