WHFM went on the air in 1939 at 45.1 Mhz as the first FM broadcast station in Rochester. During World War II the programming was specifically tailored to the needs of workers in local defense manufacturing plants. Re-assigned to 98.9 Mhz after the war, WHFM languished in the shadow of big AM sister WHAM 1180, with minimal programming efforts through several changes of ownership in the post-war years.
Rust Broadcasting (later Rust Communications Group), purchased WHAM & WHFM in late 1961, and eventually instituted a reel-to-reel based ‘easy listening’ format on WHFM, programmed from a couple of large tape decks in the racks of the WHAM master control at 350 East Avenue.
WHFM became the first FM Stereo station in Rochester in the summer of 1968, following the installation of a new transmitter plant with circularly-polarized antenna, stereo production studio and Gates program automation system. Peter Grobe was the programmer and announcer. In keeping with spirit of the times, he was known by some as “Peter Groovy” and aired a ‘progressive’ pop/rock format that was primitive by our contemporary standards, but sufficiently novel and popular for the first few years to be called a success.
By the spring of 1971, with increased commercial FM competition and a perceived need to step out from under the shadow of WHAM, new studios and offices for WHFM were constructed next door at 344 East Avenue. The automation system made the move too, but live programming and a more conventional pop music format were increasingly seen as the way to go.
Then, with the mid 1970’s economic downturn, management suddenly started looking for ways to economize. Automation started to look good again. The decision was made in early 1975 to convert all the Rust Communications FM stations to automated operation, using new computer-controlled systems from Control Design. Furthermore, the music programming was to be centralized at a single production facility, with reel-to-reel music tapes periodically updated and distributed to the various markets.
Needless to say, this technically & economically-driven decision was not popular with the various programmers and managers. They resisted the move to automation, sliced and diced the tapes without embarrassment, inserted their own music rotations and live programming, and generally made such a fuss that most of the new automation systems were effectively abandoned after just a few years.
With the 1975 return to automation, WHFM vacated the separate studios next door and operations were moved back into the WHAM building. This arrangement lasted until the early 1980’s when WHFM was returned once again to 344 East Avenue to make room for an elaborate WHAM studio renovation & expansion.
A succession of program directors and station managers presided over WHFM as FM99 or M-99 throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Some were more successful than others, but the station was never really consistently competitive during this period. Much blame was placed on spotty signal penetration caused by the transmitting antenna’s less-than-optimal side-mounting on the massive AM tower in the remote wetlands of Chili, NY.
In fact, the real problem for WHFM was always WHAM. The attention of ownership and management alike was permanently fixed on the clear-channel powerhouse that reached “38 states and Canada”. The FM station took the hindmost.
98.9 Mhz was finally liberated from 1180 Khz when WHFM and WHAM were split up and sold to separate owners in March 1985.
WHFM became WZKC, then WKLX, then WBBF-FM and is now known as WBZA.
The WHFM call letters are currently assigned to 95.3 in Southhampton NY.
Didn't they learn from CBS-FM??? 