WBZZ (FM)
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| City of license | Malta, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Capital District, southern Adirondacks |
| Branding | Buzz 105.7 |
| First air date | November 1996 (from Queensbury) November 28, 2006 (Malta) |
| Frequency | 105.7 MHz |
| Format | Adult Top 40 |
| Power | 1.57 kW |
| ERP | 25 kW |
| Class | B1 |
| Callsign meaning | W Bu ZZ (format name) |
| Former callsigns | WNYQ (1996-2006, Queensbury) |
| Owner | Regent Communications |
| Website | Buzz 105.7 Website |
WBZZ (Buzz 105.7) are the call letters of an Adult Top 40 radio station licensed to Malta, New York. The station is owned by Regent Communications and broadcasts on 105.7 MHz with 25 kilowatts ERP from the Bald Mountain tower used by the analog signal of WNYT in Spigeltown in Rensselaer County. WBZZ is the newest radio station in the Albany/Schenectady/Troy market, having signed on the air on November 28, 2006 when it began simulcasting (and became the new home of) the Buzz Adult Top 40 format of sister station WABT. [1]
Prior to its move into the Capital District (Albany-Schenectady-Troy) market, the station was based in Queensbury outside Glens Falls until its signoff in May 2006.
[edit] Queensbury History
After the passage of FCC Docket 80-90 in 1983 deregulated FM station classes, the idea of putting a high-watt FM station in the Glens Falls-Lake George area was approached by several people. Around 1990, WENU owner Donald Heckman successfully petitioned the FCC to grant a 25,000 watt radio station to his hometown of Queensbury. After several years of delays, the Heckman-owned Bradmark Communications won the allocation in 1993, originally holding the WWAZ calls until 1995, then the WSRQ calls until June 1996 when it took the WNYQ calls.
Bradmark put WNYQ on the air in November 1996 as the centerpiece of what would become a local radio empire that would soon acquire several other stations in the market. WNYQ assumed the adult contemporary format of WENU, branded under the Wink 105.7 name. From its launch, it aired local programming from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. weekdays with satellite programming fed via Westwood One at all other hours as had its predecessor.
In 2000, Bradmark Communications was sold to Vox Media, then a growing owner of radio stations in small markets throughout New York and New England. Vox dumped all satellite programming and decided to take WNYQ to a Hot AC approach, initially keeping the Wink name. In early 2002, WNYQ rebranded as Q105.7to fully signify the new format which had began to lean towards CHR. Though successful, the station eventually began to decline due to heavy from new rival WKBE and several out-of-market CHR stations with usable signals in WNYQ's signal area.
2004 saw two major developments as Vox began to sell their properties to other companies and the initial application to move the signal into the Albany market was filed making it the second Bradmark/Vox station to do so (WOOB, the former WHTR Corinth, was the first) . After the flip of WCQL to Hot AC in mid-2004, the future of Q105.7 in that format was to be short as that October WNYQ flipped to a satellite-fed Classic Hits format while keeping the Q105.7 name. Though just as much a response to WCQL leaving such a format, the flip was also done to have a no-risk format in place for when a move could proceed.
The Classic Hits format remained on the 105.7 frequency until it signed off to move in May 2006. That format would be revived in September 2006 at 101.7 MHz (the former WENU, then WQYQ) in Hudson Falls with the WNYQ calls following the next month.
[edit] Move-in information
The move of 105.7 into the Capital District, originally applied for in 2004, has gone through several complications. Originally, the station had sought to broadcast from the Clifton Park tower used by WPTR, WKKF, and WABT) until a deal fell through and the Bald Mountain site was selected amid concerns that Bald Mountain may provide less-than-optimal coverage of some growing suburbs to the north of the market's core.
When Vox sold their remaining Glens Falls stations to Pamal Broadcasting in mid-2004, initially there was a clause that would allow Pamal to get the first rights to buy the station as a move-in. This plan was slowed down by regulatory concerns with Pamal's revenue share in the adjacent Capital District and the potential that the signal that would have been sold if purchased (104.9 WZMR) would not able to find new ownership in the required amount of time.
In June 2006, Regent Communications purchased the licence of WNYQ and will operate the station when it returns to the air. Early speculation of future formats has included moving WABT's Hot AC format to the stronger 105.7 signal or a classic country format to complement market leader WGNA-FM to adult contemporary to go against WYJB and WQAR. The first possibility became reality in the wake of Regent entering a deal with former WYJB morning show Chuck & Kelly. Their show began on September 12, 2006 as a prelude to the move.
In preparation of the move, Vox applied for the call letters WBZZ for the 105.7 frequency. They took effect on September 21, 2006. After some delays, the station returned from the air from the Bald Mountain tower site on November 28, 2006 simulcasting WABT with the station relaunching on 105.7 on December 4, 2006.
[edit] External link
Query the FCC's FM station database for WBZZ
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 |
