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WGY-FM
WGY-FM (103.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District of New York. It simulcasts a talk radio format with WGY (810 AM); the stations are owned by iHeartMedia with studios on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham.
WGY-FM's antenna is located off Lape Road in North Greenbush, New York, near U.S. Route 4.
The station signed on the air on September 1, 1966. Its original call sign was WHRL, airing a beautiful music format under the moniker Whirl. It played mostly lush instrumental cover versions of popular songs, along with Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.
The easy listening format gradually added more soft vocals to the playlist the next two decades. It eventually eliminated all but a few instrumentals and made the transition to soft adult contemporary in 1987. It was known as "Easy 103.1" and "The Breeze".
Around 1995, WHRL officially flipped to smooth jazz. It played contemporary jazz instrumentals mixed with some soft pop and R&B vocals.
WHRL enjoyed success in the smooth jazz format. Radio & Records reported on WHRL's "net gains" success on August 25, 1995, noting "WHRL Albany climbed from about a half share to over two in the same demo for a 214% increase." Similarly, in 1997, Radio & Records reported that "WHRL surged 2.5-3.4 12+." Before transitioning to all-smooth jazz, WHRL had played operas on the weekend and big band, only playing smooth jazz on the morning drive, but these were scrapped and WHRL added dayparts, or segments during the day, of smooth jazz. The change was well received. Brant Curtiss, the Operations Manager at the time said that "listener reaction, via phones and e-mail, has been extremely positive. WHRL went from two or three daily complaints (some urging them to convert more quickly) to a over dozen listeners each day asking for title and album information of the new music they had begun playing. Smooth jazz is not just wallpaper music in Albany."
At this time, the new smooth jazz format was marketed with word-of-mouth because there was not the kind of budget for a large television and print campaign like smooth jazz stations in larger markets could afford. In this effort, WHRL launched its website in 1997, as well as a "Jazz Club" that listeners could join. In going through this change to all-smooth jazz, WHRL more than doubled its cume (cumulative audience) from 1996 to 1997. The station's "Today's Jazz" iteration logo had 103.1 on top of "TODAY'S JAZZ" written in a stylized font, above the station number which appeared on the bottom.
Today's Jazz used clips from Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance" and Rick Braun's "Club Harlem" featuring Peter White as bumpers. WHRL aimed for "stress management" with its song list and format. In 1999, Brant Curtiss, then DJ, Station Programmer, and Director/Creative Services for WHRL described the station:
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WGY-FM
WGY-FM (103.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District of New York. It simulcasts a talk radio format with WGY (810 AM); the stations are owned by iHeartMedia with studios on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham.
WGY-FM's antenna is located off Lape Road in North Greenbush, New York, near U.S. Route 4.
The station signed on the air on September 1, 1966. Its original call sign was WHRL, airing a beautiful music format under the moniker Whirl. It played mostly lush instrumental cover versions of popular songs, along with Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.
The easy listening format gradually added more soft vocals to the playlist the next two decades. It eventually eliminated all but a few instrumentals and made the transition to soft adult contemporary in 1987. It was known as "Easy 103.1" and "The Breeze".
Around 1995, WHRL officially flipped to smooth jazz. It played contemporary jazz instrumentals mixed with some soft pop and R&B vocals.
WHRL enjoyed success in the smooth jazz format. Radio & Records reported on WHRL's "net gains" success on August 25, 1995, noting "WHRL Albany climbed from about a half share to over two in the same demo for a 214% increase." Similarly, in 1997, Radio & Records reported that "WHRL surged 2.5-3.4 12+." Before transitioning to all-smooth jazz, WHRL had played operas on the weekend and big band, only playing smooth jazz on the morning drive, but these were scrapped and WHRL added dayparts, or segments during the day, of smooth jazz. The change was well received. Brant Curtiss, the Operations Manager at the time said that "listener reaction, via phones and e-mail, has been extremely positive. WHRL went from two or three daily complaints (some urging them to convert more quickly) to a over dozen listeners each day asking for title and album information of the new music they had begun playing. Smooth jazz is not just wallpaper music in Albany."
At this time, the new smooth jazz format was marketed with word-of-mouth because there was not the kind of budget for a large television and print campaign like smooth jazz stations in larger markets could afford. In this effort, WHRL launched its website in 1997, as well as a "Jazz Club" that listeners could join. In going through this change to all-smooth jazz, WHRL more than doubled its cume (cumulative audience) from 1996 to 1997. The station's "Today's Jazz" iteration logo had 103.1 on top of "TODAY'S JAZZ" written in a stylized font, above the station number which appeared on the bottom.
Today's Jazz used clips from Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance" and Rick Braun's "Club Harlem" featuring Peter White as bumpers. WHRL aimed for "stress management" with its song list and format. In 1999, Brant Curtiss, then DJ, Station Programmer, and Director/Creative Services for WHRL described the station: