WAMC

WAMC
City Albany, New York
Broadcast area Primary: Albany Capital District of New York; parts of Eastern New York; Southern Vermont, Western Massachusetts, Upper Northwest Connecticut
Secondary: West-Central Connecticut, southwestern New Hampshire, northwestern New Jersey, northeast Pennsylvania, a small portion of Quebec.[1]
Branding WAMC, Northeast Public Radio
Frequency See § Stations
Translator(s) See § Translators
First air date 1958 (1958)
Format Public Radio
Callsign meaning Albany Medical College/Center
Owner WAMC
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.wamc.org

WAMC is a public radio network headquartered in Albany, New York. The network has 12 broadcast radio stations (transmitters) and 16 broadcast relay stations (translators,repeaters).[2] One of the stations is an AM station: WAMC (AM) 1400 in Albany. [3] The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio."

In addition, the station operates The Linda/WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.

A member of NPR and affiliate of Public Radio International and American Public Media, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))[4] It had total annual revenues for the fiscal year 2010 of $6.36 million.

Its corporate officers include Anne Erickson, chair of the board of trustees, and Alan S. Chartock, president and chief executive officer (since 1981).

History

WAMC started in 1958 as a radio station for the local hospital and medical school, Albany Medical Center and Albany Medical College. Albany Medical Center is a large tertiary-care hospital serving the upper Hudson Valley, and the medical school (with which it is affiliated) is one of the country's ACGME-accredited medical schools. The affiliation with Albany Medical Center was the source of the call letters "WAMC".

The station's 24/7 non-commercial classical music format served a large listener base and was popular among music aficionados. The earliest years also included broadcasts of health information and lectures from visiting professors. Early on, part of WAMC's regular programming was the broadcast of live concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra from Tanglewood and Boston. When the NPR network was founded in 1970, WAMC signed-on as one of NPR's original 90 "charter" members. Around 1980, financial pressures caused the hospital and medical school to divest the station. In 1981, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license on 90.3 FM was transferred to a 501c3 tax-exempt entity, WAMC, Inc., which had been set up by a group of five corporators (amongst them the current CEO and president, Alan S. Chartock) affiliated with the State University of New York and New York State government. In the years since the transfer, the station has cut back on most classical music programming (live BSO concerts are still broadcast) while becoming a producer of information-based, non-music programming, providing a variety of interview-format programs to radio stations across the country via the station's in-house subsidiary, National Productions. (WMHT-FM in nearby Schenectady, New York and its network of repeater stations continues to program classical music in the region.)

Community and corporate contributions (often obtained during regular fund drives) have helped the original single station grow over the years into a network of 22 facilities with large primary service contours covering New York's Capital District, Western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey. WAMC-FM's main transmitter and antenna are atop Mount Greylock in Adams, Massachusetts, the highest mountain in the state. Despite its relatively modest 10,000-watt signal, the flagship 90.3 MHz's signal has a large radius for a transmitter of its size due to its high location; it provides at least grade B coverage to most of east-central New York (including the Capital District) southwestern Vermont, western Massachusetts, southwestern New Hampshire, and northwestern Connecticut.

It has been a custom on WAMC to play two songs to mark the end of every fund drive: Kate Smith's "God Bless America" and Ray Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful".

Criticism and views

Accusations of bias

NPR's official news policy says its affiliate stations should be "fair, unbiased, accurate, honest, and respectful of the people that are covered".[5]

A Washington-based NPR news producer, who requested anonymity, stated that Chartock, the station's president and a frequently heard voice on the station, presents politically-biased commentary.[6]

Chartock responded that WAMC’s editorial neutrality is maintained by "including as many conservative commentators on the air as liberal ones".[6]

Network expansion

WAMC has grown into a network of twelve stations and sixteen translators serving portions of seven states in New England and Mid-Atlantic States, bringing news, information and cultural programming. The station's February 2017 fund drive raised over $1,000,000 in less than one day.[7]

Miscellaneous

First Amendment Fund

In 2005, WAMC's board of trustees established a "First Amendment Fund" to promote and preserve the First Amendment and the right of free speech by providing a source of funding "to support WAMC if special situations or needs should arise". The contributions in this "unrestricted, board designated" fund reported on WAMC's 2006 IRS tax forms was $482,577.[8]

Original programming

WAMC produces many programs of its own. These include:

  • 51%
  • The Academic Minute
  • The Best of Our Knowledge
  • The Book Show
  • The Capitol Connection
  • Hudson River Sampler
  • The Legislative Gazette
  • Live at the Linda
  • The Media Project
  • Midday Magazine
  • Northeast Report
  • Performance Place
  • The Power of Words
  • The Roundtable
  • Tim Coakley Jazz
  • Vox Pop
  • WAMC Bluegrass Time

Former programs

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • The Environment Show—name was dropped, format changed, and program morphed into In Our Backyard, with NYS wildlife expert Ward Stone.
  • The Health Show
  • Knock on Wood—with Steve Charney and Harry
  • Me and Mario
  • Music Through the Night—Midnight to 5 A.M.
  • Rachael's Place
  • Weekly Rundown
  • Zucchini Brothers show

National productions

WAMC also produces programs that are distributed under the name "National Productions". These include:

Podcasts

WAMC also podcasts their original programs.

Stations

Call sign Frequency City of license Facility ID Power
W		 ERP
W		 Height
m (ft)		 Class Transmitter coordinates Call sign meaning
WAMC 1400 AM Albany, New York 4683 1,000 (unlimited hours) C 42°41′21″N 73°47′37″W / 42.68917°N 73.79361°W / 42.68917; -73.79361 (WAMC) Albany Medical College
WAMC-FM 90.3 FM (HD) Albany, New York 70849 10,000 600 m (2,000 ft) B 42°38′14″N 73°10′7″W / 42.63722°N 73.16861°W / 42.63722; -73.16861 (WAMC-FM) Albany Medical College
WAMK 90.9 FM Kingston, New York 70502 940 453 m (1,486 ft) B1 42°04′35″N 74°06′26″W / 42.07639°N 74.10722°W / 42.07639; -74.10722 (WAMK) Kingston
WAMQ 105.1 FM Great Barrington, Massachusetts 70847 730 280 m (920 ft) A 42°09′36″N 73°28′48″W / 42.16000°N 73.48000°W / 42.16000; -73.48000 (WAMQ) variation of WAMC
WANC 103.9 FM Ticonderoga, New York 70842 1,550 116 m (381 ft) A 43°49′55″N 73°24′28″W / 43.83194°N 73.40778°W / 43.83194; -73.40778 (WANC) Adirondack North Country; also a variation of WAMC
WANR 88.5 FM Brewster, New York 174780 235 44 m (144 ft) A 41°23′04″N 73°31′57″W / 41.38444°N 73.53250°W / 41.38444; -73.53250 (WANR)
WANZ 90.1 FM Stamford, New York 176616 230 −103 m (−338 ft) A 42°22′10″N 74°39′54″W / 42.36944°N 74.66500°W / 42.36944; -74.66500 (WANZ) variation of WAMC
WCAN 93.3 FM Canajoharie, New York 70503 6,000 82 m (269 ft) A 42°53′46″N 74°35′45″W / 42.89611°N 74.59583°W / 42.89611; -74.59583 (WCAN) CANajoharie
WCEL 91.9 FM Plattsburgh, New York 44032 380 260 m (850 ft) A 44°46′27″N 73°36′48″W / 44.77417°N 73.61333°W / 44.77417; -73.61333 (WCEL) Clinton Essex Lake Champlain
WOSR 91.7 FM Middletown, New York 70848 1,800 192 m (630 ft) B1 41°36′4″N 74°33′17″W / 41.60111°N 74.55472°W / 41.60111; -74.55472 (WOSR)
WRUN 90.3 FM Remsen, New York 87836 1,200 204 m (669 ft) B 43°20′47.8″N 75°13′58.8″W / 43.346611°N 75.233000°W / 43.346611; -75.233000 (WRUN) Rome-Utica News (former call sign for 1150 AM)
WWES 88.9 FM Mount Kisco, New York 176621 200 35 m (115 ft) A 41°14′20″N 73°42′48″W / 41.23889°N 73.71333°W / 41.23889; -73.71333 (WWES) WEStchester County

Translators

Broadcast translators of WAMC-FM
Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info
W226AC 93.1 Rensselaer, New York 80 44.3 m (145 ft) D FCC
W246BJ 97.1 Hudson, New York 200 −14 m (−46 ft) D FCC
Broadcast translators of WAMK
Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info
W271BF 102.1 Highland, New York 10 255.4 m (838 ft) D FCC
W280DJ 103.9 Beacon, New York 10 332.8 m (1,092 ft) D FCC
W299AG 107.7 Newburgh, New York 10 115 m (377 ft) D FCC
W292ES 106.3 Dover Plains, New York 10 186 m (610 ft) D FCC
Broadcast translators of WOSR
Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info
W215BG 90.9 Milford, Pennsylvania 10 71.2 m (234 ft) D FCC
W296BD 107.1 Warwick, New York 10 107.8 m (354 ft) D FCC
W243BZ 96.5 Ellenville, New York 6.5 457.9 m (1,502 ft) D FCC
Broadcast translators of WCAN
Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class FCC info
W247BM 97.3 Cooperstown, New York 10 147.9 m (485 ft) D FCC
W257BL 99.3 Oneonta, New York 250 1.5 m (4.9 ft) D FCC

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Coverage Map | WAMC". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Frequencies". Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  3. ↑ "Coverage Map | WAMC". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "GuideStar Exchange Reports for WAMC". GuideStar. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "NPR Ethics Handbook | How to apply our standards to our journalism.". NPR. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  6. 1 2 Dechter, Gadi (13 July 2005). "Locally Grown | Baltimore City Paper". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Thanks to anti-Trump sentiment, WAMC meets goal in 12 hours". Times Union. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  8. ↑ "WAMC's IRS Form 990 for Fiscal 2006 (page 35)" (PDF).

AM station data

FM station data

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