WHYN (AM)

Infobox Radio Station
name = WHYN


city = Springfield, Massachusetts
area = Springfield, Massachusetts
branding = WHYN NewsTalk 560
slogan = "Springfield's News and Information Leader"
airdate =
frequency = 560 (kHz)
format = News/Talk
erp = 5,000 watts (daytime)
1,000 watts (nighttime)
class = B
facility_id = 55757
owner = Clear Channel Communications
website = http://www.whyn.com/
callsign_meaning = W HolYoke Northampton

WHYN-AM 560 is a news/talk station in the Pioneer Valley area of Massachusetts, owned by Clear Channel Communications. It originally started at 1400 kHz (licensed to Northampton, Massachusetts) but moved to 560 in the 1950s. It was a Top 40 station "Big 56" and was idolized by many teens growing up in the Springfield area. Over the years, the station was known as Whyn (pronounced WIN) radio. As the eras passed in the rock 'n roll era, some of its monikers included CHANNEL 56; RADIO FIVE SIX OH; FIVE SIXTY W - H - Y - N; FUN FIVE SIXTY and THE BIG FIFTY SIX. Many jingles (mainly produced by PAMS) reflected these ongoing themes.

In the early sixties, WHYN was the dominant Top 40 radio station (competing with rival WSPR, which was on 1270 AM) with disk jockeys who were on the air for years. These included Phil D-e-e, Bob Allen, Bud Stone (deceased) and Little Davy Jones early in the decade. In 1968, the line up was Bob Allen, Lou Terri (deceased), Bud Williams, Ron Savage, Bob O'Brady, Norm Lambert, Dennis Lee and Fred King. Additional DJs through the rock 'n roll era into the seventies included (in no particular order) Larry Kruger, Jim Scott, Walt Cooper, Patti Piech, Chuck Adams, Bill Erickson (still doing news at WHYN-AM), Ed Mitchell, Jerry Daniels, Gerry Tower, Rich Roy (who was also on WHYN-FM in their beautiful music days), Mike Taylor, Jackson Hill, Jungleman, and others. In the eighties, DJs included Doug Hawkes, Charlie Donovan, Sherri McBride and Dan Williams (still at the station doing mornings on WHYN-FM with his wife, Kim Zachery). Some early airchecks of the station are at Northeast Airchecks and ReelRadio.

The station programmed mainstream Top 40 until FM stations became popular. Automated WACKY Radio (102.1 WAQY-FM) went on the air in 1972 and cleaned WHYN's clock. In fact, Jim (James Marshall) Rising was WAQY's first Program Director (circa 1976) after they began live programming. Jim came over from WHYN, where he was their morning show jock, to program WAQY. He brought along WHYN's Johnny (Himich?) Michaels.

WHYN was the radio home for the Boston Red Sox until 2007 when WVEI-FM took over. The station is now the highest-rated news station in the Pioneer Valley.

The station has undergone several ownership changes over the years starting with The Hampshire Gazette; Guy Gannett Broadcasting; Affiliated Communications (the broadcast division of The Boston Globe); R&R Broadcasting (Robinson & Reece); Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting; and now, Clear Channel Communications.

The "FM" side of WHYN (at 93.1 MHz) switched call letters for a while under the R&R ownership to WHFM and was known as "The Giant" -- with a concept of trying to grab listeners in the Hartford, CT area. It turned out to be a poor choice, and the execution was equally bad as ratings dropped heavily in the Springfield area as well as in nearby Hartford, Connecticut.

The station was always the top rocker during the rock 'n roll era prior to the FM dial's domination. But, it should be known that this IS a heritage station with a lengthy history. Originally, THE WHYN STATIONS CORPORATION (a division of Guy Gannett) had WHYN/AM-FM-TV. The TV was kept by Gannett after the radio was spun-off. The TV retains its original studio location and now operates as WGGB-TV (call letters stand for Good Guy Broadcasting, likely from a typical Radio slogan of the 1960s, used at WHYN at one time possibly) (now owned by Sinclair). The radio stations moved to downtown's "Marketplace" location, where they remain housed today along with sister station WPKX-FM (Country).

WHYN partners with the area's CBS affiliate WSHM-LP for winter weather storm coverage and closings.

External links

* [http://www.whyn.com WHYN website]
* [http://www.102themountain.com/showdj.asp?DJID=23721 Jim Rising's Website]
* [http://www.northeastairchecks.com Rick Kelly's New England Airchecks Website]
* [http://www.reelradio.com ReelRadio Dot Com Aircheck Repository]
* [http://www.big56.com Chris Tracy's WHYN Tribute Site]
*AMQ|WHYN
*AML|WHYN
*AMARB|WHYN