HOT 93.7 turned 18

Yesterday Hot 93.7 turned 18. It was at 5PM on March 16, 2001 when Infinity Broadcasting flipped low rated Jammin' Oldies formated "Dancin' Oldies Z 93.7" to Hip-Hop and R&B.

What are some of the other stations with long running formats in Connecticut Radio?

WKSS 95.7 has been Top 40 for over 30 Years. Kiss 95.7

WWYZ 92.5 has been Country for over 30 years.

WRCH 100.5 has been some form of Adult Contemporary for over 30 years evolving from Beautiful Music.

WLAT 910 has been Spanish CHR for almost 18 years, adding an FM translator in 2017.

WRYM 840 has been running Spanish language music and other ethnic music for over 50 years! (Though I don't know if it was full-time in the early days). They added an FM translator in 2017 and a simulcast partner on 1240-AM in 2018.

WCTY 97.7 has been Country for over 40 years.

WDRC 1360/WSNG 610/WMMW 1470 has been talk for 17 years.

WPRX 1120-AM has been playing Spanish Music for over 25 years. Yes I'm counting the time when their license was deleted because they were still on the air. WPRX actually goes back further as they were buying time on the weekend on 1120-AM when it was still WBIS in Bristol. The main difference between the WPRX of 1993 when they signed on and the WPRX of 2019 is the name change. They were originally known as "La Purtoriquenmisma" and now they go by the name "Dinamica 1120 AM".

And while 10 years isn't as long of a time as other stations on this list, it's worth noting that Radio 104.1 FM will have been on the air 10 years this May under the ownership of Full Power Radio, meaning it has been on the air longer than Clear Channel's version of the station, which was on the air from October 1994 until September 2003.

I believe the exact years for WKSS and WWYZ's flips were 1984 and 1988, respectively. If so, this year will mark 35 years of CHR at Kiss.

Correct with WKSS-FM. They even had those call letters during the last days of their previous format.

I wonder if 100.5 FM was changed from Easy Listening to AC in summer 1989 because of WWYZ-FM 92.5 switching around Labor Day 1988? I know 100.5 more or less made 104.1 go from Magic 104 to WYSR-FM "Star 104.1". Modern Rock on 104.1 the first time was in late 1994...I think?

WTIC-FM 96.5 switched to the current Hot AC format on June 12, 1994. I was told it was done for the sake of ratings. The station hasn't been the same since. I used to LOVE the Top 40 sound of the old 96 TIC-FM.

In New Haven, WPLR switched from soft AC Popular 99 to AOR in 1971, and KC101 switched from beautiful music WKCI (Stereo Island) 40 years ago this summer.

When WKSS switched for beautiful music to CHR, I was working to WRCH and WRCQ (AM 910). The radio in the Program Director's office was set to WKSS at the moment of the format change. Their switch said something like "This was Kiss (a clip of beautiful music), and this is the new flame throwin’ 95.7 Kiss FM" followed by "Heart of Rock'n'Roll" by Huey Lewis and the News.

I had left WRCH long before they flipped to Adult Contemporary, but I recall the change occurred over the fourth of July weekend in 1989. WRCH had gradually changed through the years. They were completely automated in 1981. By the time of the switch the station was live and played several soft vocals. When they made the swap, the owners switched the old beautiful music format to 910. 910 once had an Easy Listening/Beautiful Music format before the FM went on the air. 910 switched to become oldies 91Q, an MOR format called Shulke II, and then a locally produced version of the Music of Your Life.

WWYZ’s call letters refer to the Easy Listening station's positioning as the "wise music lover's choice." The station was a huge success when they first flipped from Easy Listening/Beautiful Music to Adult Contemporary about 1978. Bob Craig was the Program Director and John Sebastian was the consultant. Initially, they were the “Natural 92.” They played album cuts, but focused on artists like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot. Eventually WWYX evolved to a more traditional Adult Contemporary station. I don't remember the timeline, but I left the station a few months before the switch. I recall that nobody knew the exact time, but it was in the works for several weeks.

WRYM was an ethnic station that had block programming in several languages.

WDRC-AM was a pop station until the early 80s. They switched to oldies and outperformed the FM in one book in 1985. That's when DRC-FM switched.

When I live in Connecticut, 93.7 was Spanish language WLVH. In the pre-digital age, you passed by other stations to get what you wanted. The processing on WLVH was very clean, but was far and away the loudest station on the dial. I don't recall that they were ever a factor in the ratings. In the early 90s, they switched to a Mix format, then went all seventies before Jammin' Oldies.

I believe WPRX evolved from 1440 WBIS, a local full-service station for Bristol.

104.1 was WWCO-FM with a country format for years. They repositioned as "Nashville, Connecticut, W104." That was the meaning of WIOF. They were a great music-intensive Adult Contemporary programmed by Lou Terri. Lou died in a car accident in 1989, and the station repositioned as Star 104, WYSR sometime in the early 90s, then to alternative after that.

mikedow said:

When I live in Connecticut, 93.7 was Spanish language WLVH. In the pre-digital age, you passed by other stations to get what you wanted. The processing on WLVH was very clean, but was far and away the loudest station on the dial. I don't recall that they were ever a factor in the ratings. In the early 90s, they switched to a Mix format, then went all seventies before Jammin' Oldies.

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Between Spanish-language programming and that "Mix"-type format came a period of 24/7 simulcasting of NOAA Weather Radio! I think WLVH's ownership was caught in some kind of shady financial dealings -- hey, how else could they make any money in the Hartford market with that format on FM? -- and the station had to be sold.

Truthfully I forgot about WKCI. I was wondering whether or not to include WPLR and WRKI. Both have been playing Rock & Roll for a long time, but both have a Classic Rock lean to them now. (WRKI more than WPLR). And I also for got WBMW 106.5 in the New London Market. Over 25 years as an Adult Contemporary station.

What about WEBE 108?

Kemosabe said:

What about WEBE 108?

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1984. The original slogan was The Hits of a Whole Generation. Good billboards, with that slogan, showing three CT license plates, one each from the 60s, 70s and 80s (we had different plates for several years in the 70s).

Bill1820 said:

1984. The original slogan was The Hits of a Whole Generation. Good billboards, with that slogan, showing three CT license plates, one each from the 60s, 70s and 80s (we had different plates for several years in the 70s).

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I seem to recall hearing a radio ad for WEBE 108 on Newsradio 88 decades ago. It featured a WCBS sounder followed by an announcer's suggestion to the effect that, when in New York, one should listen to Newsradio 88, but when in Connecticut, one should tune to WEBE 108.

I don't remember WEBE having ads on WCBS Newsradio 88, but I do remember WEZN doing it. At the time WEZN was beautiful music, and figured its listeners would likely hear WCBS on the drive home from a job in NYC, then switch to WEZN once they were in Connecticut.

>>>WWYZ’s call letters refer to the Easy Listening station's positioning as the "wise music lover's choice." The station was a huge success when they first flipped from Easy Listening/Beautiful Music to Adult Contemporary about 1978. Bob Craig was the Program Director and John Sebastian was the consultant. Initially, they were the “Natural 92.” They played album cuts, but focused on artists like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot. Eventually WWYX evolved to a more traditional Adult Contemporary station.<<<

I wouldn't say this period was AC. It was Soft Rock. As Mikedow explained, the Natural 92 played mostly album cuts, concentrating on songs and artists you'd hear on an album rock station, but only their softer songs. WWYZ mostly stayed away from artists who were only heard on Top 40 or AC stations. And WIOF 104.1 was similarly formatted, but WIOF used I believe the TM "Beautiful Rock" format, also popular on WMGK Philadelphia and WMJC Detroit. Locally programmed soft rock formats were also heard on 92.3 WKTU New York, 97.1 WYNY New York, 103.3 WEEI-FM Boston, and 93.1 KNX-FM Los Angeles.

At the time, singer-songwriters and soft rock was a major component of Album Rock. Carole King and Cat Stevens were as much a part of the AOR format as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Soft Rock stations gave you the Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne songs, but limited Zeppelin to a few songs like "Goin' to California." Eventually the Soft Rock format ran its course and all these stations switched to other formats.

Gregg. said:

I don't remember WEBE having ads on WCBS Newsradio 88, but I do remember WEZN doing it.

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By Jove, that's probably the station of which I was thinking! Memory, as they say, is the second thing to go. (At least I had the first two letters of the call sign right.)