WHCY
It airs a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WHCY carries syndicated programs from co-owned Premiere Networks including The Bobby Bones Show in morning drive time and After Midnight with Granger Smith overnight.
[2] The studios and offices are shared with sister stations WNNJ and WSUS in a state-of-the-art facility at 45 Ed Mitchell Avenue in Franklin, New Jersey.
The station tagline was "Golden FMV," and featured DJs Sy Marsh, Chucky B, Wayne Scott, Scott O'Connor, Tommy John, Rod Baumann, Dave Garey, Tony Dee, Geoffrey Kevin Doll, Bill Reilly, and others.
WFMV also used the moniker "Tri-State Goldmine," since its signal banged into a sliver of New York State, although the Warren County/Poconos NJ-PA region was the station's primary target.
FMV had a generous list of Future Gold songs, jumping on records such as "Emma" by Hot Chocolate, "L-O-V-E" by Al Green, John Lennon's "#9 Dream," Chaka Khan's "Once You Get Started," Ben E. King's "Supernatural Thing," Sammy John's "Chevy Van," Sugarloaf's "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" and War's "Low Rider."
In January 1977, Kurt Gebauer was hired as VP/General Manager and the station became "FM 106", retaining the oldies format, but updating to a more 1960s-centric sound.
The DJs at the time were: Mark Austin, Steve Altemus, Tommy John, George Fuller, Rod Baumann, Ron Kaplan, Bill Chamberlain, Patty Martene and others.
In 1984, after Russ Long left for WVPO and WSBG, under a new GM Bill Dimmick, WFMV evolved into more of a Hot Adult Contemporary format.
On-air staff members included Rockin' T Tom Rocco, Allen Garrett, Paul Maason, Kevin Roe, Doctor J, Corey Hansen, Chris Maget, Mark West, Gerrie Burke, Paul LaFever, Chris DeBello, Jo-Ann (Holden) George and Sean O'Casey, and Bill Reilly (Sunday mornings).
In the spring of 1990 WFMV dropped this format and returned to oldies, with hits primarily from 1964 to 1984, and occasionally stretching the year range.
In the fall of 1992 the owners hired a new general manager, Rick Musselman who decided several weeks later to fill a hole in the market.
The country format immediately made FM 106.3 profitable and the station received mediocre to above average ratings over the years.
The station had live morning and afternoon drive disc jockeys during the week and middays on Saturdays and Sundays.
Airstaff included Bob O., Rich Wilson, Jo-Ann Holden, Christa Robinson, Doctor J, Tony Lawrence, Matt Black, Frankie West- Frank Tammera, Tom Rocco, Biii E Dow, Doug Hall, Dave The Rave, Johnny Randolph, and others.
Other staffers included Matt Sneed, Mark Myles, Trish Davis, Jason Barsky (initially program director), Kyle D., and Kenny Hoyt of Channel X and others.
Programming was a blend of Rock, Adult Contemporary Crossovers, Dance music, R&B, and a limited amount of Rap.
One of the large contributors to the alternative rock portion of the programming during 2003 was the Channel X program, originally created and hosted by "Borasio", a host named "Uncle Kenny" (Hoyt-singer for a local metal band named Crushpile with no known former radio experience) was recruited.
Many attribute the show's success to a combination of Kenny's antics and the musical mix (which ranged from modern-day rock such as Linkin Park to old thrash bands like Anthrax and Slayer).
As a result, Max 106.3 dropped all the Rap and R&B product, the Channel X program, added more Pop Rock from the 1990s, and became an Adult CHR format.
On Monday, July 28, 2008, Max 106.3 dropped all local operations in favor of "Today's Best Hits" from ABC Radio.
On December 1, 2022, at midnight, after playing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day, WHCY flipped back to country as "106.3 The Bear."
