By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- Potsdam’s commercial AM and FM radio stations are undergoing some changes with the addition of a second FM channel and a new emphasis on country music.

The stations are dropping the sports/talk format on WPDM-AM, and adopting a new “Star Country” format on WPDM during the day and 24 hours a day on the second FM station, Star Country 100.1.

Meanwhile B99.3, their first FM station, will continue with its format of playing hits of the 1980s.

The new music format is concentrating on the rise of country music to its current prominence with hits from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, according to station General Manager John Winter.

“The other country stations in the area are doing current country Top 40,” said Winter. He explained they intend to broaden their listener base with the new country niche they plan to occupy, just as they filled another niche with WSNN-FM, dubbed B99.3 two years ago, with music for fans of 1980s tunes.

The new FM station allows them to have two formats going all day and all night.

The AM station has what’s known in broadcast circles as a “daytime license,” meaning they have to shut down the signal at about sunset. That’s because AM signals travel better at night, and they and other stations on the same frequency would interfere with one another, so larger stations are given precedence and smaller stations shut down when the sun goes down.

Now with the new FM frequency at 100.1, owner Martz Communications will have two stations capable of broadcasting all night from Potsdam, one with country music and one with hits of the 1980s.

Winter said in dropping the sports/talk format on the AM station, he wanted to assure listeners that the stations are not discontinuing their local sports coverage.

“The stations are very well known for doing sports at the local level,” Winter said. He said that two years ago, “when we took over we wanted to continue that effort.

“Our commitment to local sports is very real. We’ll still be broadcasting local games. We have a sincere commitment to local sports,” he said.

He said that at the moment they were conducting what they called a “soft opening” with the new lineups.

“We’re tweaking, working out some bugs before we open the new marketing campaign,” Winter said.