WHYN 1400 AM was an important sounding board, bringing matters of local concern to listeners' attention. Locally elected officials were invited to on-air interviews to explain or clarify their actions or to refute the claims of other officials. Such was the case in a 1945 conflict between Holyoke's mayor and the Board of Assessors. Listeners were provided information before later reading it in newspapers.
In 1946, 71 students enrolled in a radio technics and dramatics course offered by WHYN in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Education, University Extension. WHYN's program and music directors taught the 14-week course.
During the 1946 elections, WHYN radio began its election coverage at 7:30 P. M. The Holyoke Transcript-Telegram would interact with broadcasters, providing them with updates and trends. The information would be shared and compiled throughout the night and used to prepare a Transcript Extra for the election results, which would be distributed to residents in Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield, West Springfield, and Westfield in Hampden County, and Easthampton, Northampton, Amherst, and South Hadley in Hampshire County.
In March 1946, the station sought permission from the FCC to increase its power from 250 to 10,000 watts and move up the radio dial from 1400AM to 1550AM. The request was denied by the FCC.
Speakers from the educational community continued to appear for interviews. In 1946, Dr. Marcella Kelly, accompanied by young students, talked about their enjoyment in learning languages. Each week, children from other schools would accompany Dr. Kelly and share their stories with the listening audience. This was as much a learning experience about the value of a Holyoke public school education for the families as it was for the children.
In 1947, 4 students, 2 from Holyoke and two from Willimansett and Springfield, competed in a live radio debate. The topic was "That the Dardanelles be organized jointly by Russia and Turkey." The Holyoke students were Joseph Griffin and Patrick Moriarty.
In May 1948, the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation took steps to bring a television station to Western Massachusetts. Holyoke's WHYN became the first radio station to apply for a television license. The station would transmit from Mt. Tom. WHYN applied for Channel 3, which was authorized for this area, and would have a reception range of 35 to 40 miles. It planned to broadcast 24 hours per week. It was expected to take 2 years before the station began broadcasting.
The Hampden-Hampshire Corporation's officers remained William Dwight, President, Charles N. DeRose, Vice-President, and Minnie Dwight, Treasurer. Arthur Ryan, the brother of Minnie Dwight and Business Manager of the Holyoke Transcript, and Harriet W. DeRose, publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, were Directors, along with the 3 officers.
WHYN-AM was granted a power boost to 1,000 watts by the FCC in 1949. It had operated at 250 watts since its inception in 1941.
In February 1950, 3 250-foot AM radio towers arrived for installation. The towers were delivered by the New York-New Haven & Hartford Railroad to Easthampton, Massachusetts. This was the closest drop-off point to the Schoenfeldt tract in Rock Valley where they would be erected.
In April 1950, WHYN moved from 1400 on the AM dial to 560, where it has remained for 76 years as of this writing.
1400 on the radio dial was taken over by WHMP in Northampton, a station that went on the air in December, 1950 and broadcast from the fifth floor of the Nonotuck Bank Building in Northampton. WHMP was owned by the DeRose family until 1983, when the family sold it to F. X. Sillerman and former New York City popular DJ "Cousin" Bruce Murrow.
In June 1953, WHYN radio became a CBS affiliate after 12 years with the Mutual Broadcasting System. The station would host shows by popular radio personalities including Arthur Godfrey, Robert Q. Lewis, Gene Autry, Gary Moore, Art Linkletter, and Edward R. Murrow. Their scheduled live shows would require time changes to locally produced programming. WHYN AM and FM simulcast their shows.
One month later, in July 1953, the owners purchased land on Liberty Street in Springfield to construct a new studio. The FCC granted the station permission to use "Springfield-Holyoke radio and television stations." Daniel O'Connell's Sons was the general contractor for the new building. It was anticipated that the main offices would remain in Holyoke.
In 1954, the employees' beneficial funds of the Springfield Republican and Daily News purchased a 50% stake in the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation for $250,000.
On April 26, 1954, WHYN radio delivered its first broadcast from its new studios at 1300 Liberty St. in Springfield. The South Hadley studio was shut down. The new television station WHYN Channel 55 began broadcasting 12 days earlier, on April 14, 1953, one month after WWLP Channel 22 took to the airwaves. WHYN Channel 55 began broadcasting as Channel 40 on September 30, 1957.
Simulcasting AM and FM channels ended in the mid-1960s. At that time, WHYN AM continued its TOP 40 music programming, while WHYN FM programmed a Middle-of-the-Road format.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Genealogy Records and Price & Lee, Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
Wikipedia
WGGB: 70 Years of Covering Western Massachusetts
