WWSK
 |
|
| City | Smithtown, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Long Island |
| Branding | 94.3 The Shark |
| Slogan | Everything That Rocks |
| Frequency |
94.3 MHz (also on HD Radio via WALK-FM-HD2) |
| First air date | 1961 (as WQMF) |
| Format | Mainstream rock |
| ERP | 2,600 watts |
| HAAT | 96 meters (315 ft) |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 29260 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°48′8.00″N 73°17′12.00″W / 40.8022222°N 73.2866667°W |
| Callsign meaning | W W SharK |
| Former callsigns | WQMF (1961-1964) WGLI-FM (1964-1965) WGSM-FM (1965-1970) WCTO (1970-1990) WMJC (1990-2010) WIGX (2010-2012) |
| Owner |
Connoisseur Media (Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WALK, WALK-FM, WBZO, WHLI, WKJY |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WWSK (94.3 FM, "The Shark") is a mainstream rock radio station on Long Island located at 94.3 MHz. The station's city of license is Smithtown, New York, while its studios are located in Farmingdale, New York. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media.
What began as WQMF (1,000w Ant 120 feet) came about in September 1961 when WGLI-FM (103.5 FM) moved from Babylon to Lake Success. Owner Friendly Frost, a Long Island based appliance store chain, applied for another FM frequency to replace 103.5 in the Babylon area and WQMF was born. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules prohibited ownership of overlapping signals but because the new WGLI-FM antenna was located on a 175 foot tower (20Kw) alongside the Long Island Expressway right on the Queens-Nassau border its new signal did not cover Babylon (this would become an issue a few years later).
WQMF was one of the first totally automated radio stations in the area and maybe the country. Its equipment package was named "Silent Sam" by engineers assigned to operate it as it played "beautiful music" from audio tapes supplied by a syndicator. The engineers' main function was tending to WQMF’s sister station 1290 WGLI which required first class FCC licensed personnel because of its three tower directional antenna (1290 WGLI was shut down permanently in 1989).
In 1965, 103.5 FM, which had become WTFM, obtained a construction permit to move its transmitter to the Chrysler Building in Manhattan but big new coverage from a 950 foot antenna (7.1Kw H 4.6Kw V) produced an overlapping signal with 94.3 FM, which had taken the WGLI-FM call sign. A quick sale sent WGLI-FM to Greater Media, a New Jersey based group broadcaster, who had just acquired WGSM (740 AM) in Huntington. Greater Media paid just $90,000.00 dollars ($665,000.00 2013 money) for the facility which was renamed WGSM-FM and began simulcasting WGSM (AM) with transmitter and antenna remaining at the WGLI complex.
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Wikipedia