WBEN-FM
Encyclopedia
WBEN-FM, known as "95.7 Ben FM," is an adult hits
Adult hits
Adult hits is a radio format, popular in the early 2000s, that does not adhere to a specific music genre, but instead draws from a wider playlist...

 station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. The station plays a mix of 1970s, 1980s and 1990s hits, with some current hot adult contemporary rock singles. Named after Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, the station pioneered a "Playing Anything We Feel Like" radio format, a concept which originated in Canada with the Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...

 concept. Unlike most other stations with a similar format, the station broadcasts with DJ's. Monday-Friday, Marilyn Russell hosts from 5:30am - 10am and Dave Cruise hosts from 3pm - 7pm. The voice of actor John O'Hurley
John O'Hurley
John George O'Hurley is an American actor, voice actor, and television personality. He is known for the role of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and was the host of the game show Family Feud from 2006 to 2010.-Early life:...

 is used for the station voiceover. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to...

 section of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.

History

The station was founded as WFLN by civic leaders as a "fine arts" station, and first went on the air in March 1949
1949 in radio
The year 1949 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*1 April – The facilities and staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland are transferred to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....

 with a classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 format. The station was sold in 1988
1988 in radio
The year 1988 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*August 13 — Los Angeles radio personality Shadoe Stevens takes over as host of "American Top 40." He replaces Casey Kasem, who had hosted since the show's debut in 1970...

 to Marlin Broadcasting. The new ownership added more news elements, sports reports, and traffic reports. From 1995 to 1997 it was bought and sold five more times, and each time cutbacks were made and the station adopted a more commercial sound.

Finally, in September 1997
1997 in radio
The year 1997 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*February 15 - After 5 years of Alternative Rock, WDRE flips into Rhythmic AC as Philly 103.9, the station, began to play Pearl Jam's Alive while crowding the live stage....

, when the station was bought by its current owner, Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...

, an executive from that company announced that the station's classical recordings would be sold to WRTI
WRTI
WRTI is a public radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University.WRTI began in 1948 as an AM carrier current station. It was founded by John Roberts, professor emeritus of communications at Temple and long-time anchorman at WFIL-TV . He'd helped found the School...

 (Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

); the stated rationale was that classical music is best presented in a non-commercial format. The station immediately became WXXM "Max 95.7", playing "adult modern rock" similar to, but slightly softer than, the station then known as Y-100 WPLY
WPHI-FM
WPHI-FM, " Hot 107.9", is a radio station owned by Radio One, that airs a Urban Contemporary format. The station is licensed to Pennsauken, New Jersey and serves the Philadelphia market. When WPHI was on 100.3, it was known as "100.3 The Beat". On August 27, 2011, the "Beat" moniker was dropped...

. The first song it played in its new format was Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...

's "A Change Would Do You Good
A Change Would Do You Good
"A Change Would Do You Good" is the fourth single from Sheryl Crow's 1996 self-titled second album. It was preceded by "If It Makes You Happy", "Everyday Is a Winding Road", and "Hard to Make a Stand"...

." The station reported as a hot adult contemporary station to trade publications. The format didn't last long; on May 13, 1999
1999 in radio
The year 1999 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - 102.1 The Zone stopped played at 6AM and 102.1 FM played a stunt of waves and announcement voice over of our newest radio station....

, the station became WEJM "Jammin' Gold", playing a blend of urban oldies from the '60s to the '80s, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

, classic dance tunes, and some '70s pop hits.

This format also did not last long; on June 15, 2001
2001 in radio
The year 2001 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*12 January: Jammin 103.5 becomes Kiss 103.5 in Chicago.*29 January: The 80s Channel WXXY and WWYX becomes Viva! 103.1...

, WEJM became WMWX "Mix 95.7", another incarnation of Hot AC. At some points, the station leaned toward adult modern rock; at other times, toward adult contemporary. Mostly, though, the station was a mainstream Hot AC outlet similar to WPLJ
WPLJ
WPLJ is a radio station in New York City owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media. WPLJ shares studio facilities with sister station WABC inside 2 Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building. The station currently plays a Hot Adult...

 in New York City. The station continued to be plagued by mediocre ratings.

Meanwhile, Infinity/CBS Radio was in the process of flipping some of its FM stations to a broad-based adult rock and pop format known as Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...

, with its famous moniker of "We play what we want!!" and playlists of up to two thousand songs. Stations that adopted the format were mostly underperformers at the time of the format change, but a few were decently rated oldies stations.

With rumors circulating that there were plans to switch Oldies 98.1 WOGL
WOGL
WOGL is an FM radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.The station plays mostly post 1964 pop leaning Oldies positioned Classic Hits music, including Motown, soul and rock and roll spanning roughly 1964–1985. An occasional pre-1964 song is played. WOGL is owned by CBS Radio...

 to such a format, on March 21, 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...

 the station became "95.7 Ben FM", with a format they describe as "playing anything we feel like." The call letters were finally changed to WBEN-FM on May 9, 2005. This format is very similar to the "Jack FM" stations in terms of playlist size and the character of the songs played (format and decade of original release).

Club Ben (WBEN-HD2)

In 2006 WBEN added an HD2 subcarrier to carry a commercial-free hybrid Rhythmic AC/Classic Dance format under the name "Club Ben."

Trivia

  • Both the current and original call letters invoke the name of Ben Franklin; the original WFLN stood for its owner of the time, Franklin Broadcasting.

  • Buffalo radio station WBEN (AM)
    WBEN (AM)
    WBEN is an AM and FM radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN...

     (which was named for the Buffalo Evening News), is owned by Entercom Communications
    Entercom Communications
    Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....

    . Entercom is based in Philadelphia, even though they have no station holdings in the market. Entercom granted WBEN-FM the permission to use the call sign, a move that proved to be short-sighted: when FM station WLKK
    WLKK
    WLKK is an American radio station located in Wethersfield, New York. Broadcasting on the frequency of 107.7 MHz, the station is currently owned by Entercom Communications and is operated out of the company's studios in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo...

     changed to a simulcast of WBEN-AM, it was unable to use the WBEN-FM call sign.

See also

  • WBEN (AM)
    WBEN (AM)
    WBEN is an AM and FM radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN...

  • WTSS
    WTSS
    -History:The station now known as WTSS actually began as early as 1934 as W8XH, an ultra-shortwave radio station operating as a sister outlet to The Buffalo Evening News and AM station WBEN and broadcasting at a wavelength of 5 meters , predating the country's first FM station by three years. The...

     whose former callsign was WBEN-FM
  • WIVB-TV
    WIVB-TV
    WIVB-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Western New York that is licensed to Buffalo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter on Center Street in Colden. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to CW...

    whose former callsign was WBEN-TV

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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