island branding 94.3 the shark slogan everything that rocks frequency 94.3 mhz first air date 1961 as wqmf format mainstream rock erp 2 600 watts haat 96 meters 315 ft class a facility id 29260 transmitter coordinates 40 48 8.00 n 73 17 12.00 w 40.8022222 n 73.2866667 w 40.8022222 ; 73.2866667 callsign meaning w w shark former callsigns wqmf 1961 1964 wgli fm 1964 1965 wgsm fm 1965 1970 wcto 1970 1990 wmjc 1990 2010 wigx 2010 2012 1 owner connoisseur media connoisseur media licenses llc sister stations walk walk fm wbzo whli wkjy webcast listen live website www.943theshark.com wwsk 94.3 fm the shark is a mainstream rock radio station on long island located at 94.3 mhz . the station s city of license is smithtown new york while its studios are located in farmingdale new york . the station is owned by connoisseur media . contents 1 history 1.1 1960s 1.2 1970s and 1980s 1.3 1990s and 2000s 1.4 2010 to present 2 references 3 external links history edit 1960s edit what began as wqmf 1 000w ant 120 feet came about in september 1961 when wgli fm 103.5 fm moved from babylon to lake success . owner friendly frost a long island based appliance store chain applied for another fm frequency to replace 103.5 in the babylon area and wqmf was born . federal communications commission fcc rules prohibited ownership of overlapping signals but because the new wgli fm antenna was located on a 175 foot tower 20kw alongside the long island expressway right on the queens nassau border its new signal did not cover babylon this would become an issue a few years later . wqmf was one of the first totally automated radio stations in the area and maybe the country . its equipment package was named silent sam by engineers assigned to operate it as it played beautiful music from audio tapes supplied by a syndicator . the engineers main function was tending to wqmf s sister station 1290 wgli which required first class fcc licensed personnel because of its three tower directional antenna 1290 wgli was shut down permanently in 1989 . in 1965 103.5 fm which had become wtfm obtained a construction permit to move its transmitter to the chrysler building in manhattan but big new coverage from a 950 foot antenna 7.1 kw h 4.6 kw v produced an overlapping signal with 94.3 fm which had taken the wgli fm call sign . a quick sale sent wgli fm to greater media a new jersey based group broadcaster who had just acquired wgsm 740 am in huntington . greater media paid just 90 000.00 dollars 665 000.00 2013 money for the facility which was renamed wgsm fm and began simulcasting wgsm am with transmitter and antenna remaining at the wgli complex . 1970s and 1980s edit the arrangement continued until 1970 when the station moved its transmitter and antenna to a location in brentwood where it remains to this day . as part of the move wgsm fm s col changed from babylon to smithtown . after the move was completed 94.3 became wcto wcto stereo and began a twenty year run playing easy listening music and earning top ratings which have never been duplicated by the many incarnations that would follow . example 1975 arb rating listeners 18 49 10a 3p m f wcto was the number one li radio station 1990s and 2000s edit in june 1990 a switch to a popular light ac format as wmjc magic 94.3 under the guidance of jack kratoville now at wltw then purchased by wrcn fm radio in 1994 and simulcast the rock format from 1994 1996 . after the rock experiment failed it began to simulcast its sister station wgsm which was carrying a country format at the time . wmjc eventually would adopt that format exclusively as country 94.3 when wgsm became radio disney . on november 10 2000 the country format was dropped and wmjc became island 94 3 playing rock hits of the 80 s and 90 s with charlie lombardo aka jay letterman from walk fm as pd . by 2007 the branding changed to 94.3 wmjc along with a music mix adjustment to adult top 40 . 2010 to present edit as mentioned the station never achieved ratings anywhere near the high water mark set by wcto and by mid 2010 was hovering in the 1 range . on october 19 2010 came its sixth call letter change from wmjc to wigx leading to rumors of a format change . those rumors would prove true on november 5 2010 when at 4 30 pm 94.3 began stunting with a montage of music famous news and tv snippets from each year it would cover in the new format from 1985 to 2005 . at 5pm wigx switched to a gen x hits format playing hit music from 1985 to 2005 as 94x . the first song on 94x was jump around by house of pain . this version of 94.3 failed to achieve higher ratings and that brought about yet another change . at noon on september 14 2012 after playing semisonic s closing time the star spangled banner and a brief clip from the trailer for jaws wigx switched to mainstream rock branded as 94.3 the shark launching with nirvana s smells like teen spirit . soon after wigx switched to its seventh set of call letters wwsk . 2 3 references edit call sign history . cdbs public access database . fcc media bureau . retrieved april 21 2013 . venta lance september 14 2012 . 94.3 the shark long island debuts . radioinsight . retrieved april 21 2013 . amorim kevin september 14 2012 . rock radio gets some bite on 94 3 the shark . newsday . retrieved april 21 2013 . external links edit 94.3 the shark official website query the fcc s fm station database for wwsk radio locator information on wwsk query nielsen audio s fm station database for wwsk v t e radio stations in the nassau suffolk long island market by am frequency nassau county 1100 1240 1520 suffolk county western & central 540 740 1370 1440 1580 eastern 1390 1570 by fm frequency nassau county 88.1 88.5 1 plainview 88.5 1 syosset 88.7 90.3 92.7 98.3 101.5 103.5 105.5 suffolk county western & central 88.1 88.9 89.3 90.1 91.3 91.9 93.3 94.3 94.9 97.5 102.3 103.1 104.5 105.7 106.1 eastern 88.3 88.7 2 89.9 90.7 90.9 91.3 91.7 92.1 92.9 93.3 93.9 94.5 94.7 95.3 96.1 96.5 96.9 east hampton 96.9 manorville 98.5 100.3 bridgehampton 100.3 westhampton 100.7 101.7 102.5 103.9 104.5 104.7 105.3 105.7 106.5 107.1 107.5 by callsign w215bt w217af w227an w227cl w233ai w235bb w243bf w245ba w262as w264aj w268an w283ba w283ck w289ad w289ax w293bt w298bn walk walk fm wapp lp wbab wbaz wbea wbli wbon wbzo wcwp wdba lp weer 2 wegb wegq wehm wehn welj wfrs wftu wgbb wgss whfm whli whpc wjjf wjvc wkjy wktu wkwz 1 wlie wlim wlir fm wlix lp wlng wnyg wnyh wpob 1 wppb wpty wqbu fm wrcn fm wrhu wriv wrli wshr wsuf wthe wusb wwsk wxba plus most new york city and some connecticut radio stations defunct wbau weeg wgli wlir wlng 1600 wsvv lp new york radio markets albany schenectady troy binghamton buffalo niagara falls elmira corning hudson valley nassau suffolk long island new york city olean plattsburgh poughkeepsie rochester syracuse utica rome watertown other new york radio regions ithaca jamestown dunkirk north country saratoga nyc metro markets long island hudson valley partial poughkeepsie middlesex somerset union monmouth ocean morristown bridgeport danbury new haven stamford norwalk see also list of radio stations in new york 1 under a shared time agreement . 2 station is silent . v t e connoisseur media radio stations connecticut wdrc wdrc fm wezn fm wfox wmmw wplr wsng wwco wybc fm 1 wichita ks kibb kvwf billings mt kblg kpln krkx krzn kwmy kyya trenton nj wchr wnje wpst long island ny walk walk fm wbzo whli wkjy wwsk allentown pa wbyn weex wode fm wtkz wwyy erie pa wfnn wjet wrkt wrts wtwf wxbb wilkes barre pa wsbg wvpo 1 managed under a local marketing agreement retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wwsk & oldid 742338303 categories radio stations in new yorkmedia in suffolk county new yorkmainstream rock radio stations in the united statesconnoisseur media radio stationshidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants 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