The media in New York's Capital District is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy media market, which is the 59th largest in the United States,[1] includes all of the 11 counties of the Capital District, along with Hamilton County, New York, as well as Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and Bennington County, Vermont. In total, there are 16 AM/MW stations, 30 full-power FM stations, 14 low-power FM translators, 8 full power analog TV stations, 5 low-power TV translators, and 8 full power digital TV (DTV) stations licensed to communities within 30 miles (48 km) of downtown Albany. In terms of broadcast media, Albany is part of Arbitron market #63 (radio), and Nielsen DMA #57 (television), and is a broadcast market with historical relevance. The pioneering influence of General Electric in Schenectady directly contributed to the area emerging as the birthplace of station-based television (WRGB) and one of the earliest FM broadcast stations (today's WRVE), in addition to the first federally licensed radio station in upstate New York, WGY.
The Albany Times Union is area's primary daily newspaper; its headquarters moved to suburban Colonie from Albany in the 1970s, after a dispute with then-Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd over land needed for expansion. More localized are the Amsterdam Recorder for Montgomery and Fulton County; The Daily Gazette, which focuses primarily on Schenectady; The Daily Mail in Greene County; the Gloversville Leader-Herald for Fulton County; The Post-Star, which focuses on Washington, Warren, and northern Saratoga counties; the Troy Record, which focuses on Troy; the Register-Star for Columbia County; and The Saratogian, which focuses on Saratoga County.
Capital Region Independent Media operates community newspapers in 6 counties in Upstate NY, via 6 newspapers available in print and online. CRIM print newspapers reach an estimated 100K+ readers per month and over 250K with corresponding digital assets. Capital Region Independent Media's newspapers include The Columbia Paper (Columbia Co.), The Ravena News-Herald (Albany Co.), The Greenville Pioneer (Greene Co.), the Granville Sentinel (Washington Co.), the Whitehall Times (Washington Co.), and the Washington County Free Press (Washington Co., Rensselaer Co., and Saratoga Co.). The newspapers can be found online at TheUpStater.com and NYVTmedia.com.
The Business Review - a business weekly published each Friday
In 1947, this region was also home to the first independently owned and operated stand-alone FM radio station in the United States, W47A. In the early 2000s, the greater Albany market had the distinction of having the highest concentration of FM broadcast stations east of the Mississippi River. The Capital District has three local News/Talk radio stations, WGY, WROW, and WGDJ on the AM (MW) band. All feature a mixture of locally oriented and nationally syndicated programming. There are two Sports formatted stations: WOFX, local affiliate for Fox Sports Radio; and WTMM, local affiliate for ESPN Radio. Both stations provide local sports and sports-talk programming as well as national content. The FM dial is primarily made up of commercial music-formatted stations similar to those in other cities around North America, the largest of which include Pop music station WFLY 'FLY-92', Adult Contemporary WYJB 'B-95.5', Hot AC WRVE '99.5 The River', Rock station WQBK-FM 'Q-103', Classic Rock WPYX 'PYX-106', and Country music WGNA-FM 'Country 107.7'. Public radio broadcasting is available from two organisations: Northeast Public Radio serves the Capital Region via their flagship station WAMC-FM, and is the primary local affiliate for NPR network programming, and WMHT-FM is another local outlet that clears select NPR and PRI programming. WAMC focuses on News & Talk programming during the day, various music programs and BBC World Service programming in the evening, while WMHT-FM mainly provides Classical Music programming for most of their broadcast schedule. There are no radio stations in the Albany area that provide programming in languages other than English on a full-time basis. A few individual programs in languages including Spanish, Italian and Arabic are scheduled, primarily on college owned and operated stations.
| Frequency | Callsign | Format | City | Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 590 kHz | Albany | CBS News affiliate | ||||
| 810 kHz | Schenectady | Fox News Channel
| ||||
| 900 kHz | Watervliet | Empire Broadcasting Corporation | Standards | |||
| 980 kHz | Troy | FOX Sports affiliate, UAlbany football & basketball Boston Red Sox baseball, NY Jets football. HD Radio. | ||||
| 1160 kHz | Mechanicville | Empire Broadcasting Corporation | ||||
| 1240 kHz | Schenectady | Empire Broadcasting Corporation | CBS Sports Radio affiliate | |||
| 1300 kHz | Rensselaer | Capital Broadcasting, Inc. | ABC News, Siena College men's basketball | |||
| 1330 kHz | Troy | Capital Media Group | ||||
| 1400 kHz | Albany | Simulcast of WAMC-FM | ||||
| 1460 kHz | Albany | Pax et Bonum, Inc. | EWTN Radio affiliate; Simulcast of WOPG-FM |
| Frequency | Callsign | Format | City | Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88.3 MHz | Loudonville | |||||
| 89.1 MHz | Schenectady | WMHT Educational Telecommunications | ||||
| 89.7 MHz | Schenectady | |||||
| 90.3 MHz | Albany | 2 services in HD Radio | ||||
| 90.7 MHz | Acra | |||||
| 90.9 MHz | Albany | |||||
| 91.5 MHz | Troy | |||||
| 92.3 MHz | Troy | |||||
| 93.7 MHz | Scotia | Air 1 affiliate | ||||
| 94.5 MHz | Ravena | K-LOVE affiliate | ||||
| 95.5 MHz | Albany | |||||
| 96.3 MHz | Voorheesville | |||||
| 96.7 MHz | Christian talk | Clifton Park | ||||
| 98.3 MHz | Rotterdam | 2 services via HD Radio | ||||
| 99.5 MHz | Schenectady | 2 services via HD Radio | ||||
| 100.9 MHz | Albany | |||||
| 102.3 MHz | Ballston Spa | 2 services via HD Radio | ||||
| 103.1 MHz | Schenectady | Fox News Channel
| ||||
| 103.9 MHz | Rensselaer | Buffalo Bills football | ||||
| 104.5 MHz | Mechanicville | Big Board Sports with Rodger Wyland
| ||||
| 104.9 MHz | Altamont | CBS Sports Radio affiliate NY Mets baseball | ||||
| 105.7 MHz | Malta | HD Radio | ||||
| 106.1 MHz | Albany | WMHT Educational Telecommunications | Simulcast of WEXT | |||
| 106.5 MHz | Albany | NY Giants football 2 services via HD Radio | ||||
| 107.7 MHz | Albany | HD Radio |
Fringe FM signals which can be received in the Albany market include:
| Frequency | Callsign | Format | City | Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89.9 MHz | Esperance | Pax et Bonum, Inc. | EWTN Radio affiliate | |||
| 90.7 MHz | Pattersonville | Simulcast on 94.9 Albany | ||||
| 91.1 MHz | Hudson | |||||
| 91.1 MHz | Saratoga Springs | |||||
| 92.9 MHz | Saugerties | |||||
| 93.5 MHz | Hudson | |||||
| 94.7 MHz | Lake Luzerne | Capital Media Group | Simulcast of WHAZ-AM | |||
| 95.9 MHz | Queensbury | Regional Radio Group | ||||
| 97.3 MHz | Schoharie | Capital Media Group | Simulcast of WHAZ-AM | |||
| 97.5 MHz | Hoosick Falls | Capital Media Group | Simulcast of WHAZ-AM | |||
| 97.7 MHz | Amsterdam | WMHT Educational Telecommunications | ||||
| 97.9 MHz | Windham | Rip Radio, LLC | ||||
| 98.5 MHz | Catskill | |||||
| 98.5 MHz | Lake George | Regional Radio Group | ||||
| 100.3 MHz | Warrensburg | |||||
| 101.3 MHz | Stillwater | Empire Broadcasting Corporation | ||||
| 101.7 MHz | Hudson Falls | |||||
| 101.9 MHz | Cherry Valley | Christian Broadcasting System | ||||
| 102.7 MHz | Manchester, VT | Northshire Broadcasting | ||||
| 103.5 MHz | Cobleskill | Simulcast of WQBK-FM | ||||
| 107.1 MHz | Corinth |
WRGB has the distinction of being the very first affiliated station of the NBC Television Network. The Albany TV DMA is served by the following stations, providing programming from many of the English-language American broadcast television networks: WRGB (CBS), WTEN (ABC), WNYT (NBC), WXXA (Fox), WMHT (PBS), WCWN (CW), WNYA (MyNetworkTV), and WYPX (ION). There are currently no local affiliates for any of the Spanish-language domestic broadcast television networks, however the national service of Univision is provided via cable TV. Local cable TV operator Charter Communications provides a 24-hour cable news television channel, Spectrum News Capital Region (formerly Capital News 9, YNN Capital Region, and Time Warner Cable News Capital Region; now covering Albany and Glens Falls). Christian television networks TBN and 3ABN are available via low-power translator service to the immediate metro area. Unlike many television markets around the country, TV stations from neighboring markets cannot normally be received in the greater Albany area due to distance and terrain.
| PSIP Channel (Cable) | Callsign | Affiliation | City of license | Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 (6) | Schenectady, NY | DTV Ch. 6 (1806) | ||||
| 10 (10) | Albany, NY | DTV Ch. 26 (1810) | ||||
| 13 (13) | Albany, NY | DTV Ch. 12 (1813) | ||||
| 15 (None) | AMGTV | Kinderhook, NY | Venture Technologies Group | Analog low-power station | ||
| 17 (11) | Schenectady, NY | WMHT Educational Telecommunications | DTV Ch. 34 (1811) | |||
| 14 (14) | WYBN | Windham, NY | Cable Ad Net New York, Inc. | DTV Ch. 14.1 thru 14.8 | ||
| 23 (8) | Albany, NY | Mission Broadcasting (operated by WTEN/Nexstar Media Group) | DTV Ch. 7 (1808) | |||
| 45 (15) | Schenectady, NY | DTV Ch. 43 (1815) | ||||
| 51 (4) | Pittsfield, MA | Hubbard Broadcasting | DTV Ch. 13 (1804) | |||
| 58 (None) | W58CX | Saratoga Springs, NY | 3ABN Inc. | Satellite fed low-power translator Transmitter located in New Scotland NY | ||
| 55 (20) | Amsterdam, NY | Inyo Broadcast Holdings | DTV Ch. 50 (1820) |
Charter Communications also provides a local 24-hour rolling news service to its subscribers, Spectrum News Capital Region (formerly Capital News 9) on cable channel 9.
Internet based radio station for The College of Saint Rose