WBEE-FM

WBEE-FM
City	Rochester, New York
Broadcast area	Rochester metropolitan area
Frequency	92.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	92.5 WBEE
Slogan	Rochester's New Country
Programming
Format	Country; HD2: Sports (WROC simulcast)
Ownership
Owner	Entercom Communications ; (Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stations	WBZA, WCMF-FM, WPXY-FM, WROC
History
First air date	February 1961 (as 101.3 WBBF-FM)
Former call signs	WBBF-FM (1961–1969); WBFB (1969–1976); WNWZ (1976–1977); WMJQ (1977–1986); WLRY (1986–1987)
Call sign meaning	W BEE (using a bee as the station's mascot)
Technical information
Facility ID	71206
Class	B
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	152 meters (499 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	43.177°N 77.477°W
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wbee.com

WBEE-FM (92.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Rochester, New York. It airs a country music radio format and is owned by Entercom Communications, after being acquired from Sinclair Broadcasting in 1999. The station's studios are located in downtown Rochester at Entercom's High Falls Studios, while its transmitter tower is off Five Mile Line Road in Penfield.[1]

The station is usually #1 or #2 in listenership in the Rochester radio market according to Nielsen Audio. The station broadcasts in HD and airs the all-sports format from co-owned AM 950 WROC on its HD-2 channel.

History

The 92.5 MHz frequency in Rochester was first occupied in 1960 by WVOR, owned by the Functional Broadcasting Company.[2] But within a couple of years, that station moved to 100.5 (home today to WDVI). In 1965, classical music station WBBF-FM moved to the unoccupied 92.5 frequency. WBBF-FM had already been established in 1961 at 101.3 as the sister station to popular AM outlet WBBF. The call letters were changed to WBFB in 1969.[3]

In 1975, NBC Radio started a 24-hour all-news radio network called NIS (News and Information Service), with WBFB switching to join the NIS Network, becoming WNWZ. However, the network was not profitable, and NBC announced it would be shut down at the end of 1976.

At the same time, the soft rock format had been catching on around the country, heard on stations such as WMGK in Philadelphia and WMJC in Detroit. LIN Broadcasting, which owned WNWZ at the time, decided to put a soft rock format on 92.5, calling the station WMJQ, as well as their branding "Magic 92".[4] These stations played many of the same artists as were heard on album rock stations, but only their softer works. Over time, WMJQ moved to a more mainstream album rock direction, putting it in competition with Rochester's leading rock station WCMF, eventually WMJQ was renamed as "Rockradio 92MJQ".

By early 1983, WMJQ had shifted to more of a modern rock format, though continuing to play a lot of mainstream album rock artists, and used the slogan "Rock of The Eighties." The modern rock format had proved to be quite successful on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and other stations around the country. However, in the late summer of 1983, LIN Broadcasting decided to make a switch; co-owned WBBF had given up its Top 40/CHR format for news-talk the previous year, as many AM stations were doing at the time. Capitalizing on this, WMJQ switched to a Top 40/CHR format in early September 1983, under their new nickname as "Hitradio Q92". (The Rochester market now had three FM Top 40/CHR/stations (WPXY had adopted a Top 40/CHR format the previous year, and WHFM (98.9 FM) had been Top 40/CHR leader since the late 1960s)). Even after WHFM changed format in early 1985, WMJQ was in a difficult competitive position against format ratings-leader WPXY.

On April 2, 1987, WMJQ flipped to another format that was quickly becoming popular among FM radio stations at the time and began broadcasting country music as WBEE-FM.[5] (The WMJQ call sign was then immediately acquired by what is now WTSS in Buffalo, who held the sign for the next decade.) It used the FM suffix to its call letters because there was already an AM station, WBEE in Harvey, Illinois near Chicago, now known as WBGX.

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References

External links

WBEE-FM official website
WBEE in the FCC's FM station database
WBEE on Radio-Locator
WBEE in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Radio-Locator.com/WBEE

[2] Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-126

[3] Broadcasting Yearbook 1972 page B-145

[4] Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 page C-151

[5] ttp://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1987/RR-1987-04-10.pdf

Country radio stations in the state of New York
Stations	WAGL – Portville WBBI – Endwell WBBS Fulton WBEE-FM – Rochester WBGK – Newport Village WBKT – Norwich WBKX – Fredonia WBNR – Beacon WBRV-FM – Boonville WBUG – Fort Plain WCBF - Elmira WCJW – Warsaw WCZX - Hyde Park WDBY – Patterson WDLA-FM – Walton WDLC – Port Jervis WDNB – Jeffersonville WFFG-FM – Warrensburg WFRG – Utica WFRY – Watertown WGNA-FM – Albany WHUG – Jamestown WHWK – Binghamton WINR – Binghamton WJKS - Keeseville WJVC – Center Moriches WKBE - Corinth WKLI-FM – Albany WKPQ – Hornell WLFK – Gouverneur WLLG – Lowville WLNA – Peekskill WLSV – Wellsville WNBL – South Bristol Township WNCQ-FM – Canton WNYV - Whitehall WOBF - Canaseraga WOKN – Southport WOKR – Canandaigua WOLF-FM - Baldwinsville WPDM – Potsdam WPIG – Olean WQNY – Ithaca WRWB-FM – Ellenville WRWD-FM – Highland WUUF – Sodus WVNV – Malone WXMS – Au Sable WXRL – Lancaster WYRK – Buffalo WZAD - Wurtsburo WZKZ – Alfred
¹ = Although WNSH is licensed to Newark, New Jersey, it also serves the New York City area, with its studios in New York City.
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in New York

Entercom
AM radio stations	KCBS KCSP KDKA KEZW KFH KFXX KGMZ KIFM KIKK KILT KJCE KMBZ KMOX KMTT KNSS KNX KRLD KWOD KXNT KXST KYW KYYS WAAF WAOK WAXY WBBM WBEN WBT WCBS WCCO WEAL WEEI WFAN WFNZ WGR WHLL WILK WINS WJFK WJZ WMC WMFS WODS WORD WPET WPHT WQAM WRNL WROC WRVA WSCR WSSP WTIC WVEI WWJ WWKB WWL WWWL WWWS WXYT WYRD
FM radio stations	K240EL K276FK KALC KALV-FM KAMP-FM KAMX KBZT KCBS-FM KDGS KDKA-FM KEYN-FM KEZK-FM KFBZ KFRC-FM KFRG KFTK-FM KGMZ-FM KGON KHMX KHTP KILT-FM KISW KITS KJKK KKDO KKHH KKMJ-FM KKWF KLLC KLOL KLUC-FM KLUV KMBZ-FM KMLE KMNB KMVK KMXB KNDD KNOU KNRK KNSS-FM KOOL-FM KQKS KQMT KQPS KQRC-FM KRBQ KRBZ KRLD-FM KROQ-FM KRSK KRTH KRXQ KSEG KSFM KSON KSWD KTWV KUDL KVIL KWFN KWJJ-FM KXFG KXQQ-FM KXSN KXTE KYCH-FM KYKY KYXY KZJK KZPT W253BI WBBM-FM WBEB WBEE-FM WBGB WBMX WBT-FM WBTJ WBZA WBZZ WCBS-FM WCFS-FM WCMF-FM WDAF-FM WDCH-FM† WDOK WDSY-FM WDZH WEEI-FM WEZB WFAN-FM WFBC-FM WGGY WIAD WILK-FM WIP-FM WJFK-FM WJMH WJZ-FM WKBU WKIS WKRF WKRK-FM WKRZ WKSE WKTK WKXJ WLFP WLIF WLKK WLMG WLND WLNK WLYF WLZL WMAS-FM WMC-FM WMFS-FM WMHX WMJX WMMM-FM WMQX WMXJ WMYX-FM WNCX WNEW-FM WNSH WNVZ WNYL WOCL WOGL WOLX-FM WOMC WOMX-FM WPAW WPGC-FM WPOW WPTE WPXY-FM WQAL WQMG WQMP WRCH WROQ WRVQ WRVR WRXL WRXR-FM WSFS WSKY-FM WSMW WSPA-FM WSTR WTDY-FM WTIC-FM WTPT WTSS WTVR-FM WUSN WUSY WVEE WVEI-FM WVKL WWBX WWDE-FM WWEI WWL-FM WWMX WXRT WXSS WXYT-FM WYCD WYRD-FM WZGC WZMX
Radio Networks	CBS Sports Radio* Sabres Hockey Network New York Yankees Radio Channel Q
Digital properties	Eventful Play.it Radio.com
See also	CBS Radio
* = Entercom operates under a CBS Brands License Agreement as producer with distribution handled by Westwood One. † = Operated by Bloomberg L.P. pursuant to a time brokerage agreement.