Jump to content

WXPK

Add links
Coordinates:41°04′49″N73°48′24″W/ 41.08028°N 73.80667°W/41.08028; -73.80667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WXPK
Broadcast areaWestchester County, New York
Frequency107.1MHz
Branding107.1 The Peak
Programming
FormatAdult album alternative
Ownership
Owner
WBNR,WBPM,WGHQ,WHUD,WLNA,WSPK
History
First air date
April 8, 1960;64 years ago(1960-04-08)
Former call signs
  • WRNW (1960–1982)
  • WZFM (1982–1991)
  • WXPS (1991–1994)
  • WRGX (1994–1997)
  • WWXY (1997–1998)
  • WYNY (1998–2003)
Call signmeaning
Similar toWSPK(adopted during K-104/K-107 simulcast);backronymfor current "Peak" branding
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID50056
ClassA
ERP1,900 watts
HAAT180 meters (590 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°04′49″N73°48′24″W/ 41.08028°N 73.80667°W/41.08028; -73.80667
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.1071thepeak

WXPK(107.1MHz), branded107.1 The Peak,is acommercial radiostationlicensedtoBriarcliff Manor, New York,and servingWestchester County, New York.[2]It is owned byPamal Broadcastingand broadcasts anAdult Album Alternative(AAA)radio format.The station's studios are inWhite Plainsand itstransmitteris off theSprain Brook Parkwayat the Westchester County Correctional Facility inValhalla.[3]

History

[edit]

On April 8, 1960, WRNW got its start at 454 Main Street inMount Kiscoplaying a mixture of light classical music andeasy listeningsongs. It began broadcasting inFM stereoin 1964. Founder and broadcast engineer Richard Burden was instrumental in the development of FM stereo broadcasting. By 1967, the station had moved to the second floor at 78 Le xing ton Avenue, and in June of that year, program director Don Bayley adopted analbum rockformat making WRNW one of the first FM stations in the New York City area to play rock music full time. (New York'sWOR-FMwent rock in 1966, but was hampered by anAFTRATooltip American Federation of Television and Radio Artistsstrike;WNEW-FMstarted itsprogressive rockformat in October 1967.) In 1969, WRNW was sold to Lake Champlain Broadcasting Company, which also owned 105.9WHBIinNewark.WRNW then played big band music during the day and soldbrokered programmingfrom 10 p.m.–2 a.m. weekdays and all day weekends to clients shared with WHBI. According to WRNW's founder, thecall lettersstood for "Wonderful RadioNorthern Westchester."

In 1971, WRNW changed to an easy listening format, and then to Top 40. In 1972, the station transitioned to a progressive rock format. On Monday, July 9, 1973, WRNW inaugurated transmissions from its newBriarcliff Manorstudio on the second floor of a small house at 55 Woodside Avenue. The new transmitter was in Irvington, covering White Plains,Yonkersand other parts of Westchester andRocklandCounties.

It was there, thatHoward Sternobtained his first full time paying radio job as a disc jockey and program director.[4][5]Meg Griffin,later of WNEW-FM,WPIX-FM,WXRKandSirius Satellite Radio,was also music director of the station during the mid-70s. Ted Utz also began his professional career at the station in 1976 and went on to program and manage pioneering stations likeWMMRinPhiladelphiaand WNEW-FM, New York. Earle Bailey (WLIR,WNEW-FM, WMMR,Sirius XM Radio'sDeep Tracks) hosted a shift at the station during the progressive rock era as did Doug Berman, now producer ofNational Public RadioprogramsCar TalkandWait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

In 1982, the station flipped to anadult contemporary(AC) format, first known asMagic 107.It soon adopted the WZFM call letters and became known on-air asZ-107.The AC format was in place until 1991.

WZFM was perhaps best known as the home of "The Saturday Night Special," a freewheeling five-hour request 'n' contest good time oldies/comedy series which, over a nine-year run, became the station's highest-rated program. Co-hostsGary Therouxand Kerin McCue also developed spinoff specials which were syndicated to other outlets, such as "The Halloween Spooktacular" and the 12-hour "Christmas Through The Years." A three CD adaptation of the latter was released byReader's Digest Recordsand ultimately sold over six million box sets.

"The Saturday Night Special" remained on the air through a call letter change to WXPSThe Expressuntil the station was sold to new owners. In the early 1990s, the new owners flipped the station to analternative rockformat asToday's Rock: X-107with the WRGX call letters.

Further information on the country and Spanish quadcasts:New Country Y-107

On December 5, 1996, the station became part of the Big City Radiotrimulcast(and eventual "quadcast" ) with other 107.1 stations on Long Island, in northern New Jersey and, later, theAllentown/Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvaniaarea. WRGX and the other two multicast stations switched formats tocountry musicas "New Country Y-107"; the station originated from Big City Radio's headquarters inHawthorne.WRGX became known as WWXY and later adopted the call letters of former New York City country station WYNY.[6]

On May 8, 2002, after a day ofstuntingwith construction noises, the quadcast adopted aTropical musicformat brandedRumba 107.[7]The format was ill-suited to the quadcast suburban signals, and at the end of the year, Big City Radio filed for bankruptcy and sold the quadcast toNassau Broadcasting.Nassau broke up the quadcast, leasing WYNY to Pamal Broadcasting under aLocal marketing agreement(LMA).

On April 3, 2003, at 3 p.m., 107.1 flipped to a simulcast ofWSPKinPoughkeepsie,cobranded as "K104 and K107". The first song under the simulcast was "Ignition"byR. Kelly.[8]In 2004, Pamal ended the WSPK simulcast and debuted the adult album rock format WXPK has today asThe Peak.Pamal completed the purchase of WXPK from Nassau at the end of 2004.

Programming

[edit]

The Peak adopted the moniker "World Class Rock for New York's Backyard" in April 2004. Staffed by veteran broadcasters from New York City and around the country, The Peak is the only commercialTriple Aradio station in the New York City area. The Program Director is Chris Herrmann (WHJY,Providence;WCSX,Detroit;WBOS,Boston) who doubles as the midday host. "The Morning Peak" is the morning drive show, and is currently hosted by Chris "Coach" Rodriguez. Previously the morning slot was hosted by Caroline Corley (Sirius Satellite Radio;WLIR,Garden City;WYNY,New York.) until her death on November 25, 2013. Longtime New York radio personality Jimmy Fink (WHFS,Bethesda;WXRK,New York;WPLJ,New York) is the afternoon host. Weekends are branded as "The Weekend Peak". Current weekend lineup features Pam Landry, Meg White, and Dina Dessner. Previous air talent included veteran broadcasters Bruce Figler and Kerin McCue. The Peak dedicates minimal airtime to syndicated programming; "Anything Anything" (hosted by Rich Russo) airs 9-10pm on Sunday. The Bluesmobile (hosted byElwood Blues) previously aired 8 pm on Sundays.

The "Peak Performance Series" brings artists to what the station calls "the world's most intimate performance venue," the Acme Recording and Mastering studio inMamaroneck, New York.Select members of the station's listener rewards program, The Peak Listener Advisory Board, are invited to attend. The sessions are recorded and played back on the air. The resulting tracks are exclusive to The Peak and are generally not available for purchase or download, although the station has released compilation albums.

Like format leaderKBCOin Denver, Colorado, The Peak airs a locally produced "10 at 10" weekdays at 10 am and 10 pm. The program features 10 songs from a single year peppered with snippets of popular movies, television shows, and commercials from that year. In 2006, the editors ofWestchester Magazinenamed "The Peak's 10 at 10 hosted by Rob Arrow" the Best Local Radio Show. In the annual "Best of Westchester" 2007 issue, readers voted The Peak best radio station.[9]In 2008,Jimmy Finkwas named "Best Radio Personality" by the readers ofWestchester Magazine.[10]In 2011, Caroline Corley was named "Best Radio Personality" by the readers ofWestchester Magazine.[11]Corley repeated as "Best Radio Broadcaster" winner again in 2013,[12]largely due to her popular "Coffee With Caroline" promotion[13]meeting up with numerous people in the community to share coffee. Caroline once again garnered the honor of "Best Radio Broadcaster" in 2014, a posthumous tribute to her legacy.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WXPK".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"WXPK Facility Record".United StatesFederal Communications Commission,audio division.
  3. ^Radio-Locator /WXPK
  4. ^Stern, Howard;Larry "Ratso" Sloman (1993). "Mein Kampf" My Struggle "".InJudith Regan(ed.).Private Parts(1st ed.).Simon & Schuster.p.119.ISBN978-0-671-88016-3.OCLC28968496.So I went up there and the radio station was in an old house in the middle of a residential area of Briarcliff Manor. One of the bedrooms was the radio station studio, the other was a production studio. I was doing this show and I was fucking nervous and my voice was horse and I was croaking "WRNW" and talking soft like an FM disc jockey.
  5. ^Cox, Ana Marie."Howard Stern and the Satellite wars".Condé Nast Publications,Wired.
  6. ^"WXPK Call sign Record".United StatesFederal Communications Commission,audio division.
  7. ^"North East RadioWatch: May 13, 2002".
  8. ^WYNY Becomes K107.1
  9. ^"Best Radio Station 2007".Today Media Inc, Westchester Magazine.
  10. ^"Best Radio Personality 2008".Today Media Inc, Westchester Magazine.
  11. ^"Best of Westchester Arts & Leisure 2011".Today Media Inc, Westchester Magazine.
  12. ^"Best of Westchester Winners 2013".Today Media Inc, Westchester Magazine.
  13. ^"Coffee with Caroline".Mamaroneck Public Library.
  14. ^"Best of Westchester Arts & Leisure 2014".Today Media Inc, Westchester Magazine.June 30, 2014.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WXPK&oldid=1241957300"