WPTR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is on the current incarnation of WPTR on 96.7 MHz and that frequency's history. For the longtime home of WPTR and its history at 1540 kHz, see WDCD.
| WPTR | |
 |
|
| City of license | Clifton Park, New York |
|---|---|
| Branding | Albany's #1 Christian Music Station |
| Slogan | Pulse 96.7 |
| First air date | 1986 |
| Frequency | 96.7 MHz |
| Format | Contemporary Christian music |
| Power | 4.7 kW |
| ERP | 6 kW |
| Class | A |
| Callsign meaning | W PaTRoon Broadcasting Company (original licensee of WPTR, 1948) |
| Former callsigns | WCSF (1985-87) WVKZ-FM (1987-90) WWCP-FM (1990-95) WXXO (1995-97) WDCD-FM (1997-99) WDCD (2000-04) |
| Owner | Crawford Broadcasting |
| Website | www.967wptr.com |
WPTR (Pulse 96.7) is a Contemporary Christian music station licensed to Clifton Park, New York and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Crawford Broadcasting, and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower in Clifton Park, New York which is shared with WKKF and WABT.
The latest frequency to sport the heritage WPTR calls (longtime of 1540 AM and briefly on 96.3 FM), the station is the first full-time Contemporary Christian station in the Capital Region and, in 2005, became the first station to broadcast in HD Radio, preceding WGY by several months.
[edit] History
What now is WPTR first signed on in December 1985 as WCSF airing a Saratoga County-targeted Adult Contemporary format even though the signal covered the main cities of the Capital District well. Various difficulties led WCSF's ownership to sell the station to KV Communications of Burlington VT. in late 1986. KV Communications also purchased WWWD, an AM station in neighboring Schenectady. In March 1987, WWWD and WCSF joined in a Rock-based CHR simulcast with WWWD becoming WVKZ and WCSF becoming WVKZ-FM. The two stations would later split off for most of the day with 96.7 taking the KZ-96.7 branding.
Changes in rock music as a genre coupled with a gult of CHR stations in the Albany market led ownership to change WVKZ-FM to an early Hot Adult Contemporary format in 1990 as WWCP-FM (Capital 96-7). Though set apart from several rival stations and a mild success, financial problems led to the sale of WVKZ to Capital OTB (the regional off-track betting agency) and that of WWCP-FM to Jarad Broadcasting, owners of famed Long Island station WDRE, a move done in part due to the large amount of Long Island expatriates and college students in the Albany area.
In the Fall of 1992, several months after closing on WWCP-FM, Jarad Broadcasting launched the WDRE-based Underground Network, a progressive-leaning alternative rock format. Though a critical success in lieu of being a networked format, the format did not join any ratings success and on some occasions nearly did not show in quarterly ratings. These difficulties led Jarad to break from the network in early 1995 and flipped WWCP-FM to oldies as WXXO. With no FM oldies station in the market, the station entered the Top 10 in its first book, however this success would be short lived as Jarad began to sell its non-Long Island holdings.
Early in 1996, Jarad would find a buyer in WDCD owner Crawford Broadcasting, which took WXXO over that March and began a simulcast of WDCD's Christian radio format. In July 1997, the calls would change to WDCD-FM and the format would remain on the 96.7 frequency after WDCD split off and flipped to adult standards, reclaiming its heritage WPTR calls, at the start of 2000.
On March 16, 2004, WDCD and WPTR would swap formats and calls with 96.7 flipping to adult standards. This format would serve merely a placeholder as on July 15 of that year the current CCM format would debut.
[edit] External link
In-Town:
88.3 | 89.1 | 89.7 | 90.3 | 90.7/94.9 | 90.9 | 91.5 | 92.3 | 93.7 | 94.5 | 95.5 | 96.3 | 96.7
98.3 | 99.5 | 100.9 | 102.3 | 103.1 | 103.9 | 104.5 | 104.9 | 105.7 | 106.5 | 107.7
Outside the Metro
Saratoga Springs/Glens Falls and Vermont: 91.9 | 94.7 | 95.9 | 97.5 | 98.5 | 100.3
101.3 | 101.7 | 102.7 | 107.1
Mohawk Valley: 97.3 | 97.7 | 101.9 | 103.5
Columbia/Greene Counties: 93.5 | 97.9 | 98.5
| Radio stations in the Saratoga Springs / Glens Falls market (Arbitron #unranked) |
| AM Stations
590 | 810 | 980 | 1160 | 1230 | 1250 | 1300 | 1330 | 1340 | 1400 | 1410 | 1450 | 1460 | 1540 |
| In-Market FM Stations
89.7 | 90.3 | 90.9 | 91.1 | 91.9 | 92.3 | 92.7 | 94.1 | 94.7 | 95.5 | 95.9 | 96.7 | 97.5 | 98.5 |
| Out-of-Market FM Stations serving/available in Saratoga
88.3 | 89.1 | 91.5 | 93.7 | 98.3 | 99.5 | 100.9 | 103.1 | 103.9 | 104.9 |
