At one time it was the 50kW Top 40 giant of New York’s Capital Region, now 1540 WDCD Albany is non-existent.

Don Crawford Jr.’s DJRA Broadcasting turned in the license for WDCD to the FCC on Friday after being off the air for the past eleven months. In a previous STA applicationthat was dismissed WDCD sought to operate at various power levels between 10kW and 25kW to see if a permanent downgrade was feasible, but against FCC rules. As one of four silent AM licenses in the Albany market and the 50kW News/Talk powerhouse needing a full-powered FM simulcast the opportunity for revenue on the AM band was already limited.

In its Silent STA filing last year Crawford wrote,

“AM STATION WDCD, LIKE MANY AM STATIONS RECOGNIZED BY THE COMMISSION, IS CURRENTLY STRUGGLING TO ATTRACT REVENUE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT STATION EXPENSES. IN AN EFFORT TO CONSERVE AND REDIRECT FINANCIAL RESOURCES WHILE CONTINUING BROADCAST SERVICE, WDCD RECENTLY APPLIED FOR AND WAS DENIED AN STA FOR REDUCED POWER. THE STA WAS DESIRED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF REDUCED POWER ON THE STATION’S ABILITY TO SERVE IT CORE GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND THE COMMENSURATE RELATIONSHIP TO ELECTRICITY/OPERATING EXPENSE WHICH MAY BE SIMULTANEOUSLY CONSERVED THEREBY (SEE BSTA-20170925ADN).

ALTHOUGH IT WOULD PREFER AN STA TO TEMPORARILY STUDY SERVING THE PUBLIC WITH REDUCED POWER, DUE TO THE RECENT DENIAL OF THE STA FOR THAT PURPOSE, WDCD IS SUSPENDING OPERATIONS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH IT WILL STUDY ITS OWN AM IMPROVEMENT AND SEARCH FOR ALTERNATE WAYS TO CONSERVE FINANCIAL RESOURCES INCLUDING, AMONG OTHERS, OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE STATION EXPENSES AND THE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP A PROGRAM FORMAT CHANGE AND REPOSITION ITS VOICE AND IDENTITY IN THE COMMUNITY AND WHICH WILL HOPEFULLY ATTRACT A GREATER NUMBER OF LISTENERS, ADVERTISERS AND REVENUE.”

What was WDCD originally signed on as WPTR in 1948. It flipped to Top 40 in the late 1950s and would keep that format until 1980 when it handed the format over to then sister “Fly 92” WFLY. It would flip to Country for much of the 1980s before a steady string of failed formats prior to its sale to Crawford Broadcasting in 1995 and then Crawford Jr.’s DJRA in 2007. The station would alternate between Christian, Oldies and Talk formats from 1995 until the plug was pulled last year.