WWYZ


WWYZ is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, and serving the Central Connecticut, Greater Hartford and Southern Connecticut areas. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a country music radio format. Local hosts are heard most of the day, with the syndicated CMT After Midnight with Cody Alan heard overnight. On weekends, WWYZ features the syndicated shows Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 and The Bobby Bones Show.
The studios and offices are on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford with other radio stations. The transmitter is in Meriden, on West Peak in the Hanging Hills.

History

WATR-FM

The station signed on the air on August 1, 1961, as WATR-FM. It was owned by the Gilmore Family, which also owned AM 1320 WATR and Channel 53 WATR-TV.
The call sign stood for the city of license, WATeRbury. At first, WATR-FM simulcast WATR 1320 programming. In the early 1970s, it switched to an easy listening format. In 1973, it briefly changed to WENU-FM. Also in 1973, it was bought by Winnipeg Broadcasting, making it now co-owned with another Waterbury station, AM 1240 WWCO. The new owners changed the call letters to WWYZ, calling the station "The Music Lover's WISE Choice". In the 1980s, WWYZ broadcasts a mix of formats from country to Top-40. In between late August and early September 1988, it became an all country formatted station.

Switch to Country

In July 1999, WWYZ was bought by AMFM, Inc. The following year, AMFM was acquired by Clear Channel Communications, which changed its name in 2008 to iHeartMedia, Inc.