First air date 1967 (as WSEN-FM) Frequency 92.1 MHz Branding 92.1 The Wolf Sister stations WCIS | Language(s) English HAAT 91 meters Format Country | |
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Slogan Syracuse's New Hit Country Owner Family Life Network; (Family Life Ministries, Inc.) | ||
WOLF-FM is a radio station serving the community of Baldwinsville, New York in the Syracuse, New York metropolitan area. The station is owned by Family Life Network, and is currently operating as a simulcast of WOSW, running a country music format branded as 92.1 The Wolf.
Contents
History
In 1967, the station began operations as a full-time country outlet as WSEN-FM. It was the sister station to WSEN-AM 1050, one of the first country stations in the northeastern United States. Century Radio sold the stations in 1974.
On September 7, 1975, WSEN-FM began operating on a 24-hour basis continuing with a country music format hosted by Carl Knight from 1-6 a.m. The new 24 hour full-time programming lineup included: Bob Paris 6-10 a.m.; Daniel J. Dunn 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.; "Uncle" Rob 2-6 p.m.; Les Howard 6-10 p.m.; Al Jenner 10 p.m. - 1 a.m.
In 1986, the station format flipped to oldies. Both AM and FM were owned by Buckley Broadcasting during much of the 2000s, until being sold in 2008 to Leatherstocking Media Group.
In 2011, as the oldies format drifted into classic hits, WSEN (at the time playing a 1960s/1970s mix of songs) split its simulcast: the FM side switched to a modern-leaning classic hits format centered on the 1970s and 1980s, while the AM side went for a "real oldies" approach featuring 1950s and 1960s music.
Acquisition by Family Life and trade with Craig Fox
In late 2015, the station was sold to the Family Life Network, a regional religious broadcaster, along with WMCR-FM and rights to WFBL. WSEN-FM's intellectual property (including all on-air programming and staff contracts) was sold to Galaxy Communications, who merged it with that of WZUN (which Galaxy reacquired in February 2016).
Family Life Network then promptly traded the 92.1 license to Craig Fox in exchange for the former WOLF-FM (105.1) in DeRuyter and WWLF-FM (96.7) in Oswego. WOLF's country music format was installed on 92.1 on March 29 at 5:00 p.m. The WSEN-FM call letters were swapped with Fox's WNDR-FM on April 6, 2016. The station adopted the WOLF-FM call sign on April 14, 2016.
On June 15, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied the trade and fined Foxfur and Wolf Radio $20,000 for violating the multiple ownership rule (because the companies' owner Craig Fox illegally operated eight licenses, where ownership limits in the market are seven).
In late June 2016, FoxFur filed a second request for the transfer of 105.1 and 96.7 to Family Life. However, because of the FCC's ruling, FoxFur ceased operation of WOLF-FM. The station's owner, Family Life, is temporarily operating the station as a simulcast of Fox's WOSW, which is itself broadcasting the original country music format that Fox installed on 92.1. As a result, WOLF is the only station in FLN's portfolio running secular programming.