WZZY
History
WZZY was founded in 1967 as WIUC (for "Winchester Indiana and Union City") 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/Sales Manager and did the morning drive show from 1983 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.
Hacking Incident
On February 28, 2017, WZZY was hacked in a nearly-identical manner, playing the same "dead bodies" audio from a February 2013 hijacking of the Emergency Alert Systems. 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.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WZZY". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Hackers take over Randolph County radio station's alert system, send out messages about fake zombie attack". Fox59.com. March 1, 2017.
- ^ O'Keefe, PJ (March 3, 2017). "WZZY 98.3FM zombie outbreak: Hacked radio station reports zombie attack in Randolph County, Indiana". WCPO.com.
External links
- Facility details for Facility ID 71415 (WZZY) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WZZY in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
40°05′24″N 84°56′13″W / 40.090°N 84.937°W