WSYB

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WSYB (1380 AM) is a radio station in Rutland, Vermont.

[edit] Programming

WSYB programs a news, talk, and sports format. WSYB features a full complement of local high school sports coverage including football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. WSYB is home to two long time 30+ year broadcasters in the city with Brian Collamore and Jack Healey. Healey is the premier play-by-play sportscaster in the state, and has won many awards for his play-by-play coverage featuring the two high schools in Rutland, Rutland High and Mount Saint Joseph Academy. WSYB is also home to local talk show, "On the Air with Tim Philbin", which has been a strong local talk staple in WSYB's lineup since March of 1995. WSYB also carries the Rush Limbaugh Show, Dennis Miller, Fox Sports Radio, Jim Bohannon, and Coast to Coast AM. WSYB is also home to a longtime and highly rated sports talk show, "Sportstalk with Jack Healey" on Saturday mornings. WSYB also uses the positioner as "Vermont's Sports Leader" as a nod to the large effort of local sports play by play coverage. WSYB has appeared to remain both viable and stable throughout many ownership and management changes.

[edit] History

The station signed on December 10, 1930 and has the oldest call sign in continual use in the state. WSYB was launched by Henry Seward and Philip Weiss, owners of a music store on 33 Center Street in Rutland. The station originally broadcasted at AM 1490 before moving to its current location in the mid 1940's. Waterbury's WDEV signed on after WSYB. WVMT Burlington and WRSA St. Albans have been on the air longer though they no longer go under their original call signs, as WVMT was the original WCAX and WRSA was signed on as WQDM. The WSYB call sign stands for, "We Serve You Best". Since the demise of WHWB-AM in the early 1990's, 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 1970's.

WSYB broadcasts with a 5kw omnidirectional signal with one tower from local sunrise to local sunset. At night, WSYB utilizes two towers with 1kw 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, it's FM sister WZRT, and several other Clear Channel properties were swapped out to Pamal Broadcasting in exchange for WRNX in Northampton, MA. This swap gave Pamal / Albany ownership of 5 out the 6 commercial radio signals in the local Rutland area.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WSYB
• Radio Locator Information on WSYB
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WSYB