WYAI

Infobox Radio station
name = WYAI


city = Scotia, New York
area = Capital District, eastern Mohawk Valley
branding =
slogan =
airdate = April 22, 2002 (was on 93.5 Corinth 1980-2002)
frequency = 93.7 MHz
format = Christian rock
power =
erp = 6 kW
class = A
callsign_meaning = We're Your Air I
former_callsigns = WSCG (93.5 Corinth, 1980-91) WZZM-FM (93.5 Corinth, 1991-2001) WHTR (93.5 Corinth, 2001-02) WHTR-FM (2002) WKRD (2002-04) WEGB (2004) WEGQ (2004-06) WOOB (2006-07)
owner = EMF Broadcasting
webcast =
website = [http://www.air1.com www.air1.com]
affiliations =

WYAI is a Christian rock radio station licensed to Scotia, New York and serving the Capital District and Mohawk Valley of New York. The station is owned by EMF Broadcasting and broadcasts at 93.7 MHz at 6 kilowatts ERP from a location in Pattersonville-Rotterdam Junction, New York. It broadcasts EMF's "Air 1" format. [ [http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=566884&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=2/27/2007] Times Union article accessed February 28, 2006]

Past Formats

WYAI moved into the Albany market from Corinth (where it was on 93.5 MHz) in 2002, signing on at 3:00 p.m. on April 22 of that year. The frequency has been quite unstable since the move, "Air 1" is the fifth format to occupy that frequency, the following formats preceded it:
*April 22 2002-August 30 2002: WHTR-FM, "Hot Talk 93.7 WHTR"
**Simulcast on AM 1400 (the original WABY, now WAMC), the station's key personalities were former WPYX-FM morning co-host John Mulrooney in morning drive and the syndicated Opie and Anthony show in afternoon drive; most weekend programming was a simulcast of "K-Rock" WKRL Syracuse albeit with local ads. Within four months, Mulrooney was fired and the "Sex for Sam" incident ended Opie and Anthony's original syndication attempt.
*August 30 2002-January 22 2004: WKRD, "K-Rock" (Alternative rock)
**Outside of drivetimes, the WKRL simulcasts on WHTR were the highest rated programs on the station (impressive given the presence of two full-time stations in the market). With a hole to quickly fill, an Albany-centric version of K-Rock hit the air. The station became notable for hiring former WGY afternoon host JR Gach . [ [http://www.jrshowonline.com] JR Show Online ] for mornings in January 2003 after being released from WGY. This format was simulcast on 1400 until Galaxy sold that station in April 2003.
*January 22 2004-January 4 2006: WEGB/WEGQ, "The Eagle" (classic country music)
**Unlike WHTR and WKRD, the nearly two years the 93.7 frequency played satellite-fed country music from the 1960s to 1980s was quiet outside of a call letter squabble (WRGB complained that the WEGB calls were too similar) The station had only one local personality, former WYJB afternoon personality Chris Holmberg who left for Galaxy on the heels of WYJB's first #1 (12+) ratings book.
*January 4, 2006 - July 6, 2007: "WOOB" rock station. Operated as "The Bone", and featured "Everything that Rocks" and J. R. Gach Mornings with co-host Pi. [ [http://www.fivedollarfreakshow.com] Pi ] and traffic gal Alecia.

Prior to 2002

WYAI's heritage can be traced back to WSCG, which signed on 93.5 MHz licensed to Corinth on October 23 1980. For much of the 1980s, WSCG played easy listening music before flipping to country music. In early 1991, WSCG relaunched as WZZM-FM (no relation to the TV station of those calls in Battle Creek, Michigan) and became a largely satellite-fed station as "Z-Country".

In the late 1990's, then-owners 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 at the start of 2001 moved the oldies format of 107.1 WHTR to 93.5 and relaunched Z-Country as the locally-run WFFG on 107.1. Galaxy purchased the station in late-2001 and surprisingly retained the WHTR calls with the move, a rarity among move-in stations.

The Bone is broken—long live Air 1!

WOOB officially became WYAI on July 6, 2007.

References

External links