History
Poughkeepsie Newspaper Incorporated, then owner of WKIP, signed on WHVA 104.7 MHz on December 7, 1947.[3] It was the first FM station to sign on between New York City and the Albany area. The transmitter site was located on North Mount Beacon in an area that was mainly a bungalow colony above the Mount Beacon Incline Railway and casino. The building and tower had been previously used by WOKO[4] in the late 1920s. While that site did not work well for AM radio because of the poor ground conductivity, it proved an excellent site for FM radio due to its height advantages.
In its early years, the station played classical music and for a time was a part of a regional network operated by station WQXR. In 1950, WHVA was sold to the Rural Radio Network, which later turned into Northeast Radio Corp. The call sign was changed to WRRH. [5] In June 1953, WRRH was sold to Dutchess Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WKIP. This would make the second time the station was co-owned with WKIP. The call letters were changed to WKIP-FM and the station adopted a full time simulcast of WKIP's full service format.
In 1968 WKIP-FM added stereo capabilities and split off from its AM sister station with a Top 40 format.
1970 WKIP-FM was sold to Beacon Broadcasting, owner of WBNR, and took on new call letters: WSPK(Stereo Poughkeepsie). With new owners came a 60% simulcast with WBNR that created a varied middle of the road/classical/beautiful music format which was commonplace on many FM stations at the time. The new owners also chose an unusual identifier for an FM frequency: 10-47 (said on-air as "ten-forty-seven").
By 1972, the station changed to a country music format to counter the newly relaunched WPDH. Country did not last long on the frequency and in 1975 WSPK took on a Top 40-leaning album-oriented rock format which struggled after WPDH took on a truer AOR format. In 1978, the station went to an unusual CHR/Oldies hybrid called "Gold N' Stereo" combining music by Sugarhill Gang, Neil Diamond, The Who, Abba, Free, Prince, and the Monkees. The station itself evolved to a more pure CHR "hit music" format from 1980 through 1981.
K104 history
In 1980, then program director Stew Schantz (formerly of WPDH) re-worked the station's image, branding it K-104. Schantz and the station's sales manager, Chuck Stewart, picked up the idea from a sales conference out west (there, station call signs usually begin with a "K" where east of the Mississippi River they usually begin with a "W"). The new name worked wonders for a station which had spent the previous decade adrift. Stew returned to mornings at WPDH but he would later return again to K-104 in the late '80s. Jim Simonetti was WSPK's first PD in its new incarnation as an Adult Top 40 calling itself K-104. He would later transfer to Beacon Broadcasting's WSCR in Scranton,PA. Chris Leide would succeed him as PD.
By the early 1990s, K-104 evolved to a more adult-leaning approach as the CHR format went into a short-term decline. The decline was mainly due to Country Music's resurgence immediately following the Persian Gulf War. With this, the numbers weakened even though there was no real competition for its target audience. In 1996, owner Beacon Broadcasting sold their remaining stations Enterprise Media of Binghamton. Their ownership was short lived, as they in turn sold WBNR and WSPK to Pamal Broadcasting in 1998. Upon Pamal's take over, Schantz resigned from the station. He later went on to do behind-the-scenes work in Utica, Albany and Pittsfield, MA. Schantz passed away in June, 2010.
After Schantz's departure, Brian Krysz took on the program director's responsibilities until May of 1999, when Scotty Mac (formerly nights in 1991) took over. The changes led to a re-imaged CHR approach which leaned towards dance music, then a rarity in the United States. The station's ratings improved, regaining top position in many key demographics, as well as the 12+ bragging rights. Though in recent years competition has come in the form of WPKF and the station is a perennial #1, K-104 is still a dominant force in the Hudson Valley radio markets.
The station is known for it's use of VO veteran Mark Driscoll as the station's voice from 1994-1996 and from 1999 until the present.
Poughkeepsie Newspaper Incorporated, then owner of WKIP, signed on WHVA 104.7 MHz on December 7, 1947.[3] It was the first FM station to sign on between New York City and the Albany area. The transmitter site was located on North Mount Beacon in an area that was mainly a bungalow colony above the Mount Beacon Incline Railway and casino. The building and tower had been previously used by WOKO[4] in the late 1920s. While that site did not work well for AM radio because of the poor ground conductivity, it proved an excellent site for FM radio due to its height advantages.
In its early years, the station played classical music and for a time was a part of a regional network operated by station WQXR. In 1950, WHVA was sold to the Rural Radio Network, which later turned into Northeast Radio Corp. The call sign was changed to WRRH. [5] In June 1953, WRRH was sold to Dutchess Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WKIP. This would make the second time the station was co-owned with WKIP. The call letters were changed to WKIP-FM and the station adopted a full time simulcast of WKIP's full service format.
In 1968 WKIP-FM added stereo capabilities and split off from its AM sister station with a Top 40 format.
1970 WKIP-FM was sold to Beacon Broadcasting, owner of WBNR, and took on new call letters: WSPK(Stereo Poughkeepsie). With new owners came a 60% simulcast with WBNR that created a varied middle of the road/classical/beautiful music format which was commonplace on many FM stations at the time. The new owners also chose an unusual identifier for an FM frequency: 10-47 (said on-air as "ten-forty-seven").
By 1972, the station changed to a country music format to counter the newly relaunched WPDH. Country did not last long on the frequency and in 1975 WSPK took on a Top 40-leaning album-oriented rock format which struggled after WPDH took on a truer AOR format. In 1978, the station went to an unusual CHR/Oldies hybrid called "Gold N' Stereo" combining music by Sugarhill Gang, Neil Diamond, The Who, Abba, Free, Prince, and the Monkees. The station itself evolved to a more pure CHR "hit music" format from 1980 through 1981.
K104 history
In 1980, then program director Stew Schantz (formerly of WPDH) re-worked the station's image, branding it K-104. Schantz and the station's sales manager, Chuck Stewart, picked up the idea from a sales conference out west (there, station call signs usually begin with a "K" where east of the Mississippi River they usually begin with a "W"). The new name worked wonders for a station which had spent the previous decade adrift. Stew returned to mornings at WPDH but he would later return again to K-104 in the late '80s. Jim Simonetti was WSPK's first PD in its new incarnation as an Adult Top 40 calling itself K-104. He would later transfer to Beacon Broadcasting's WSCR in Scranton,PA. Chris Leide would succeed him as PD.
By the early 1990s, K-104 evolved to a more adult-leaning approach as the CHR format went into a short-term decline. The decline was mainly due to Country Music's resurgence immediately following the Persian Gulf War. With this, the numbers weakened even though there was no real competition for its target audience. In 1996, owner Beacon Broadcasting sold their remaining stations Enterprise Media of Binghamton. Their ownership was short lived, as they in turn sold WBNR and WSPK to Pamal Broadcasting in 1998. Upon Pamal's take over, Schantz resigned from the station. He later went on to do behind-the-scenes work in Utica, Albany and Pittsfield, MA. Schantz passed away in June, 2010.
After Schantz's departure, Brian Krysz took on the program director's responsibilities until May of 1999, when Scotty Mac (formerly nights in 1991) took over. The changes led to a re-imaged CHR approach which leaned towards dance music, then a rarity in the United States. The station's ratings improved, regaining top position in many key demographics, as well as the 12+ bragging rights. Though in recent years competition has come in the form of WPKF and the station is a perennial #1, K-104 is still a dominant force in the Hudson Valley radio markets.
The station is known for it's use of VO veteran Mark Driscoll as the station's voice from 1994-1996 and from 1999 until the present.
