WUTI

	; "WUTI"; "(No slogan at this time)"
	WRUN-AM/FM
First Air Date:	AM: 1948; FM: 1946
City of License:	AM: Utica (with CP to change to New Hartford); FM: Remsen
Arbitron Market:	Utica-Rome
Frequency:	AM: 1150 kHz; FM: 90.3 MHz
Class:	AM: B; FM: A
ERP:	AM: 5,000 watts daytime; 1,000 watts nighttime; FM: 1,200 watts
HAAT:	FM: 204 meters
Owner:	Digital Radio Broadcasting
Callsign Meaning:	UTIca
Website:	None
Request Line:	None
Business Office:	???
Mailing Address:	Transmitter Site:; Thomas Road ; Oriskany, NY 13424

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History

WUTI, previously known from 1948-2009 as WRUN, has a unique history among early radio broadcasters. According to former WRUN engineer Jeff Moulton, WRUN-FM signed on in 1946, two years before WRUN-AM signed on, in 1948. This order was "backwards" for a radio station in the 1940s, as most listeners only had AM radios at the time, and FM radio wasn't very highly regarded yet. (FM radio wouldn't really "take off" in Utica-Rome for another 30+ years.) The original 100,000-watt WRUN-FM signal would eventually become WKGW-FM in the 1970s, and today it is known as WFRG-FM.

Moulton tells us, when WRUN-AM first signed on, it was a daytime-only station. WRUN had clearance to broadcast at night, but it was required by the FCC to use lower power and a different transmitter pattern. Engineers initially had trouble getting the night pattern to work properly, so WRUN simply signed off at night, until the problems could be ironed out.

According to the New York Times, WRUN was affiliated with ABC when it signed on. In 1947, owner Bradley Barnard hired his brother-in-law Richard Clark to become promotions manager for the station. Richard then hired his son Dick, as a summer replacement in the mailroom, running the mimeograph machine, and eventually reading the hourly weather forecasts. Dick Clark would later take up broadcasting at Syracuse University, landing jobs at WOLF and WKTV-TV, before becoming host of "American Bandstand" in Philadelphia (you probably know the rest of his story from there).

The station eventually wound up under the same roof as former rival WIBX, where owners Forever Broadcasting and (later Regent Communications) basically turned it into an also-ran, using WRUN to simulcast other stations in its cluster, and airing brokered religious programming or sports programming that couldn't be accommodated by its sister stations. During Woodstock '99 in Rome, Regent used WRUN to air non-stop traffic reports, interspersed with promotions for the other stations it owns in the market.

For a brief period in the early 2000s, Regent gave WRUN a revival of sorts, installing a syndicated adult-standards format called "Stardust." Weekday mornings were hosted locally by Joe Graziano, and afternoons were hosted locally by "Doc and Dee." The "Saturday Polka Review" with Gary Sroka aired on Saturday mornings. But in 2005, Regent sold the station to Northeast Public Radio, which turned WRUN into a simulcast of Albany-based WAMC. In December 2008, Northeast Public Radio brought the WRUN-FM call letters back to the market, with a 1,200-watt stick broadcasting on 90.3 FM from Remsen.

AM Tower Replacement

Northeast Public Radio has been granted permission from the FCC to replace the current broadcast towers along Thomas Road in Oriskany with brand new towers. When the change is complete, WRUN will be broadcasting from four towers day and night (right now WRUN uses 3 towers during the day, and 5 towers at night). The station will also change its community of license from Utica to New Hartford, because the new signal pattern will only provide a city-grade signal to portions of the City of Utica, not to the entire city.

The current power of 5,000 watts day and 1,000 watts night will be changed to 4,000 watts day and 370 watts night.

2009 Sale and Call Letter Change

In July 2009, Northeast Public Radio announced plans to trade WRUN for $20,000 cash plus an FM translator in Cooperstown with Digital Radio Broadcasting, Inc. The deal closed on November 30, 2009, resulting in WRUN's call letters being changed for the first time in 61 years, to WUTI. (Northeast Public Radio retained the WRUN-FM call letters on 90.3 FM.)

Programming Schedule

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Arbitron Ratings

Non-Commercial Ratings Information from Radio Research Consortium

Translators / Simulcasts

None in CNYRadio.com territory

Ownership and Sister Stations

Owner: Northeast Public Radio
Sister Stations:
- None in CNYRadio.com territory

CNYRadio.com News Coverage

All CNYRadio.com articles mentioning WRUN

Selected Links