WCMF-FM

WCMF-FM
Rochester, New York;
Broadcast area	Rochester metro area
Frequency	96.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	96.5 WCMF
Programming
Language	English
Format	Classic rock
Affiliations	Sabres Hockey Network; Buffalo Bills Radio Network;
Ownership
Owner	Audacy, Inc.; (Audacy License, LLC);
Sister stations	WBEE-FM; WBZA; WPXY-FM; WROC;
History
First air date	June 9, 1960;; 65 years ago
Former call signs	WCMF (1960–1993)
Call sign meaning	Community Music Federation
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	1905
Class	B
ERP	48,000 watts
HAAT	142 meters (466 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	43°08′06″N 77°35′06″W / 43.135°N 77.585°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen live (via Audacy)
Website	www.audacy.com/wcmf

WCMF-FM (96.5 MHz) is a radio station located in the Rochester, New York, area. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton, Monroe County, while its studios are located at High Falls Studios in downtown Rochester.

WCMF is a heritage classic rock station in the Rochester area.

History

WCMF was originally owned by Community Music Service, Inc., hence the "CM" in its call letters. In 1968, the station was owned by a handful of Rochester locals. Several were engineers at General Dynamics, including a lawyer from Harris Beech Wilcox. The station had a mish-mash of formats from Candlelight & Wine in the morning hosted by Bill Rund, to hard underground rock hosted by Bob Drake (Francati). On Friday evening, a local attorney hosted a very popular jazz show. The owners were not broadcasters and the station was searching for identity. In 1968, the format was flipped into R&B from 6a.m. to 3p.m. and underground rock from 3p.m. to sign off at midnight.

The station later flipped to album-oriented rock, then to the classic rock format it holds to this day. WCMF's major claim to fame from the late 1980s until the late 2000s was its highly rated morning show The Brother Wease Morning Circus, hosted by Alan Levin, better known as Brother Wease, who was joined over the years by various co-hosts who later went on to national radio success including Stephanie Miller who was known as Sister Sleaze on the show, and Gregg Hughes better known by his radio name Opie who started in the promotions department at the staion.^[3]^[4] Levin was forced out of that show and the station in January 2008 when his contract ran out as the station was being sold from the CBS radio group to Entercom Communications.^[5] Levin and officials from station owner Entercom Communications tried but failed to negotiate a new contract.^[6] His co-hosts remained and took over the show, which was renamed The Break Room and continues today, and Levin moved to WAIO, where he started a new morning show that he hosted until 2025.