WTMM-FM

WTMM-FM
City Mechanicville, New York
Broadcast area Capital District, Adirondacks
Branding ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team
Slogan Albany's Sports Talk Station
Frequency 104.5 MHz
First air date 1993
Format Sports radio
ERP 5,000 watts
HAAT 107 meters
Class A
Facility ID 22004
Callsign meaning W TeaM M
Former callsigns WVYD (1991-1992)
WXLE (1992-1999)
WABT (1999-2006)
Affiliations ESPN Radio
New York Yankees Radio Network
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media of Albany, Inc.)
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1045theteam.com

WTMM-FM (ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team) is a sports radio station licensed to Mechanicville, New York and serving New York's Capital Region and Saratoga County. The station is owned by Townsquare Media,[1] and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower in Clifton Park, New York which is shared with WKKF and WDCD-FM. The station airs play-by-play from the New York Yankees[2] as well as all of ESPN's programming.

WTMM-FM assumed the Team format from its former home on 1300 kHz (now WGDJ under new ownership) on December 18, 2006 with the two stations simulcasting until January 2, 2007.

History

The station signed on the air as WXLE[3] in January 1993. It initially aired a Rock/AC format, known as "Rock without the Racket" but evolved to an Adult Album Alternative format by late 1993, with live DJs. The station was known as XL-104.5 in those days, and eventually as 104.5 The Zone. As a "Triple A" station, XL-104.5 was the first station helmed by noted Triple A programmer Zeb Norris. In mid-1996 much of its programming became satellite-fed.

In 1998, WXLE, was sold to AMFM Inc. and with it came two format changes, first to adult contemporary as Magic 104.5 in October as a smokescreen, then on December 26, to the then-popular "Jammin' Oldies" format (which AMFM owned the rights to). With the latter switch came the branding of 104.5 The Beat and the calls of WABT.[4]

Like other "Jammin' Oldies" stations, WABT had a short-term uptick in ratings; however, the format did not mesh well with the Albany market and ratings fell to levels of that of the prior formats. When AMFM merged with Clear Channel Communications in 2000, WABT was one of several stations which was divested due to market concentration concerns. After being sold to Regent Communications (now Townsquare Media), WABT's format changed to All-80's Hits as "The Buzz" on December 8, 2000. The "Buzz" format was later expanded to include music from the 1990s in September 2002, and evolved to Adult Top 40 in July 2003.

In mid-2006, reports began circulating that the Buzz format may move to the relocated 105.7 MHz frequency that previously had been licensed to Queensbury. In the wake of landing the Chuck & Kelly morning show from WYJB in September 2006, these rumors would soon become true. The Buzz format officially moved to 105.7 MHz on December 4, 2006, after spending much of the previous week test simulcasting.

On December 18, 2006, WABT flipped to a simulcast of ESPN Radio formatted WTMM as WTMM-FM in preparation of becoming the sole home of that station which took place on January 3, 2007 when WTMM (AM) became female-oriented talk WEEV. The simulcast would partially resume on August 17, 2007, when WEEV returned to the WTMM format and calls, though due to rights issues, it did not clear any of WTMM-FM's play by play; this arrangement ended on November 26, 2007, when the 1300 frequency became home to WGDJ under new ownership.

WTMM broadcasts the entire ESPN Radio schedule, with few exceptions.

Currently, the aternoon drive slot from 3PM-7PM is hosted by Jeff Levack as "The Jeff Levack Show."

Specialty programming

WTMM also broadcasts New York Yankees baseball,[5] Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, and New York Jets football.[6] They also broadcast ESPN Radio's national MLB, NFL, and NBA packages. In addition, WTMM is the flagship home to Albany Devils hockey, airing most games when not conflicting with other sport broadcasts.[7]

References

  1. ↑ http://townsquaremedia.com/markets/new-york/albany/wtmm-104-5-fm/
  2. ↑ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/yankeesradionetwork/
  3. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/capstar-broadcasting-to-acquire-wxle-fm-in-mechanicville-ny-75913742.html
  4. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1999/RR-1999-01-01.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/blog/2010/10/yanks-help-wtmm-score-better-ratings.html
  6. ↑ http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia/no-jets-steelers-broadcast-sunday-on-wtmm/6004/
  7. ↑ http://blog.timesunion.com/hockey/wtmm-104-5-fm-to-be-devils-radio-home/5925/

External links

Coordinates: 42°52′44″N 73°51′47″W / 42.879°N 73.863°W / 42.879; -73.863

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