WKNY
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| City | Kingston, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Poughkeepsie and Ulster County |
| Branding | CBS 1490 AM |
| Slogan | "The Kingston Station." |
| Frequency | 1490 kHz |
| First air date | August 1, 1935 |
| Format | AC/Talk |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 10782 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41 56 11 N 73 00 30 W |
| Callsign meaning | Kingston, New York |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio through 12/31/2014, CBS Radio effective 1/1/2015 |
| Owner |
Townsquare Media (Townsquare Media Poughkeepsie Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WALL, WCZX, WEOK, WKXP, WPDH, WRRV, WZAD |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1490wkny.com/ |
WKNY (1490 kHz AM) is a radio station serving the Kingston, New York, area with an adult contemporary format. It broadcasts at a power of 1 KW from a single tower located off Albany Avenue. It is owned by Townsquare Media.
The WKNY calls were also briefly used for an independent TV station WKNY-TV in Poughkeepsie, New York, operating on Channel 66 in the mid-1950s.
The station was first owned by John McKenna and his family and went through several changes in ownership since then.
WKNY went on the air December 16, 1939 at 8:15 PM from the auditorium of Kingston High School before an audience of approximately 100 people. Major C.J. Heiselman was unable to attend WKNY's opening ceremonies but a taped message from him was broadcast over the air. The musical program was rendered by Roger Baer's Orchestra, the Vocal Rhythm Boys of Saugerties and vocal solos by Miss Lynne Clark. Following the musical program in the High School, the program continued with musical selections from the new WKNY studios in the Governor Clinton Hotel. The following morning the services in the Fair Street Reformed Church were broadcast on the air and the station began regular operations.
WKNY has authorization to broadcast at just 250 watts in 1939 at a frequency of 1490 kHz. In 1959 the FTC authorized WKNY to increase its daytime power to 1,000 watts and then in the 1980s, permission was given to broadcast at that power 24 hours a day.
In the 1940s, WKNY moved to the Community Theatre Building at 601 Broadway; later to 212 Fair Street in a house formerly owned by Mayor Raymond Garraghan. From its Fair Street studios, WKNY became Ulster County's most-listened-to radio station and was an Adult Contemporary reporter to Radio & Records. It also aired the syndicated "American Top 40" on Saturdays from 8am-noon, although the programming evolved from Top 40 in the early 1970s to a Full Service AC/MOR presentation by the early 1980s, when it was in heavy competition with Walter C. Maxwell's WGHQ-AM 920.
Noted former personalities include "Morning Mayor" Ward Todd, who commanded the lion's share of WKNY's audience; the station cannot be heard in Poughkeepsie and focuses on Northern Dutchess and Ulster Counties because of its limited signal, explaining its absence in Arbitron ratings for Poughkeepsie.
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Wikipedia