 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Capital District |
| Frequency | 95.5MHz |
| Branding | B95.5 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WAJZ,WFLY,WINU,WKLI-FM,WROW | |
| History | |
First air date | 1966 (as WROW-FM) |
Former call signs | WROW-FM (1966–1993) |
Call sign meaning | None; randomly assigned by the FCC |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 836 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 12,000watts |
| HAAT | 312 meters (1,024 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°38′11.3″N73°59′58.5″W / 42.636472°N 73.999583°W /42.636472; -73.999583 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | b95.com |
WYJB (95.5FM) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toAlbany, New York, and serving theCapital District, includingSchenectady andTroy. The station is owned byPamal Broadcasting and broadcasts anadult contemporaryradio format, switching toChristmas music for much of November and December. On weekday evenings, WYJB carries thenationally syndicated call-in and dedications show hosted byDelilah. The station'sradio studios and offices are on Johnson Road inLatham.[2]
WYJB has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 12,000watts. Ittransmits from the Helderberg Mountains antenna farm off Pinnacle Road inVoorheesville.[3]
The 95.5 frequency was originally allocated to the unbuilt WXKW-FM in 1950. Itsigned on in 1966 as WROW-FM,sister station toCapital Cities Communicationsflagship outletWROW (590 AM). Initially, itsimulcast the AM'sbeautiful music programming. WROW-AM-FM played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumentalcover versions of popular songs, with someBroadway andHollywood show tunes.
Around 1967, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) required FM stations in larger cities to originate their own programming. WROW-FM began "shadowcasting" itseasy listening sound. The AM and FM station continued to run the same commercials and aired similar music, but not exactly at the same time. Announcers would prerecord weather and news briefs for the FM, while reading them live on the AM station. Technically, they were separately programmed, although most listeners did not realize it. This arrangement remained until after Capital Cities sold the WROW stations in 1983, at which point the FM became the primary station and the AM station became the simulcast.
By the late 1980s, easy listening stations began attracting older listeners, so WROW-FM began to modernize its sound with more soft vocals and fewer instrumentals. WROW-FM evolved to asoft adult contemporary format asEZ95.5 in early 1991, with easy listening moving solely to the AM side. In 1993, the WROW stations were sold to Albany Broadcasting (forerunner to today'sPamal Broadcasting), at which point an overhaul of the station took place.
On January 3, 1994,EZ95.5 relaunched with a more mainstream AC sound asThe New B95.5 with the WYJBcall sign coming into effect several days prior. Within five years of the launch, B95.5 forced the weaker competition out of the AC format, including 100.9 WKLI and many of its future rival stations, such as94.5 FM andBuzz 105.7.
In 2001,Delilah was added to the station in the evenings afterWKLI (then on 94.5 FM) flipped toclassic rock; and continued to develop a slighthot AC lean. Five years later, the long-time morning showChuck and Kelly moved to competitorWBZZ (originally on 104.5, later on 105.7), and Ric Mitchell and Laura Daniels (formerly ofWFLY) were named Chuck and Kelly's replacements. In2010, Ric Mitchell left WYJB, with Chuck Taylor returning to the morning show shortly after. When WBZZ dumped adult contemporary that year, it left WYJB and rimshot competitor WQAR (nowWJKE) as Albany's onlyadult contemporary radio stations.
On November 9, 2011, the station switched toChristmas music for the first time, in response to the flip ofoldies station 98.3WTRY-FM to all-Christmas the same day. Shortly after Christmas, the station tweaked into more of a hot AC sound with new slogans and jingles. However, the station still reports asadult contemporary onNielsen BDS andMediabase charts.