WGY (AM)
 |
|
| City |
Schenectady, New York (WGY) Albany, New York (WGY-FM) |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Capital District, Mohawk Valley, western New England |
| Slogan | Capital Region's Breaking News, Traffic and Weather Station |
| Frequency | 810 kHz (also on HD Radio) 103.1 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | February 20, 1922 |
| Format | News/Conservative talk |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | A (Clear Channel) |
| Facility ID | 15329 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°47′32.41″N 74°0′42.9732″W / 42.7923361°N 74.011937000°WCoordinates: 42°47′32.41″N 74°0′42.9732″W / 42.7923361°N 74.011937000°W |
| Callsign meaning | Obtained from sequential list, but explained as Wireless General Electric in SchenectadY |
| Former frequencies | 833 kHz (1922-1923) 790 kHz (1923-1941) |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio, Premiere Radio Networks |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia (CC Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WRVE, WPYX, WTRY-FM, WKKF, WGY-FM, WOFX |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wgy.com |
WGY (AM 810, 103.1 FM, NewsRadio WGY) is a radio station licensed to Schenectady, New York and owned by iHeartMedia, broadcasting a news and conservative talk radio format. It broadcasts 50,000 Watts non-directional from a single tower in the Town of Rotterdam. It is one of the United States' oldest radio stations as well as the oldest in New York's Capital Region. WGY was the flagship station of General Electric's broadcast group from 1922 until 1983.
As early as 1912, General Electric company in Schenectady began experimenting with radio transmissions, being granted a class 2-Experimental license for 2XI on August 13, 1912 by the Commerce Department.
WGY signed on on February 20, 1922 at 7:47pm at 360 meters wavelength (about 833 kHz), with Kolin Hager at the mike, or as he was known on the air, as KH. Hager signed on with the station's call letters, explaining the W is for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y, the last letter in Schenectady. The first broadcast lasted for about one hour and consisted of live music and announcements of song titles and other information. The early broadcasts originated from building 36 at the General Electric Plant in Schenectady. The original transmitter produced an antenna power of 1,500 watts into a T top wire antenna, located about 1/2 mile away, also at the GE plant.
WGY led the way in radio drama. In 1922 Edward H. Smith, director of a community-theater group called the Masque in nearby Troy, suggested weekly forty-minute adaptations of plays to WGY station manager Kolin Hager. Hager took him up on it and the troupe performed on the weekly WGY Players, radio’s first dramatic series.
During their initial broadcast—of Eugene Walter’s The Wolf on August 3, 1922—Smith became the electronic media’s first Foley artist when he slapped a couple of two-by-fours together to simulate the slamming of a door, and radio sound effects were born. While the invisible audience could not see that the actors wore costumes and makeup—which were expected to enhance performance but didn’t and were soon discarded—they could hear the WGY Orchestra providing music between acts. Response was immediate, with more than two thousand letters pouring into the WGY mail room.
...
Wikipedia