WNSH
WNSH is a radio station that is licensed to Newark, New Jersey and serves the New York City area. The station is owned by Entercom. WNSH's studios are located in the combined Entercom facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan, and its transmitter is located in West Orange, New Jersey.
The station airs a country music format, and was the flagship for Cumulus Media's "Nash" brand of country-related multimedia from 2013 until Entercom's acquisition of the station in 2019.
WNSH broadcasts in the HD Radio format.
History
Early years
The 94.7 FM frequency signed on in 1947 as WAAT-FM, and was owned by the Bremer Broadcasting Company along with sister station WAAT. The following year Bremer launched New Jersey's first television station, WATV on channel 13 transmitting from the WAAT-FM tower. In 1957 the three stations were sold by Bremer to National Telefilm Associates, who changed the operation's call letters to WNTA-FM. During this period the station had diversified programming such as jazz, classical music, and easy listening music.National Telefilm split up its holdings in 1961, with WNTA-TV being sold to a New York City-based nonprofit educational group, and the WNTA radio stations going to Communications Industries Broadcasting. The new owners changed the calls to WJRZ-FM and initially retained the station's previous format, however on April 14, 1963 Family Radio, a Christian broadcaster then based in Oakland, California, began leasing airtime on WJRZ-FM. In 1964 the station was renamed WFME, and in March 1966 Family Radio purchased 94.7 FM outright and began airing its religious programming around-the-clock.
WFME's local programming consisted of community announcements, weekend public affairs, and weather and traffic inserts during Family Radio's Rise and Rejoice morning show. WFME originated a portion of the network's overnight program Nightwatch, hosted by station manager/chief engineer Charlie Menut. The rest of the station's schedule originated from Family Radio headquarters in Oakland.
WFME's programming was also heard on two translator stations: W213AC in Hyde Park, New York; and W247AE in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. As a result of WFME's license status change, the translators could no longer legally rebroadcast WFME's broadcast signal; as a result, both translator stations are now carrying a different Family Radio station with a similar feed as of February 2012.
Sale to Cumulus Media
On January 6, 2012, Family Radio applied to the Federal Communications Commission to change the license of WFME from noncommercial to commercial. This move followed the sales by Family Radio of stations in the Philadelphia and Baltimore–Washington markets and quickly prompted conjecture from radio industry monitors that WFME would be sold next. The application was approved on February 7, 2012.The sale rumors were confirmed on October 16, 2012, when Family Radio announced that it would sell WFME to Atlanta-based Cumulus Media; the originally undisclosed price was later confirmed to be $40 million. In addition, Family Radio acquired Cumulus' WDVY in Mount Kisco, New York. The FCC approved the sale/station trade January 4, 2013, making 94.7 FM a sister station to Cumulus' two existing New York market stations, WABC and WPLJ. Four days later, on January 8, 2013, Cumulus completed the purchase of WFME. Family Radio programming on 94.7 FM ended at 3:40 p.m. on January 11, 2013; prior to signing off of the frequency, station manager Charlie Menut stated that the network's programming would be transferred to 106.3 FM, which became the new WFME on January 15, and that efforts to acquire an AM frequency that would cover the New York City area were being made. Two years later, in February 2015, Family Radio programming returned to the area via its acquisition of WQEW, a former Radio Disney outlet.
"Nash FM" launch
About twenty minutes after WFME signed off, 94.7 FM under Cumulus ownership began a simulcast of WPLJ, which broadcast a hot adult contemporary format. The frequency's call sign was changed three days later to WRXP, a call sign previously used on the 101.9 FM facility in New York City under two different owners and two different stints as an alternative rock station. The WPLJ simulcast ended on January 18 in favor of stunting with "The 94.7 Wheel of Formats." During this stunt, a wide variety of sound clips and songs were played, from formats such as top 40/CHR and smooth jazz, as well as polka and all-one artist formats like all-Bruce Springsteen and "Weird Al" Yankovic.The stunting continued until 9:47 a.m. on January 21, when WRXP adopted a new country music format branded as Nash FM 94.7. The first song on "Nash FM" was "How Country Feels" by Randy Houser. The move gave the New York City area its first full-time country station since 2002, when the "Y-107" simulcast of four suburban stations at 107.1 FM—located in Briarcliff Manor and Hampton Bays, New York, and Belvidere and Long Branch, New Jersey—cancelled the format. The last station to carry country full-time within the market was WYNY, which became rhythmic adult contemporary WKTU in 1996. To coincide with the "Nash" launch, Cumulus Media swapped the WNSH call sign from its sister station in Cambridge, Minnesota on January 29, 2013.
The station served as the flagship of Nash—an initiative to create a singular multi-platform brand for country music content originated by Cumulus Media, including WNSH and other radio stations, Nash Bash concerts, its syndicated country programming, and Nash Magazine.
On November 3, 2014, 104.7 WELJ in Montauk dropped its Hot AC format for a simulcast of WNSH, to cover listeners on Eastern Long Island where WNSH's 94.7 signal is difficult to hear. The simulcast ended on August 31, 2015, when WELJ re-launched as Nash Icon,
In February 2019, WNSH dropped Nash FM's syndicated morning show Ty, Kelly & Chuck in favor of a local show, with former Nash network personality Kelly Ford.
Sale to Entercom
On February 13, 2019, Cumulus announced that WNSH would be traded to Entercom, as part of an exchange of WNSH and several stations in Springfield, Massachusetts for Entercom stations in Indianapolis; in the same announcement, Cumulus revealed the separate sale of sister station WPLJ and other outlets to Educational Media Foundation. Entercom assumed control of the station beginning March 1, 2019 under a local marketing agreement and WNSH maintained its country format, although Entercom's head of country stations Tim Roberts stated that the company would be evaluating whether they would continue to license the Nash brand from Cumulus. The swap was finalized on May 13th.On March 25, 2019, WNSH rebranded as New York's Country 94.7, with no change in lineup or programming.