Broadcast area | Utica- Rome, New York |
---|---|
Frequency | 96.1 MHz |
Branding | 96.1 The Eagle |
Programming | |
Format | Classic hits |
Affiliations |
Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks United Stations Radio Networks |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WIBX, WOUR, WLZW, WFRG-FM | |
History | |
First air date | August 1968 (as WKAL-FM at 95.9) |
Former call signs | WKAL-FM (1968–1984) WTCO (1984–1986) WKAL-FM (1986–1988) WFRG-FM (1988–1993) |
Former frequencies | 95.9 MHz (1968–1988) |
Call sign meaning | ODZ = " Oldies" (previous format) |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 72068 |
Class | B1 |
ERP | 7,400 watts |
HAAT | 184 meters |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°8′39″N 75°10′45″W / 43.14417°N 75.17917°W |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | 961theeagle.com |
WODZ-FM (96.1 MHz), branded as "The Eagle", is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Rome, New York, United States, the station serves the Utica-Rome market. The station is owned by Townsquare Media as part of a cluster with news-talk station WIBX, classic rock-formatted WOUR, hot AC-formatted WLZW (Lite 98.7), and country-formatted WFRG (Big Frog 104).
WODZ-FM signed on in August 1968 [1] as WKAL-FM, owned by Maurer Broadcasting Corporation and operating at 95.9 FM. The station originally simulcast its AM sister station, WKAL (1450 AM). [2] In 1977, WKAL-FM dropped the simulcast in favor of beautiful music. [3]
Maurer Broadcasting Corporation sold WKAL AM-FM to Wooster Republican Publishing Company of Wooster, Ohio in 1980. [4] In July 1984, WKAL-FM changed its call letters to WTCO, [5] and became a country music station, "Top Country." The following year, the station, along with WKAL, was acquired by Howard Green and Donald Simmons, owner of WENY AM- TV and WLEZ in Elmira and WOND and WMGM FM- TV in Atlantic City, New Jersey. [6] The new owners reverted the station's call letters to WKAL-FM on February 10, 1986, [7] and implemented a soft adult contemporary format. [8]
Target Communications bought WKAL AM-FM from Green and Simmons in 1987; [9] soon after taking over, on February 1, 1988, the call sign was changed to WFRG-FM, [10] and the station returned to country music, this time branded " 96 Frog". [11] The new format was simulcast on 1450 AM, which also took the WFRG call letters [10] (save for a short time in the early 1990s when the AM station broke away to become oldies station WZLB); [12] in addition, the station moved to its current frequency, 96.1. [13] Target Communications eventually became Arrow Communications, which went into receivership in 1992, [14] and then in November 1993, WFRG AM-FM was purchased by Forever Broadcasting, owners of WIBX and dominant market leader WLZW. [1] Forever renamed the stations WODZ and launched an oldies format, with the country format and WFRG-FM call letters moving to 104.3 FM. [15] The simulcast on AM 1450 continued until May 1999, when that frequency was sold to the Bible Broadcasting Network and became WYFY [16] (it has since reclaimed the WKAL call sign). Forever sold its stations in the market, including WODZ-FM, to Regent Communications (the forerunner to Townsquare Media) several months later. [17] On January 2, 2015, WODZ shifted to classic hits and rebranded from "Oldiez 96" to "96.1 The Eagle." [18]