WALK-FM

WALK-FM (97.5 MHz, "WALK 97.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, and serving Long Island. It airs a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Connoisseur Media. The studios and offices are located at Airport Plaza in Farmingdale.[1]

WALK-FM
CityPatchogue, New York
Broadcast areaLong Island
Frequency97.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding"WALK 97.5"
SloganReal Variety from the 90s, 2K and Today!
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatFM/HD1: Hot adult contemporary
HD2: WWSK mainstream rock simulcast
Ownership
OwnerConnoisseur Media
(Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC)
Sister stationsWBZO, WHLI, WKJY, WWSK
History
First air dateDecember 12, 1952 (1952-12-12)
Former call signsWFSS (1946–1952; before launch)
Technical information
Facility ID10137
ClassB
ERP39,000 watts
HAAT169 meters (554 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°50′41″N 73°02′01″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.walkradio.com

WALK-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 39,000 watts. The station's transmitter is located at the end of Tower Hill Ave on Telescope Hill in Farmingville, New York.[2] Its signal covers most of Suffolk County, parts of Nassau County and reaches into Connecticut. WALK-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format with its HD2 channel carrying the mainstream rock programming of co-owned 94.3 WWSK.

History

1952 to 1999

WALK-FM first signed on the air on December 12, 1952.[3] It was owned by the Suffolk Broadcasting Corporation, and was the FM counterpart to co-owned WALK 1370 AM.[4] WALK was a daytimer station, so WALK-FM allowed listeners with FM radios to hear the programming after sunset. In its early years, WALK-AM-FM played classical music, big band, adult standards and jazz. WALK-FM was originally powered at 15,000 watts, only heard in the western part of Suffolk County.

WALK-FM was purchased in 1963 by the Island Broadcasting System along with its sister stations, 1370 WALK Patchogue and 1570 WRIV Riverhead. Island Broadcasting was owned in part by NBC News anchorman Chet Huntley.[5] In 1997, WALK-AM-FM were bought by Chancellor Communications.

One of WALK-FM's longest running shows was "Klein 'til 9 and Again 'til 10" hosted by Bob Klein.[6] Klein was the morning drive time disc jockey for much of the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, helping a couple of generations of Long Islanders start their day. Klein died in 2017 at age 92.

In 1985, WALK Pillow Talk began its long run of popularity. Hosted by Tom Rich, the Sunday evening program featured soft adult contemporary and rock favorites. WALK Pillow Talk quickly challenged the previously top-ranked Doctor Ruth Show on WYNY for the most listened-to show in its time period. Expanding WALK Pillow Talk to weeknights played a role in propelling WALK to #1 in the Nassau-Suffolk ratings for the first time ever, a position the station has held for most of the following 35 years.

WALK-FM was one of the first stations on Long Island to run all Christmas music during the holiday season, beginning weeks before Christmas. The all-holiday format began in 1995 on AM 1370 WALK. Beginning in 2002 it was run on both WALK AM and FM.[7] It continues to run on WALK-FM annually from several days before Thanksgiving through Christmas Day.

2000s

In 2000, WALK-AM-FM were acquired by Clear Channel Communications.[8] In 2014, Clear Channel switched its name to iHeartMedia, Inc.

The WALK Breakfast Club, the weekday morning show hosted by Mark Daniels and Cindy, was featured on ABC's "Good Morning America" in December 2005. A GMA reporter was live on national TV, asking Mark and Cindy about playing all holiday music on radio stations. After the report, Cindy accused Mark of paying off the photographer since the camera was only focusing on Mark.[9]

Long-time WALK-FM DJ Dave Shnayer, known as JD Howard on-air, died on November 17, 2007, after a three-year battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The death was announced the following afternoon by Holly Levis.[10][11]

2010s

WALK-FM dropped the slogan "Yesterday and Today," switching to "Long Island's Best Variety" in May 2010. Around that time, the station began decreasing the amount of music from the 1970s to one-to-two songs per hour, starting the transition to a hotter AC format. Eventually, music from the 1970s was eliminated, and music from the 1980s has been scaled back.

By July 2012, the station's tempo had increased to where it was no longer playing adult contemporary music but had switched to a hot adult contemporary format as Mediabase moved it to the "Hot AC Panel." However, WALK-FM continued on the Nielsen BDS AC panel.

On May 15, 2014, Qantum Communications announced that it would acquire WALK-AM-FM from the Aloha Station Trust in exchange for transferring its existing 29 stations to Clear Channel. Qantum immediately sold WALK-AM-FM to Connoisseur Media, making them sister stations to Nassau County-based AC station 98.3 WKJY.[12] The transaction was consummated on September 9, 2014. The WALK stations were split up in late 2019, after Connoisseur donated the AM station to Cantico Nuevo Ministry,[13] which renamed it WLID.

HD Programming

In mid-2006, WALK-FM began broadcasting in the HD Radio hybrid format. Weeks later, WALK-FM began playing country music on its HD2 subchannel, which Clear Channel Communications claimed was the first country station on Long Island in years. Programming on WALK-FM-HD2 was discontinued after the sale of the station to Connoisseur Media. WALK-FM-HD2 returned to the air in 2017 with sister station WWSK 94.3 FM "The Shark" now heard on the HD2 signal.[14] The Shark is a mainstream rock station also serving Suffolk County.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the Adult Contemporary Station of the Year Award by Radio & Records magazine for the top 25 U.S. radio markets. Other nominees included WMJX in Boston, KOST in Los Angeles, WLTW in New York City, WBEB in Philadelphia and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.[15]

gollark: Anyway, I require GPUs for obvious reasons, so money please.
gollark: What of £0.50?
gollark: I believe they're bottlenecked by TSMC right now.
gollark: If I had arbitrary quantities of money I could *make* them make some.
gollark: Porpoises only.

References
  1. WALKradio.com/contact
  2. Radio-Locator.com/WALK-FM
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1954 page 227
  4. "WALK-FM Takes to Air" (PDF). The Patchogue Advance. Patchogue New York. January 8, 1953. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. "Peconic Resident Buys Macy Radio Stations" (PDF). The Long Island Traveler Mattituck Watchman. Southold New York. November 7, 1963. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  6. "Radio personality Bob Klein dies at 92". News 12 Long Island. September 21, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  7. Hinckley, David (November 12, 2003). "IT'LL BE CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER FOR WALK". New York Daily News. New York, New York. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  8. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-366
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Archived February 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  12. Venta, Lance (May 15, 2014). "Qantum Sells To Clear Channel; Connoisseur Expands In Long Island". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  13. "Connoisseur Completes Donation Of Long Island AM To Religious Broadcaster". Inside Radio. January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  14. HD Radio Guide
  15. "2007 Industry Achievement Awards". Radio and Records. September 28, 2008. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008.
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