WSUS (FM)

Last updated
WSUS
1023 WSUS (2024).png
Broadcast area Sussex County, New Jersey
Frequency 102.3 MHz
Branding102.3 WSUS
Programming
Format Adult contemporary
Affiliations Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
WNNJ, WHCY
History
First air date
February 28, 1965;59 years ago (1965-02-28) (as WLVP)
Former call signs
WLVP (1965–1971)
Call sign meaning
Sussex County
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 74077
Class A
ERP 590 watts
HAAT 218 meters (715 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 41°08′35″N74°32′20″W / 41.143°N 74.539°W / 41.143; -74.539
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website wsus1023.iheart.com

WSUS (102.3 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Franklin, New Jersey, and serving the Sussex County area of North Jersey. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and has an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. [2] The station is consistently the number one radio station in Sussex County. It carries the syndicated Delilah call-in and request show on weeknights, Ellen K on Saturday mornings and classic American Top 40 with Casey Kasem shows on Sunday mornings.

Contents

WSUS has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 590 watts, making it a class A station. The transmitter is on Esto Lane in Hardyston Township, New Jersey and the studios are on Mitchell Avenue in Franklin. [3]

History

Country and Top 40

The station signed on the air on February 28, 1965;59 years ago. Its original call sign was WLVP, named for Louis VanderPlatte, the station's founder. The studio, transmitter, and VanderPlatte's house were atop Hamburg Mountain, overlooking Franklin and Sussex County's central valleys. The station's power was 360 watts, and it initially had a Country and Southern Gospel format. [4]

In 1971, WLVP was sold for $75,000 to Peter Bardach, an advertising executive who lived in New Jersey and worked on Madison Avenue. Bardach changed the station's call letters to WSUS. (Bardach's company was Sussex County Stereo, even though WSUS itself broadcast a mono signal for several years before actually going stereo.) James Normoyle, a veteran disc jockey who used the name Jay Edwards, was hired as Sales Manager in 1972 and later became General Manager and part owner with Bardach. Normoyle eventually became the full owner.

The station had a Top 40/Country hybrid format called "Town & Country". Half the songs played were current Top 40 Hits and half the songs country, including current hits and older songs. In 1975 WSUS changed its nighttime format to Top 40/Rock, mixing Top 40 and Rock cuts both old and new. During the day, it continued the Top 40/Country hybrid format.

In 1973 the station moved its studios from the mountaintop to 75 Main Street in Franklin. The transmitter remained on the mountain and the power was eventually raised to the current level of 590 watts.

WSUS slogans included "All Hit Music" and "Dependable WSUS". The station had half-hourly newscasts on weekdays, known as "First Report News". WSUS consistently was at or near the top when ratings are measured. Sussex County occasionally was a rated market when WSUS and WNNJ would pay Arbitron to measure listenership in Sussex County. This is known as "Buying the Book". In such a practice, local stations in an area pay in order to get rated for their home county.

Adult Contemporary

In the winter of 1982, WSUS dropped the Top 40/Country hybrid format during the day and the Top 40/Rock format at night. It became an adult contemporary radio station. The station became a slightly hotter AC by the late 1980s. The station continued with weekend specialty shows as well.

In 1991, WSUS gradually moved into a regular mainstream adult contemporary format. In 1997 Jay Edwards sold WSUS to Nassau Broadcasting Partners, and channeled his earnings into a brief career in harness racing. He died in 2002. Early in 1998 Nassau took over the station and revamped the format. The station used the slogan "The Best Variety of Soft Rock". It added Delilah, a syndicated love songs show, in the 7 p.m.-to-midnight time slot. The station also added new jingles as well. By now, the market was rated twice a year. In all but a few books, WSUS has been the number one station in the area. Occasionally now co-owned classic rock station WNNJ was on top.

Changes in ownership

In the winter of 2001 Clear Channel Communications purchased all the Nassau Broadcasting stations in the Sussex/Warren/Monroe County cluster except for WVPO, WSBG, and AM 960 located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The deal included WSUS, WHCY, WNNJ (AM) (now WTOC (AM)), WNNJ (FM), and local marketing agreements for WDLC and WTSX (which would end fall of 2004). WSUS remained an AC station with no changes. In exchange for these stations, Nassau was paid a good sum of cash plus WEEX and WODE-FM in the Lehigh Valley (which Clear Channel had to sell due to the merger with AM/FM/Chancellor). [5]

Clear Channel consolidated the studios of the Sussex and Warren County stations, all at 45 Ed Mitchell Avenue in Franklin. In 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia.

Former on-air staff

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WODE-FM</span> Radio station in Easton, Pennsylvania

WODE-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Easton, Pennsylvania. The station's service contour covers the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPEN (FM)</span> Sports radio station in Burlington, New Jersey, serving Philadelphia

WPEN is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Burlington, New Jersey, in the Philadelphia radio market. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WALK-FM</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in Patchogue, New York

WALK-FM is a hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, and serving Long Island. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media, with studios and offices located at Airport Plaza in Farmingdale, New York, and its transmitter located on Telescope Hill in Farmingville, New York. WALK-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format with its HD2 channel carrying the mainstream rock programming of co-owned 94.3 WWSK.

WVPO is an FM radio station in Lehman Township, Pennsylvania known as "Bigfoot Country 96.7 & 97.3". The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, programming a country music format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOKY</span> Radio station in Wisconsin, United States

WOKY is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by iHeart in Milwaukee. WRNW focuses on Wisconsin-based sports shows, while WOKY mostly airs national programs from Fox Sports Radio, including Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd. WOKY's studios and offices, which became the home of all iHeart Milwaukee stations in 2000 after a building expansion, are on West Howard Avenue in Greenfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJLK-FM</span> Radio station in New Jersey, United States

WJLK-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Asbury Park, New Jersey, and serving Monmouth County, Northern Ocean County and Middlesex County. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format and is owned by Townsquare Media, along with sister stations WCHR-FM, WOBM, WOBM-FM, and WJLK.

WPDH is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are on Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie.

WDCD was a news/talk radio station licensed to Albany, New York, United States and served New York's Capital District, Adirondacks, and much of western New England. The station was owned by DJRA Broadcasting, and broadcast on 1540 kHz at 50 kilowatts from a three-tower directional antenna array adjacent to the station's studios in Colonie, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNNJ</span> Radio station in Newton, New Jersey

WNNJ is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Newton, New Jersey and serving Sussex County. It airs a classic rock radio format focusing on the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and is owned by iHeartMedia The station is known as "103-7 NNJ The Tri States' Rock Station". Several of the personalities on WNNJ are voicetracked from WAXQ New York City and WXTB Tampa. The studios and offices are on Mitchell Avenue in Franklin, New Jersey.

WHCY, known as 106.3 The Bear, is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Blairstown, New Jersey and serving the Sussex, Warren, and Morris County areas of North Jersey plus East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It airs a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WHCY carries syndicated programs from co-owned Premiere Networks including The Bobby Bones Show in morning drive time and After Midnight with Granger Smith overnight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KZCH</span> Radio station in Derby, Kansas

KZCH, also known as "Channel 963," is a Mainstream Top 40 radio station serving the Wichita area. The iHeartMedia, Inc. outlet broadcasts with an ERP of 50 kW and is licensed to Derby, Kansas. Its studios are located on East Douglas Avenue in Downtown Wichita, and the transmitter is just north of downtown.

WSBG is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Branding itself as "93.5 SBG", it features current hits mixed with recurrent hits from the early 1990s to today. Licensed to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, the station serves the Stroudsburg area. The station is currently owned by Seven Mountains Media. Its transmitter is located south of the Appalachian trail in Smithfield Township, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAEB (AM)</span> Radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania

WAEB is a news, talk, and sports AM radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRFX</span> Classic rock radio station in Kannapolis–Charlotte, North Carolina

WRFX is a commercial radio station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina and serving the Charlotte metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, it airs a classic rock radio format, and calls itself "99.7 The Fox." The radio studios and offices are on Woodridge Center Drive in South Charlotte. WRFX is the flagship station for the John Boy and Billy Big Show, a nationally syndicated morning show heard around the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMGM (FM)</span> Rock radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States

WMGM is a radio station licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey, playing active rock. WMGM serves most of southern New Jersey from Toms River to Cape May. Its studios are in Linwood, New Jersey, and its transmitter is in Pleasantville, New Jersey.

WSJO is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, through licensee Townsquare License, LLC, and broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) format.

WWYY is a class A radio station licensed to Belvidere, New Jersey. It serves The Poconos and Lehigh Valley regions. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holding CBC, LLC, and airs a country music radio format known as "Cat Country 96", simulcasting on WCTO 96.1 FM in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Nassau Broadcasting Partners LP was a company based in Princeton, New Jersey that owned radio stations in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Nassau's stations, which included both AM and FM frequencies, were located in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The company was owned and headed by Louis F. Mercatanti. Nassau was predominantly an operator of radio stations in medium and small markets. Nassau formerly owned radio station WCRB in Waltham, a Boston suburb, and located in the Boston market, the 11th largest radio market in the US, according to BIA Financial Network. However that station was sold to WGBH in 2009. Nassau operated radio stations in substantially all of the major formats. The company's most common format was classic rock/classic hits. On October 13, 2011 Nassau Broadcasting entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after their senior lenders petitioned for an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation in September. The stations were auctioned to various bidders in May 2012 subject to bankruptcy judge and FCC approval. Nassau's last station, WPLY in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, lost its license in 2014 after having shut down in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTSM-FM</span> Radio station in El Paso, Texas

KTSM-FM is a commercial radio station in El Paso, Texas. It airs an adult contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on North Mesa Street in West Central El Paso. Evenings feature the syndicated Delilah call-in and request show. On Sunday mornings, Dave Koz hosts a smooth jazz show. The rest of the schedule features local DJs.

WTOC is a radio station licensed to Newton, New Jersey. Owned by Centro Biblico of NJ, Inc. with a Spanish-language Christian format. Until August 17, 2011, they aired an oldies music format with songs from the 1960s and 1970s along with a small number of oldies from 1955 to 1964 and a small number of hits from the 1980s, a full-time affiliate of Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio. The station was owned by Clear Channel Communications from 2001 until 2011. From the station's 1953 sign-on until July 1, 2008, the radio station was known as WNNJ.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WSUS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ NJ.com, Katherine Rodriguez | NJ Advance Media for (2021-12-02). "The radio stations that play Christmas music in N.J." nj. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  3. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WSUS
  4. ↑ "New Jersey FM Radio History - Page 8". Angelfire . Archived from the original on 2002-03-18.
  5. ↑ "Nassau Acquires Two Allentown Stations".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.