WAJZ

WAJZ is an urban-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary station serving the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and operates at 96.3 MHz with an ERP of 470 watts and is licensed to Voorheesville, New York. The station is one of the few Class A FM signals based on the Helderberg Mountains antenna farm used by higher powered FM's and most TV stations in the market.

Programming

Since the launch of Jamz 96.3 on December 23, 1998, it has become one of the most popular radio stations in the Albany market, initially as an urban contemporary radio station, and evolving to rhythmic contemporary by September 2005 due to WKKF's change in direction. As of 2011, the station tends to lean more urban rather than dance (similar to WQHT in New York City) due to sister mainstream CHR WFLY, and has ranked in the top 5 in several Arbitron books, a rarity for a lower-powered signal in the Albany market.

History

The station signed on May 24, 1991 as WCDA, running a full-service, locally programmed adult contemporary format, calling itself CD96.3. The format ran for three years, featuring live, personality-driven programming that included a full-time news staff. Unfortunately, the market was over-served by adult contemporary stations, and three years later the format was changed to a contemporary country format, initially using programming from Jones Satellite to target dominant country station WGNA-FM. Eventually, WCDA brought back in more locally produced programming. Like most locally owned and operated "single" stations, WCDA found itself competing against ownership groups that had acquired multiple stations. The Albany market, like most radio markets in the nation, saw all of its individually owned stations eventually sold to larger group broadcasters, WCDA among them.