WHEN
Encyclopedia
WHEN is a radio station
broadcasting an urban adult contemporary
format, simulcasting on the HD sub channel for WSYR-FM
106.9 FM HD-2. Licensed to Syracuse, New York
, USA, the station serves the Syracuse area. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications
.
WHEN first signed on in 1941 with a 1,000 watt signal, started by local realtor Frank Revoir under the callsign WAGE. It operated as the NBC "Blue" network affiliate for the region, and after that network was broken off from NBC in 1943, the ABC affiliate. Daytime power was increased to its present 5,000 watts after World War II. It was acquired by Meredith Corporation, founder of WHEN-TV, the city's first television station, in 1954 and began sharing the television station's call letters and its ties to CBS.
In the 1970s, the station became famous for playing a jingle during their testing of the Emergency Broadcast System
, a practice that was outlawed by the Federal Communications Commission
by the end of the decade. This jingle version was parodized by the band Negativland
in their song "It's All In Your Head FM." The producer of the song was Jerry Moss
.
Also during the 1970s and 1980s (and once again affiliated with ABC for network news service) WHEN became a dominant station in the Syracuse metropolitan area. Under the ownership first of Meredith Corporation and then of the Roy Park organization, WHEN regularly topped the ratings in prime 18-49 demographics well into the 1980s by offering a full-service personality adult 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 18-49 listeners who had grown up with the first generation of rock music and still enjoyed upbeat contemporary songs, but had begun to regard most top 40 stations as too juvenile in their presentation...the blend of adult presentation with up-tempo music and full service information elements proved a winner with young adult listeners and served as a model for other stations seeking a similar audience, along with format pioneers like WGAR in Cleveland, WGR in Buffalo and WNBC in New York. The formula kept WHEN a market leader for a decade and a half, until late in the 1980s when many music listeners were moving on to FM.
Since the late 1980s it has changed ownership and format several times, including periods with a largely syndicated sports format under Clear Channel ownership.
On December 22, 2010 WHEN changed their format to urban adult contemporary, branded as "Power 620". The format change preceded abandonment of the format on co-owned WPHR-FM 106.9 (now WSYR-FM) in favor of a simulcast of WSYR-AM
570 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. WHEN simulcasts its Urban Adult Contemporary format on the FM dial on WSYR-FM
106.9 HD-2
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcasting an urban adult contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format, simulcasting on the HD sub channel for WSYR-FM
WSYR-FM
WPHR-FM is an American radio station licensed in Gifford, Florida, serving the Vero Beach / Fort Pierce market. The station, owned and operated by the Aloha Stations Trust, airs talk shows....
106.9 FM HD-2. Licensed to Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, USA, the station serves the Syracuse area. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
WHEN first signed on in 1941 with a 1,000 watt signal, started by local realtor Frank Revoir under the callsign WAGE. It operated as the NBC "Blue" network affiliate for the region, and after that network was broken off from NBC in 1943, the ABC affiliate. Daytime power was increased to its present 5,000 watts after World War II. It was acquired by Meredith Corporation, founder of WHEN-TV, the city's first television station, in 1954 and began sharing the television station's call letters and its ties to CBS.
In the 1970s, the station became famous for playing a jingle during their testing of the Emergency Broadcast System
Emergency Broadcast System
The Emergency Broadcast System was an emergency warning system in the United States, used from 1963 to 1997, when it was replaced by the Emergency Alert System.-Purpose:...
, a practice that was outlawed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
by the end of the decade. This jingle version was parodized by the band Negativland
Negativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
in their song "It's All In Your Head FM." The producer of the song was Jerry Moss
Jerry Moss
Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....
.
Also during the 1970s and 1980s (and once again affiliated with ABC for network news service) WHEN became a dominant station in the Syracuse metropolitan area. Under the ownership first of Meredith Corporation and then of the Roy Park organization, WHEN regularly topped the ratings in prime 18-49 demographics well into the 1980s by offering a full-service personality adult 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 18-49 listeners who had grown up with the first generation of rock music and still enjoyed upbeat contemporary songs, but had begun to regard most top 40 stations as too juvenile in their presentation...the blend of adult presentation with up-tempo music and full service information elements proved a winner with young adult listeners and served as a model for other stations seeking a similar audience, along with format pioneers like WGAR in Cleveland, WGR in Buffalo and WNBC in New York. The formula kept WHEN a market leader for a decade and a half, until late in the 1980s when many music listeners were moving on to FM.
Since the late 1980s it has changed ownership and format several times, including periods with a largely syndicated sports format under Clear Channel ownership.
On December 22, 2010 WHEN changed their format to urban adult contemporary, branded as "Power 620". The format change preceded abandonment of the format on co-owned WPHR-FM 106.9 (now WSYR-FM) in favor of a simulcast of WSYR-AM
WSYR (AM)
WSYR is a 5,000 watt radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York. Owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications, it broadcasts a talk radio format under the moniker "Newsradio 106.9 WSYR." It was previously billed as "Newsradio 570 WSYR" until it became a simulcast with WPHR-FM in January...
570 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. WHEN simulcasts its Urban Adult Contemporary format on the FM dial on WSYR-FM
WSYR-FM
WPHR-FM is an American radio station licensed in Gifford, Florida, serving the Vero Beach / Fort Pierce market. The station, owned and operated by the Aloha Stations Trust, airs talk shows....
106.9 HD-2