As Audacy Alternative “Alt 92.3” WNYL New York says goodbye this week, the station is opening up its playlist on the way out the door to pay tribute to the history of Alternative and its “K-Rock” heritage.
From noon to midnight daily this week, WNYL is featuring hour-long blocks of music from a different year each hour. For the 5pm hour today, which featured music from 1996, afternoon host Brady was identifying the station by its old “K-Rock” moniker.
While WNYL is promoting the blocks as music from the station’s “34 year history of playing Alternative” under the “K-Rock” and “Alt 92.3” brands, the blocks heard so-far on Monday and Tuesday represent music from 1988 to 2009 with an emphasis on 1988 to 1999. Many of those years pre-dated Alternative being played on the frequency as the station did not shift from Classic Rock to Alternative until January 1996 and the 1988 start date appears arbitrary as the “K-Rock” brand launched in July 1985. The next decade, it would segue between various forms of Rock until its January 2006 relaunch as Talk “92.3 Free-FM“. It would return to the “K-Rock” brand until its March 2009 flip to Top 40 “92.3 Now” and later “92.3 Amp Radio” prior to the debut of “Alt 92.3” on the day Entercom completed its acquisition of CBS Radio in November 2017.
On Thursday, October 27, WNYL will feature a two hour farewell morning show from its local hosts starting at 7:00am ahead of the launch of the simulcast of News 1010 WINS at 9:00. Alternative music will move to 92.3 HD2 at that time, with a commercial-free presentation.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com