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Eagle-Bulletin, DeWitt Newf-Tlm**, Feb. 10. 1976 tage 5‘The Word’ is on WYRDF. Sue Bahner of Manliusis not the first woman towork in radio, but she is one of the few who has risen to the rank of general manager of a radio station.“I don’t know of any women locally who cure general managers and there are relatively few nationally,” says the mother of two children who runs WYRD, located at 1540on the AM band.Mrs. Bahner was introduced to radio less than two years ago. She got her start in June 1974 when Crawford Broadcasting Co.of Pennsylvania purchasedstation WPAW and changed it to WYRD. Federal Communications Commission regulations require that when a station changes ownership, the call letters be changed.ALONG WITH THE newname went a new staff and Mrs. Bahner was hi red as a secretary. The CrawfordCompany had originallyintended to move someone into the area to operate the station, which has offices in DeWitt, but instead gave the job to Mrs. Bahner.Besides overseeing day-to-day operations, Mrs. Bahner is the advertising representative. She also has a daily five-minute program and occasionally interviews people for public affairs programs.Talking live over the airwaves does not bother Mrs. Bahner although she\IF. SUE BAHNERThe tower of radio station WYRD has been moved from N. Manlius Center Rd. to Fremont and Myers Rds. in East Syracuse.had never done it until a year-and-a-half ago. “Anyone can do well in radio so lcfng as they are not afraid of the microphone,” she says.KEEPING YOUR COMPOSURE, even whenequipment fails or when the Emergency Broadcast System monitor has been turned up too loud and drowns out the program, is the secret, according to Mrs. Bahner.The offices of WYRD are well known to travelors on Erie Blvd. The building is located west of the intersection with Thompson Rd. and the broadcasting booth has large plate glass windows for walls on three sides.Mrs. Bahner said often drivers will flash their lights or toot the horn when passing.WYRD is different from most other AM stations in the area because of its format. It is total Christian radio. The music played is gospel music which ranges from the traditional Amazing Grace sung by the Back To the Bible Quartette to Give Yourself to Jesus by Evie, a contemporary Christian artist.AS PART OF ITSprogramming, 20 local churches, includingEastern Hills Bible Church in Manlius and the United Methodist Church of Manlius, sponsor programs on WYRD. The Methodist Church broadcasts its 10 a.m. Sunday services.IEven the call letters reflect the format, according to Mrs. Bahner. ‘‘WYRD is pronounced WORD and the station promotes the word of God,” she said.The news is not left out at WYRD, but it is handleddifferently from most local stations. There is a special emphasis on good news. Bad news is played down but not ignored. Mrs. Bahner added that her • station,* with only a staff of nine fulltime and parttimeemployees, couldn’t keep up with the news gathering efforts of the larger stations even if they wanted to.WYRD ALSO STANDSout among local radio stations because it is licensed to East Syracuse. FCC rules state that wherever a radio station has its tower, it must give in-depth reporting to that municipality, according to Mrs. Bahner. The tower is located at Fremont and Myers Rds.To meet the requirements, the station has special programs that focus on East Syracuse and surrounding area.In November 1975 thetower was moved from a site on N. Manlius Center Rd. to its present location.Mrs. Bahner says that its listening area is not confined to the immediate Syracuse area. Listeners are as far away as Cortland and Fulton.HAS THE PUBLICturned on to WYRD? Mrs. Bahner says yes. She notes that last June when the station held an open house to celebrate its first anniversary, over 500 people showed up although only 200 had been expected.In looking back at her brief career in radio, Mrs. Bahner says, “We are proud of the opportunity, and the obligation, to serve the listening public through the voice of Christian radio.”
Newspaper Details
Fayetteville Eagle Bulletin
Fayetteville, New York, US
Thu, Feb 19, 1976
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 08 Apr 2021
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