WZZY is a local radio station in Winchester, Indiana. The station is located on 98.3 on the FM dial and broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 3,000 watts. Studios and offices are located at the Whitewater Broadcasting complex on West Main Street in Richmond, Indiana. The tower is located in rural Randolph County off US 27, north of Lynn, Indiana and WZZY still conducts a lot of business out of an office in downtown Winchester.
History
WZZY was founded in the mid-1960s as WIUC switching to the WZZY calls in 1980. Its original studios, office and transmitting tower were located at the intersection of U.S. Route 27 and East Greenville Pike. Middle of the Road programming was aired until 1979 when it switched to Adult Contemporary before the call letter and format switch in 1980. Joe Hill, now of Tucson AZ was Operations Director and AM drive jock from 1984 to 1985. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, WZZY broadcast mainly a Contemporary hit radio format from 5am to midnight daily. In the mid-1990s, the station changed its format to a very broad mix of country, pop, adult contemporary, and classic rock as well as programming blocks similar to those that could be found on a public radio station. WZZY began using the on-air handle as "Wizzy 98.3". The eclectic format continued until the station was sold to Richmond's Whitewater Broadcasting in 1999. While the main headquarters are in Richmond, WZZY still has an office in downtown Winchester. Re-imaged as "Star 98-point-3," the station officially switched to an Adult contemporary format broadcasting 24 hours a day. During the Christmas season, WZZY broadcasts an all-Christmas music format. WZZY carries Randolph County high school sports, news, and weather. WZZY also features Brownfield Ag News and Purdue Sports.
On February 28, 2017, WZZY was hacked in a nearly-identical manner, playing the same "dead bodies" audio from the February 2013 incidents. The incident prompted a public response from the Randolph County Sheriff's Department clarifying that there was no actual emergency, and remained as a false alarm.
