WFLY (FLY 92.3) is a Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to Troy, New York and serving New York's Capital District as well as the surrounding areas, including the Adirondacks. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting (and is their flagship station, the first purchased by the company) and broadcasts at 92.3 FM at 17 kilowatts ERP from the Helderberg Mountains antenna farm in New Scotland. WFLY is the oldest FM radio call sign currently in use in the Albany market (since 1948).

Programming [link]

WFLY has aired a Contemporary Hit Radio format since 1979, the second longest-running commercial format in Capital District radio (WGNA-FM's country music format has been in place since 1973), and is also one of the oldest "heritage" stations in the format. The station has also been through several playlist evolutions throughout the years; however, the station has stayed true to a CHR format for over 30 years.

Currently, the station staff is: The FLY Morning Rush (Brian Cody and Chrissy Cavotta) (5:30am-10am), Ally Reid on Middays (10am-2pm), Marissa in the Afternoon (2pm-7pm), Bill with the Night Show (7pm-12am), and MyLow in the Overnight (12am-5:30am). Weekend/fill-in jocks include Eddie Hernandez, Scotty Bones, Danny Gates, Jake Allen, Nate Boland, Dave Mink and Shawn Gillie.

Shows currently aired on WFLY include Club FLY with MyLow & Steve "Liquidmix" Tucker every Sunday night beginning at 12:00 AM, Backtrax USA with Kid Kelly on Sunday mornings from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM, Sunday mornings from 8:00 AM to 12 noon with MyLow, the MTV Weekend Countdown with Damien Fahey from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM every Saturday morning, and Open House Party Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to midnight. Formerly, American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest was aired on Sunday mornings, but was dropped with the station's shift in direction towards a modern rock-based playlist in 2005 (WKKF would later pick it up).

History [link]

WFLY signed on in 1948 as the radio station of the Troy Record newspaper, then published by Frank Loyd York. The station initially played classical music, for several years being part of a network which originated at WQXR in New York City. However by the late 1960s this became a losing proposition and in 1970 the station switched to a Top 40/Oldies Rock format with live DJs. At that point they were known as "The Big 92". DJs on "The Big 92" included Craig Stevens, Gary Mitchell, Rex Gregory, Dale Lane, Bob Harris, Bob Roberts, Johnny Lance and Chris Calvert. Though the station (the first commercial FM rock station in the Albany market) did very well with the new format, protests over the format flip among classical music listeners were intense and a partial victory was claimed in late 1971 when the Troy Record sold WFLY to Functional Broadcasting and the station flipped to an easy listening/classical hybrid. The partial return of classical was not successful given the sign-on of WMHT-FM as a full time classical station shortly after WFLY flipped and established three easy listening outlets in the market.

Functional lost money on WFLY from the outset and sold the station in early 1975. After the sale the station flipped to automated album-oriented rock, billing itself as "sophisticated rock". WFLY went adult contemporary in 1977, and then reverted to top 40 in 1979 as FLY 92. The station was sold to Rob Dyson, who also owned WPDH and WEOK in Poughkeepsie, New York. It was sold to Jim Morrell's Albany Broadcasting in 1988 and is considered the flagship station for the company. The second go-around of Top 40 was the charm as WFLY caused the eventual deaths of AM powerhouses WTRY and WPTR in the following years and led to the deaths of most rivals though three stations, WGFM/WGY-FM (99 GFM, later Electric 99) from 1982 to 1990, WKLI-FM (K100) from 1996 to 1999, and WKKF (102.3 Kiss FM) since 2000 have survived for an extended period (though WKKF has more recently been directly competing against WFLY's sister station WAJZ). In 2005, the station rebranded with the full frequency as FLY 92.3 and tweaked its format to be more modern rock-leaning to separate itself more from co-owned WAJZ (which had taken on a more rhythmic playlist); however, over time, the station has reverted back to a more mainstream contemporary hit radio format.

In July 2007, a number of personnel left WFLY, including afternoon jocks Mick Lee (to KKRZ in Portland, OR) and Christy Taylor (to sister station WZMR), overnight jock Mr. Alex (to NYC for commercial production), and promotions director JoAnn Razzano.

In May 2008, it was announced that WFLY would be bringing back "Summer Jam," a concert the station is well known for but hasn't put on in almost a decade. Also, during the summer of 2008, WFLY introduced a new format for their long-running contest Last Student Standing. The contest, which had formerly been a last man standing, month-long torture aboard a school bus, was converted into a reality show format coined "Reality Radio". 8 college students moved into an emptied out store in Clifton Park Center and voted each other out week after week.

Former staff [link]

• Ellen Rockwell
• Jack Lawrence
• Michael Morgan
• D.Scott (now APD and afternoons at WKKF in Albany NY)
• Todd Pettingill (now at WPLJ in New York City)
• Mick Lee (former PD at WZFT in Baltimore now in prison for a federal indictment on tax fraud)

External links [link]

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WFLY
• Radio-Locator information on WFLY
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WFLY