WSYB programs a news, talk, and sports format. WSYB features a full complement of local high school and college sports coverage including football, basketball, and hockey. WSYB is home to the localtalk show, "On the Air with Tim Philbin", which has been a strong local staple on WSYB since March 1995 and has been highlighted on national news and entertainment programs. WSYB also carries The Robert Wuhl Show, and Coast to Coast AM. WSYB's weekend lineup includes At Home with Gary Sullivan, Sports Talk with David Tibbs, Money Talk, and Handel On The Law. WSYB is also one of the first stations to broadcast Boston Red Sox baseball, and continues to be one of their longest running affiliates. WSYB has remained both viable and stable throughout many ownership and management changes. WSYB is also well known for the "all-important weekend weather forecasts" by Tim Filben
History
The station signed on the air on December 10, 1930. It is the second oldest radio station in Vermont, after WVMTBurlington. WSYB was launched by Henry Seward and Philip Weiss, owners of a music store at 33 Center Street in Rutland. The station broadcast on 1500 kc. at 100 watts in 1935 and finally settled on its current frequency in the mid-1940s. The WSYB call sign stands for, "We Serve You Best". Since the demise of WHWB in the early 1990s, WSYB remains the only AM radio station serving the local Rutland area. WSYB is home to the long based charity, "The WSYB Christmas Fund", which has been serving needy families in the Rutland community since the early 1970s. WSYB broadcasts with a 5 kW omnidirectional signal with one tower from local sunrise to local sunset. At night, WSYB utilizes two towers with 1 kW and a pattern that is aimed mainly northeast of the transmitter site. While the daytime signal provides ample coverage for Rutland County, the nighttime signal does miss most of the county south and west of the transmitter site. On the other hand, with the night time signal aimed to the northeast, there have been numerous reception reports from very enthusiastic listeners in the Canadian Maritimes, England, and even Finland over the years. Some of the owners for WSYB over the years have included Vermont Radio Inc, All Communications Inc., H & D Media, Excalibur Media, and Clear Channel Communications. WSYB, its FM sister WZRT, and several other Clear Channel properties were swapped out to Pamal Broadcasting in exchange for WRNX in Northampton, Massachusetts. This swap gave Pamal/Albany ownership of 5 out the 6 commercial radio signals in the local Rutland area.
