AM 1260 WNDR Syracuse Radio Timeline Page
Originally named as
"The Wonder Station", WNDR began broadcasting in Syracuse, New
York on a frequency of 1260 kilocycles in the month of August of 1946. The
studio and transmitter were located on Andrews Road in DeWitt, N.Y. WNDR
was the fourth Syracuse AM radio station on the air that by that year. WSYR-WMAC
AM 570 was first in Syracuse radio station on the air in 1922 and WFBL AM 1390 in
1924. Here is a Syracuse Herald-American Newspaper Radio Listing for the
week of November 11,1934...
WOLF AM 1490 began broadcasting in 1940, WAGE AM 620 in 1941, WSEN AM 1050,WQSR AM 1320, WSOQ AM 1220 and WPAW AM 1540 on the air by the early 1950's. WNDR was one of the 300 affiliates to join The Mutual Broadcasting System network in 1946.
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1946
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1955
The WNDR management published a album featuring many historical photos of the Central New York area and current WNDR employees..
WNDR Department Heads
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| Arthur C. Kyle Jr., General Manager | N. L. Kidd, Vice President and Treasurer |
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| Melvyn M. Silvieus, Commercial Manager |
WNDR On Air Personalities
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| Bob Ehle, Disc Jockey | Bill Quinn, Disc Jockey |
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| Dan Leonard, News Editor | Jim Cosgrove, "The All Night Show" |
WNDR Sports Personalities
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| Fred Jeske, The WNDR "Timekeeper" | Glenn Williams |
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| Jerry Hoffman, Sports Announcer |
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| Jim McKechnie was a famous sports announcer for the Syracuse Nationals basketball franchise in 1953. The National road games were broadcast by tickertape, which was sent from the visitor's court to the WNDR studios over a phone line. The National's were sold and moved to Philadelphia in 1963, McKechnie stayed on at WNDR. |
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These great WNDR personalities combine to make WNDR Syracuse's most colorful station. In the sample "Hooper-rating" above, Glenn Williams and Fred Jeske combine to put WNDR in a tie for first place (third column is WNDR) for largest share of audience at the morning's most important time. |
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Syracuse Nationals - (top row, left to right) Red Rocha, Jim Tucker, John Kerr, Earl Lloyd, Dolph Schayes; |
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(bottom row, left to right) Capt. Paul Seymour, Bill Kenville, Wally Osterkorn, Dick Farley, George King, Coach Al Cervi. |
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Audience surveys show that more people listen to WNDR's broadcast of the "Nats" Basketball Games than any other radio show in Syracuse. |
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"Hooper" above shows twice as many people listening to WNDR as to all four other radio stations (call letters blocked out) combined. |
WNDR Behind The Scenes
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| Frances Patterson, Receptionist | "Mickey" Lansley, Traffic Manager |
WNDR Engineers
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| John Rathbun, Chief Engineer | Fred Schamu, Engineer |
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| AM 1260 WNDR Coverage Map (Circa 1955) |
WNDR Programs
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| Wayne Schramm (third from left) and his |
| Ozark Mountain Boys, who supplied live Western |
| music direct from WNDR's studios. |
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| Jack Bailey "Queen for a Day" | Gabriel Heatter | Fulton Lewis, Jr. |
Announcer Aldo Ray in 1956..
Peter C. Cavanaugh on the air in 1959...
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| Peter Cavanaugh |
1969
WNDR Studio and Transmitter Site
Andrews Road, DeWitt,NY
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| In the mid 1960's,
WNDR was Central New York's number one pop music station until WOLF
changed format from country music to top 40 in 1969 as they both competed
for a big teen audience. Many famous announcers began their careers at
WNDR..
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Jim McKechnie (Sports)-1953 | |
Don Bayley-1970 | |
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Dusty Rhodes-1957 | |
Jim Schaefer (News)-1970 | |
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Aldo Ray-1956 | |
Jim O'Brien-1970 | |
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Peter Cavanaugh-1959 | |
Happy Jack MacNamee-1970 | |
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Windy (Wendell) Craig-1960 | |
Don Bombard-1971 | |
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Johnny Vann-1961 | |
Glen Williams (News)-1971 | |
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Dan Leonard-1961 | |
Mary Jo Haverbeck (News)-1972 | |
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Jolly Rolley Fowler-1961 | |
Roy Taylor (Chief Engineer)-1975 | |
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Terry Mann-1961 | |
Gary Dennis-1975 | |
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Bobby Dell-1961 | |
Joe Galuski-1975 | |
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Joey Reynolds-1961 | |
Fran McGrath-1975 | |
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Red Parton (News)-1961 | |
The Flying Dutchman-1975 | |
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Dick Snyder-1962 | |
Super Steve (Steve Matela)-1975 | |
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George Plavokis-1964 | |
Jay Meyers-1980 | |
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Dick Mastriano-1967 | |
Barbara Gibbons (News)-1980 | |
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Mack & Maude-1968 | |
Marty Sandy-1980 | |
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Dave Laird-1968 | |
Joe Reid (Weekend News) -1982 | |
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Howie Castle-1968 | |||
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Bobby Ryan-1968 |
| The WNDR 'Tunedex' music survey premiered in 1960. It became 'The Sing-a-Long Survey' in 1966. The 'All Hit Music' survey debuted in 1971.. |
Click to see more surveys..
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1975
1978
| In the 1980's WNDR
'Musicradio' was a solid gold oldies format. In 1989, the calls were
changed to WNSS and the changed to an all news format "W-News".
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AM 1260 WNSS is now a ESPN radio affiliate..
| In 1995,the WNDR call letters were assigned to FM 103.9 MHz in Mexico,N.Y., then changed to WVOQ in 1998. Currently, WNDR-LP, (W18AL), is a low power television station in the Syracuse area. |
Related Links
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| PeterCavanaugh.com |
Wendell Craig's Voiceover Site
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| Don Bayley's Radio Site | Bob Shannon (Don Bombard) Site |
