WHYN-FM
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| WHYN-FM | |
| City of license | Springfield, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Branding | Mix 93.1 |
| Frequency | 93.1 MHz |
| Format | Hot Adult Contemporary |
| ERP | 8,600 watts |
| HAAT | 305 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 55758 |
| Owner | Clear Channel |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.mix931.com |
WHYN-FM (Mix 93.1) is a hot adult contemporary radio station broadcasting from Springfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. WHYN-FM broadcasts from Mount Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and can be heard as far south as south central Connecticut.
WHYN-FM simulcast their AM station (see WHYN) during the early sixties. In the mid-sixties, WHYN-FM began separate programming than their rock and roll AM counterpart. The format chosen was what was known as MOR (Middle Of The Road) music. In fact, it was syndicated as "Format 44" around the country. The music would now be branded more as Muzak than anything. The DJs played sets of music followed by a stop-set (commercial break) and then announcing what was heard. Unlike the rock and roll formats of the era, the musical introductions of songs were not talked over and there was usually a little dead-air between the songs. The jingles used on the air were mainly lengthy cuts provided by Pepper-Tanner (now Jones TM), and in 1974, WHYN-FM was the pilot station for William B. Tanner's "Easy Going" jingle series. WHYN's long-time morning team consisted of Frank Knight (Katilus) and news man Ron Russell (DeMatteo). A number of other radio personalities worked on the station including Dave Mack, Bob Holland (a/k/a Holland Cooke), Rich Roy (later on WHYN-AM) and others.
WHYN-FM continued to program "Beautiful Music" (easy listening music) late into the seventies. After being purchased by Affiliated Communications (division of Affiliated Publications - owner of the Boston Globe) the station's format (under program director Andy Carey) was switched to a more Adult Contemporary music format geared towards the 18-54 female demographics. At that point, Frank Knight and Ron Russell exited to be the morning team on Lappin Communications WMAS for their Music Of Your Life format.
In the mid-eighties, WHYN-AM/FM was sold to R&R Broadcasting (Robinson & Reece). The decision was made, by Group Program Director Alan Anderson, to change the call letters to WHFM and program a soft AC format and gear their programming to the general Hartford/Springfield Market in hopes of gaining listeners to the south. The IDs at the top of the hour quietly stated the Springfield city of license and the concept was that the station was THE GIANT, a mythocal entity broadcasting down to all of the people. After several months, it became obvious this approach was not working. Larry Caringer, hired by Anderson as Assistant PD and Mornings was given the reins as PD. With Mary Ferrero as Music Director, the two fashioned a blend of Rock and Pop and within one rating period, WHFN was number 18-49. Caringer and Friends was the number one morning show in Springfield.
In late 1987, WHFM was sold to Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting. The purchase of WHYN (FM & AM) involved a swap, of sorts. FCC rules, at the time, didn't allow multiple ownership of stations in a market. So, in order to sell WAQY-FM (Rock) Wilks-Schwartz, had to agree to change the format of their new FM (WHFM) to something that didn't compete with WAQY-FM (Rock). Much of the staff (on and off-air) was fired. However, Caringer, Ferrero and KC Palmer remained on-air. Caringer remained as PD through the format change, eventually giving up the position when it became obvious he was no longer the Program Director -- but, simply an order taker from the consultant in Seattle. Caringer and Friends News Guy, Bill Hess took the PD position. Several weeks later, Hess fired Caringer - and took over the morning show. (Ironically, Caringer had just been voted "Most Popular Radio Personality" by The Valley Advocate.) Ann Strong did mid-days and Casey Palmer was the afternoon jock. Evening DJ Mary Ferrero, who lost her position to Strong, exited to become the Production Director at WMAS-AM/FM and Jennifer Fox took her place.
WHYN-FM was later sold by Wilks-Schwartz to Clear Channel.
WHYN-FM for many years was known as "93WHYN" and was an Adult Contemporary station that also blended in oldies from the 1950's and 1960's in with its playlist. The station also aired a "Saturday Night Oldies" show with Phil D-e-e (Drumheller), which moved to WHYN-AM in 1999. The station began evolving into its current "hot adult contemporary" format by the late 1990's, and in 2000, WHYN was rebranded as a "Mix" station similar to its other "Mix" stations across the nation.
Mix is home to the Dan (Williams) and Kim (Zachary) morning show, a fixture on Springfield radio for several years, along with other longtime radio personalities. Evenings were being "voice tracked" by Jennifer Fox (who was working at Clear Channel in Vermont). Due to budget constraints, they ax-ed her in late 2006 and now air the syndicated John Tesh show at night.
[edit] External links
- Mix 93.1 website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WHYN
- Radio Locator information on WHYN
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WHYN
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