WHYN-FM
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WHYN-FM (Mix 93.1) is a hot adult contemporary radio station broadcasting from Springfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. WHYN-FM broadcasts from Mount Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and can be heard as far south as south central Connecticut.
WHYN-FM | |
Broadcast area | Springfield, MA |
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Branding | Mix 93.1 |
Frequency | 93.1 MHz |
Format | Hot Adult Contemporary |
ERP | 8,500 watts |
Class | B |
Owner | Clear Channel |
Website | http://www.mix931.com |
WHYN-FM simulcast their AM station (see WHYN) during the early sixties. In the mid-sixties, WHYN-FM began separate programming than their rock and roll AM counterpart. The format chosen was what was known as MOR (Middle Of The Road) music. In fact, it was syndicated as "Format 44" around the country. The music would now be branded more as Muzak than anything. The DJs played sets of music followed by a stop-set (commercial break) and then announcing what was heard. Unlike the rock and roll formats of the era, the musical introductions of songs were not talked over and there was usually a little dead-air between the songs. The jingles used on the air were mainly lengthy cuts provided by Pepper-Tanner (now Jones TM), and in 1974, WHYN-FM was the pilot station for William B. Tanner's "Easy Going" jingle series. WHYN's long-time morning team consisted of Frank Knight (Katilus) and news man Ron Russell (DeMatteo). A number of other radio personalities worked on the station including Dave Mack, Bob Holland (a/k/a Holland Cooke), Rich Roy (later on WHYN-AM) and others.
WHYN-FM continued to program "Beautiful Music" (easy listening music) late into the seventies. After being purchased by Affiliated Communications (division of Affiliated Publications - owner of the Boston Globe) the station's format (under program director Andy Carey) was switched to a more Adult Contemporary music format geared towards the 18-54 female demographics. At that point, Frank Knight and Ron Russell exited to be the morning team on Lappin Communications WMAS for their Music Of Your Life format.
In the mid-eighties, WHYN-AM/FM was sold to R&R Broadcasting (Robinson & Reece). Unfortunately, R&R knew more about advertising than they did about broadcasting. The decision was made to change the call letters to WHFM and gear their programming towards the Hartford Market in hopes of gaining advertisers in the higher rated Hartford market. The IDs at the top of the hour quietly stated the Springfield city of license and the concept was that the station was THE GIANT, a mythocal entity broadcasting down to all of the people. Stupid concept... stupid execution! This allowed the lower rated WMAS-FM to increase their market share / ratings and go after WHYN-FM's Adult Contemporary audience. During this era, Carringer & Friends was the morning team.
WHYN-FM was sold to Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting in 1987 and changes were immediately made. Carringer was fired and his morning news man, Bill Hess, was appointed program director (and took over the morning show). Ann Strong did mid-days and Casey Palmer was the afternoon jock. Evening DJ Mary Ferrero exited to become the Production Director at WMAS-AM/FM and Jennifer Fox took her place.
WHYN-FM was later sold by Wilks-Schwartz to Clear Channel.
WHYN-FM for many years was known as "93WHYN" and was an Adult Contemporary station that also blended in oldies from the 1950's and 1960's in with its playlist. The station also aired a "Saturday Night Oldies" show with Phil D-e-e (Drumheller), which moved to WHYN-AM in 1999. The station began evolving into its current "hot adult contemporary" format by the late 1990's, and in 2000, WHYN was rebranded as a "Mix" station similar to its other "Mix" stations across the nation.
Mix is home to the Dan (Williams) and Kim (Zachery) morning show, a fixture on Springfield radio for several years, along with other longtime radio personalities. When Dan and Kim first got together, they each were married, but they started messing around with each other. What a whorebag. Evenings were being "voice tracked" by Jennifer Fox (who was working at Clear Channel in Vermont). Due to budget constraints, they ax-ed her in late 2006 and now air the syndicated John Tesh show at night.
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Radio stations in the Springfield / Holyoke / Northampton, Massachusetts market (Arbitron #84) |
AM Stations
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FM Stations
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Clear Channel Communications, Inc. |
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Corporate officers: Lowry Mays | Mark Mays | Randall Mays | Tom Hicks |
Radio / Television stations:
Other major assets: Clear Channel Outdoor | Clear Channel UK | Premiere Radio Networks | FOX Sports Radio Network |