WGY

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WGY is a 50,000 watt radio station licensed to Schenectady, New York. It is one of the United States's oldest radio stations as well as the oldest in New York's Capital Region. WGY is the heritage clear channel occupant of the 810 kHz frequency and has a signal which blankets much of the Northeast by day and much of the eastern United States by night. Owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts a talk radio format and is operated out of the company's Albany complex in Latham, just outside of Schenectady. WGY's main competitor in the region is WROW.

[edit] History

From its sign-on in 1922 until 1983, WGY was the flagship station of General Electric's broadcasting group, joined later by pioneering sister stations in television (WRGB, signed on 1928) and FM radio (W2XOY, later WGFM and today WRVE, signed on 1939). In 1926, WGY became an early affiliate of the NBC Red network, and after the split of the sister NBC Blue network into today's ABC, WGY remained with NBC through the decades. As the golden age of radio ended, WGY evolved into a full service middle of the road station, evolving its format as programming tastes seemed fit.

In 1983, WGY and WGFM were sold to local owners and for the next several years bounced around a series of owners before Dame Media acquired the stations in late 1993. In 1998, Dame sold its entire group to Clear Channel, whose ownership remains to this day.

[edit] Programming

WGY's schedule is typical for a heritage large-signal news/talk station outside of major markets with a balance of local and syndicated talk programming plus frequent news updates. Newscasts air every 30 minutes with more frequent coverage in cases of breaking news or inclement weather. Top-of-hour newscasts are approximately six to seven minutes long and usually include two minutes of Fox News Radio national news, a few minutes of local news, traffic ("WGY All-Day Traffic"), and weather ("WGY Storm Team Forecast"); some weekend newscasts substitute sports for traffic. Bottom-of-the-hour updates, lasting around three minutes, usually consist of a lead national story, some local news, and a weather report. Shorter weather updates are also broadcast at :20 and :50 past the hour.

During Don Weeks and the WGY Morning News (weekdays 5:30-9:00 AM), this format is altered in that there are also local news updates at :20 and :50 past the hour, sports updates (provided via WHTK in Rochester) at :15 and :45, and "Traffic and Weather on the Eights" to go along with the normal news updates. WGY carried ABC News Radio from the end of the NBC Radio network in 1988 until August 2005, when Clear Channel Communications switched the majority of its news/talk radio stations to Fox News Radio as a boost to that network's launch. Paul Harvey would remain on WGY for an additional year though.

Besides Weeks, WGY's other weekday local shows are hosted by Al Roney (9:00AM-Noon), and Ed Martin (6:00-7:00 PM). Local talk on weekends is more prevalent with shows hosted by WGY veterans Joe Gallagher (6:00-10:00 AM), Ed Martin (Saturday 11:00 AM-1:00 PM - a live weekend show in addition to his weeknight program) and Laurie Reilly (Sunday 10:00 AM-1:00 PM). Notable syndicated hosts on WGY include Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Rollye James, Kim Komando, and George Noory (Coast to Coast AM).

Two notable former WGY hosts are Mike Gallagher (who hosted afternoon drive in the mid-1990s before moving to WABC and is now part of the Salem Radio Network) and Andrew Wilkow of Sirius Satellite Radio (who did part of afternoon drive and later late mornings in the mid-2000s).

[edit] Schedule

Weekdays:

• 5:00-5:30 AM: 810 WGY Daybreak
• 5:30-9:00 AM: Don Weeks and the WGY Morning News
• 9:00 AM-12:00 PM:: Al Roney
• 12:00-3:00 PM: Rush Limbaugh
• 3:00-6:00 PM: Sean Hannity
• 6:00-10:00 PM: Michael Savage
• 10:00 PM-1:00 AM: Rollye James
• 1:00 AM-5:00 AM: Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

Saturday:

• 5:00-5:30 AM: Wall Street Journal This Weekend with Gordon Deal
• 5:30-10:00 AM: Joe Gallagher
• 10:00-11:00 AM: The Mutual Fund Show with Adam Bold
• 11:00 AM-1:00 PM: Ed Martin
• 1:00-4:00 PM: Mike McConnell "The Weekend"
• 4:00-7:00 PM: Dr. Dean Edell
• 7:00-9:00 PM: Bob Costas "Costas on the Radio"
• 9:00 PM-1:00 AM: Coast to Coast Live with Ian Punnett

Sunday:

• 1:00 AM-5:00 AM: Coast-to-Coast AM with Art Bell
• 6:00 AM-10:00 AM: Joe Gallagher
• 10:00 AM-1:00 PM: Laurie Reilly
• 1:00 PM-4:00 PM: Kim Komando
• 4:00 PM-6:00 PM: Money Talk with Bob Brinker
• 6:00 PM-7:00 PM: Fagan Financial Report (local paid programming)
• 7:00 PM-8:00 PM: Eco Radio Network with Pete Muscanelli (local paid programming)
• 8:00 PM-9:00 PM: Res-Q Health Line (paid programming)
• 9:00 PM-9:30 PM: Optimal Funding's Digest of Homes Radio Show
• 9:30 PM-10:30 PM: Infomercials
• 10:30 PM-11:00 PM: The Lutheran Hour
• 10:00 PM to 10:30PM: Paid Programming
• 10:30 PM-11:00 PM: The Lutheran Hour
• 11:00 PM-11:30PM: Clear View with Laurie Reilly
• 11:30 PM-12:00 AM: InfoTrak with Chris Witting
• 12:00 AM-5:00 AM: Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell

The complete program schedule can be found directly from WGY's schedule page.

[edit] Streaming audio

In late 2005, WGY began streaming its local shows on their website (the combination of affiliate contracts and/or hosts with pay services preclude full streaming). In May 2006, WGY began posting the most recent top-of-hour newscast on the website for on-demand streaming as well as podcasts of newscasts and key features.

[edit] External links

• WGY's website
• The 100 Oldest U.S. Stations
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WGY

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