WOLF-FM

WOLF-FM

City of license	De Ruyter, New York
Broadcast area	Central New York
Branding	Wolf 105-1
Frequency	105.1 MHz
First air date	June 6, 1948 (as WVCN)
Format	Country
ERP	33,000 watts
HAAT	185 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	22134
Callsign meaning	for branding WOLF 105.1
Former callsigns	WVCN (1948-1954) WRRD (1954-1961) WOIV (1961-1989) WVOA (1989-2001 WVOQ (4/2001-6/2001) WXBB (2001-2003) WWDG (2003-2009) WVOA-FM (5/2009-9/2009)
Owner	Craig Fox (80%) (Foxfur Communications, LLC)
Sister stations	WNDR-FM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wolf1051.com

WOLF-FM ("Wolf 105-1") is a country radio station serving the Syracuse area. The station, owned by Craig Fox and Samuel J. Furco, broadcasts at 105.1 MHz with an ERP of 33 kW and is licensed to De Ruyter, New York.

History

WVCN

WOLF-FM began operating June 6, 1948 at 105.1 MHz as WVCN, the Central New York outlet of the farm-oriented Rural Radio Network, a six-station group based in Ithaca. This pioneer FM network was the first to employ a direct off-air relay system instead of wire lines, with WVCN serving as the link between Ithaca flagship station WVFC and sister stations WVBN, Turin (which would cease operation in 1951) and WVCV, Cherry Valley. Its original General Electric 250 watt transmitter and four-section RCA FM Pylon antenna provided an ERP of 1.3 kW, horizontally-polarized. A 1 kW amplifier was added in April, 1951, increasing ERP to 5.3 kW, however this proved insufficient to cover the entire city of Syracuse with a predicted 1 mV/m (60 dBμ) signal.

WRRD/WOIV

On January 1, 1954, the DeRuyter station's callsign was changed to WRRD. After affiliating with New York City's WQXR, the group's programming began to shift toward classical music and a new identity as the "Northeast Radio Network" was introduced. In January 1961, ownership of the DeRuyter facility and its four sister stations was transferred to the Ivy Broadcasting Company, Inc., prompting a callsign change to WOIV. Five years later, the network changed hands again, this time to the Chenango & Unadilla (C&U) Telephone Company, which added a second 1 kW transmitter and a Collins/ERI model 300-5 dipole antenna to provide 4.9 kW in the vertical polarization. A 1968 merger with Continental Telephone forced divestiture of C&U's broadcast properties, and the entire group of five FM stations, then valued at $600,000, was donated to the Christian Broadcasting Network, headed by Pat Robertson.

WVOA/WXBB/The Dog/Nova 105.1

CBN raised funds to replace aging transmitter equipment and eliminated the off-air relay system in favor of a stereo 950 MHz link from the main studio in Ithaca. In September, 1972, an RCA BTF-10E1 transmitter and BFC-10 circularly-polarized antenna were installed, increasing the ERP to 42 kW and greatly improving coverage in Syracuse. In October, 1981, CBN sold WOIV to Forus Communications for $242,500 and in 1989, the call sign was changed again to WVOA. Cram Communications, headed by Syracuse broadcast entrepreneur Craig Fox, operated the station under a religious format from 1994 to 2001, then sold it for $5 million to Clear Channel, which converted it to a satellite of WBBS with the calls WXBB. After one year it flipped to active rock as WWDG "The Dog" in 2002, but after four years of struggling ratings it flipped to "Nova 105.1," a hot adult contemporary format, in July 2006.

Love Radio105.1/Radio Disney

On March 6, 2009, Craig Fox purchased the station back from Aloha, for only $1.25 million. The deal closed two months later, after which Fox and partner Samuel J. Furco temporarily took the station off the air. Foxfur Communications restored the former WVOA call letters and brought the station back on the air on May 19, 2009 as WVOA-FM.

On August 14, 2009, WVOA-FM began stunting. The station started off simulcasting Radio Disney affiliate WOLF-AM,^[1]

Wolf 105-1

After just two weeks with the Radio Disney format, the station then began stunting with a loop of "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran and then an all hair band format, before finally settling on August 28, 2009 on a country music format at 4pm as "Wolf 105-1".

Airstaff

The current lineup (as of February 8, 2010) Starting out the day on the morning drive from 5am-10am is the syndicated Big D and Bubba. Middays from 10am-3pm is Taylor Smith. On the afternoon drive from 3pm-7pm its Skip Clark. Wrapping up the day on nights is the syndicated CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan. Whitney Allen has been added for overnights.

WOLF-FM program director is current afternoon drive host Skip Clark. Weather reports are handled by Tom Hauf, weekend meteorologist at WSYR-TV.

Repeaters and Translators

References

External links

• CNYRadio.com Station Wiki entry on WWDG
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WOLF
• Radio-Locator information on WOLF
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WOLF
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WWLF
• Radio-Locator information on WWLF
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WWLF

Coordinates: 42°46′59″N 75°50′28″W / 42.783°N 75.841°W / 42.783; -75.841