WCBS-FM
Encyclopedia
WCBS-FM is a CBS
-owned radio station in New York City
. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan
, and its transmitter
is located on the Empire State Building
.
WCBS-FM was one of the first notable oldies
stations in the country, with the format dating back to July 7, 1972. Between June 3, 2005 and July 12, 2007, the station aired the automated adult hits
format "Jack FM
". The new programming was unsuccessful, and WCBS-FM switched back to personality-driven classic hits
and oldies format, which featured a broader playlist concentrating on music from 1964 to 1989, but unlike other classic hits stations, it also played selected hits from before 1964.
, what is now WCBS-FM was allocated an FM frequency
and callsign, W67NY, becoming CBS
's first FM station. The allocated dial position changed several times before the station finally went on the air at 46.7 MHz on December 1, 1941. On November 1, 1943, the callsign was changed to WABC-FM for Atlantic Broadcasting Company, the former owner of CBS's AM station (no relation to the present-day WABC
). With the reallocation of the FM band, WABC-FM's new frequency became 96.9 MHz. Finally, in September 1947 the station became WCBS-FM, and the frequency moved to the current 101.1 MHz. This allowed the station to reflect its corporate ownership by the Columbia Broadcasting System or CBS.
For many years, WCBS-FM simulcast its programming with its AM sister station. From the 1940s until the late 1950s, both stations aired a typical network-dominated general entertainment format with comedies, dramas, news and information, sports, talk shows and some music. As these types of radio shows either moved to television
or were canceled outright, WCBS and WCBS-FM evolved toward a personality-oriented format featuring news and information, popular music, and sports. As rock and roll
became popular, the stations played only softer songs of the genre.
Each of the stations began broadcasting its own programming in in 1966. The AM station retained its personality-oriented Middle of the road format until August 27, 1967. WCBS-FM initially programmed a younger-leaning easy listening
format known as "The Young Sound", playing soft instrumental versions of current pop music
songs. This automated format was syndicated to CBS stations across the country and to AFR (American Forces Radio). On August 27, 1967, the AM station had to launch its news format (which was not full-time until 1972) on WCBS-FM because a small airplane had crashed into the AM transmitter a few hours earlier.
In 1969, WCBS-FM launched a freeform rock
format, which was becoming increasingly popular, and all other CBS-owned FM stations followed suit. For the first time, WCBS-FM would have an airstaff. Bill Brown
began his long tenure with the station, and Don K. Reed began his late in 1971; both remained there until 2005. Radio personalities such as Bobby "Wizzard" Wayne, Tom Tyler, Ed Williams, Steve Clark, Roby Yonge
, K.O. Bayley (Bob Elliott from WOR-FM), Les Turpin, Bob "Bob-A-Lew" Lewis also briefly joined the WCBS-FM "freeform" format. Besides Bill Brown and Don K. Reed, Wizzard Wayne and Ed Williams also stayed into the early part of the oldies format.
(the other former WABC-FM) and WNEW-FM had most of the rock audience. As a result, WCBS-FM switched to oldies
on July 7, 1972, becoming one of the first full-time stations in the country to use that format. The change coincided with rival WOR-FM's decision to drop pre-1964 oldies from its playlist a few months prior (as they became WXLO). Johnny Michaels, formerly of WMCA
, played the first record, Dion
's "Runaround Sue". The entire staff from the rock format remained at the station.
At first, the station focused on rock-and-roll hits from 1955 to 1964 and mixed in some softer hits of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as a few then-current songs. WCBS-FM also played a moderate amount of adult standards from the rock era. The station played two current hits per hour known as "future gold". By the late 1970s however, the station dropped most of the adult standards, with a few exceptions, and added rock hits from the late 1960s.
WCBS-FM's oldies format weathered many trends and corporate moves. By 1979, three FM stations owned by CBS had begun playing disco music. In 1981, all of CBS's FM stations, except for WCBS-FM, adopted a CHR
format known as "Hot Hits
". The oldies format on WCBS-FM continued to be a success.
One ongoing favorite feature was a countdown of the top 500 songs of all time, as voted by the station's listeners. The countdown always took place on Thanksgiving weekend (with a new survey taken every other year. On even years, up to 1990, the survey from the previous year was played. In the first Top 500, The Five Satins
' doo wop classic "In the Still of the Night" was #1 and "Earth Angel
" by The Penguins
was #2. "In the Still of the Night" remained at #1 every year after that.
In 1992, CBS-FM ran a Top 500 Countdown based on all their surveys from 1973 to 1991. They repeated 1993's Top 500 in 1994, conducting their last listener surveys in 1995 and 1996. After compiling an all-time survey based on past surveys in 1997, the station abandoned listener surveys, repeating the 1997 all-time survey on subsequent Thanksgiving weekends.
For New Years weekend in 1999–2000, the station compiled and played a Top 1001 countdown based on original New York radio charts, with "Hey Jude
" by The Beatles
at number one. This survey would be repeated on Thanksgiving weekend in 2002. In 2003, the station played a Top 500 Countdown covering the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and some 1950s songs, and in 2004 played a Top 500 Countdown with mostly songs from 1964 to 1979 with some pre-1964 songs and 1980s songs.
When the station returned to a modified oldies and classic hits format in 2007, the station compiled a new listener-voted survey and played the results Labor Day weekend. This survey featured mostly songs from the 1960s and 1970s with a moderate selection of songs from the 1955–1963 time period. There was also a moderate amount of 1980s music on the survey.
Joe McCoy took over as program director in 1981, and at that point WCBS-FM began to gradually shift its focus to the 1964–1969 era, but would also feature a more pre-1964 oldies than most other such stations. The station continued to also feature hits of the 1970s and some hits of the 1980s while cutting future gold selections to one per hour. Also in the 1980s, after WABC
and later WNBC (AM)
abandoned music in favor of talk, WCBS-FM began employing many disc jockey
s who were widely known on other New York City stations (and sometimes nationally), most notably Musicradio WABC alumni Ron Lundy
, Dan Ingram
, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow
, Chuck Leonard
and Harry Harrison
, as well as Dan Daniel and Jack Spector.
Bob Shannon
, whose only previous New York City radio experience before coming to WCBS-FM was as a fill-in DJ at WYNY, became well-known himself through his 19-year run as the station's afternoon disk jockey. Bill Brown
(who had started with the station in 1969, during their rock days) and Don K. Reed (who started at the station 6 months before the switch to oldies) remained with the station during their entire first period as an oldies station.
In 1989, WCBS-FM moved current music to late nights and overnights. While most oldies stations were playing songs from exclusively 1955 to 1973, WCBS-FM continued to play a moderate amount of songs from the late 1970s as well as about one 1980s hit per hour. Most of the 1980s music came from core oldies artists.
The station's ratings increased during the 1990s (and were sustained into the 2000s) and market research studies showed a small and growing audience in the 35-to-49-year-old demographic as a new generation's "songs they grew up with" moved into the oldies format. The station even hit number one overall in the ratings on at least several occasions during the 1990s.
During this period, the station's on-air jingles were made by JAM Creative Productions
in Dallas, Texas
. Such was the appeal of the packages of jingles that stations around the world wanted that WCBS-FM sound for their stations, including for example the UK's Victory FM.
By 2000, as demographics for 1950s and early 1960s oldies started to eclipse the target age groups that many advertisers covet, WCBS-FM began cutting pre-1964 songs while adding more music from the 1970s and 1980s. By early 2001, they had cut many specialty shows. Eventually, they began to shorten the regular playlist and moved away from pre-1964 and toward 1970–1989 songs even more. In the summer of 2002, Don K. Reed's long-running Sunday night Doo-Wop Shop program was cancelled. The station even began to de-emphasize the phrase 'oldies' in promotion of the station.
The station canceled more specialty shows in 2003 such as the "Top 20 Oldies Countdown". In the summer of 2003, to appease some fans, they did add a specialty 1955–1964 oldies show called "Heart & Soul of Rock & Roll" with Norm N. Nite
(who had been with WCBS off and on since 1973). Also in that year, Harry Harrison
and Dan Ingram
both retired.
In the spring of 2004, WCBS-FM narrowed the playlist even more. The station's playlist consisted of music almost entirely from 1964 to 1979, dividing about equally between the 1960s and 1970s, playing only a handful of pre-1964 oldies and songs from the 1980s. Joe McCoy left the station shortly thereafter and was replaced by Dave Logan.
WCBS-FM's last morning show host of this period was ex-Monkee
Micky Dolenz
, who had appeal to this audience segment by virtue of 1970s The Monkees reruns and the mid-1980s Monkees revival. His broadcast on June 3, 2005, was a remote at a Manhattan
restaurant to celebrate his 100th day at the station. However, by the end of that day, the station would be changed dramatically.
'?! I am getting that feeling; here's 'Fontella Bass
'". Then the station played the usual station identification
, and then a mix of oldies referring to change, including "Movin' Out", "Get a Job
", "Glory Days
", "Hit the Road Jack
", among others. Frank Sinatra
's "Summer Wind
" was the last song played before the format change. At 4:30 p.m., the station played a montage of lines from various movies and other sources for 30 minutes.
Then, at 5:00 p.m. the station began its new "Jack FM
" format, identifying itself by that name. A pre-recorded station identification was played followed by a short introduction of the new format by Howard Cogan (Jack FMs station imaging voice) and the announcement of the new station name: "Welcome to the NEW 101.1 Jack FM, playing what we want." The first song aired was Beastie Boys
' "Fight for Your Right
". The format featured nearly 2,000 unique songs in the playlist.
With this move, WCBS-FM had left the oldies format after 33 years. In an attempt to cater to fans of the old format, the station created an internet-only oldies station on its website. Initially, the internet-only station was DJ-less like Jack FM, whose "DJ" was a pre-recorded voice work done by Cogan. But in a letter on the WCBS-FM website posted on June 5, 2005, station VP Chad Brown announced the webstream might try to bring back most of the original shows and DJs and that eventually the station would also be able to be heard on HD radio
.
The change left WBZO
as the only FM station playing any type of oldies format in the market. The signal there is weak however because it is operates out of Long Island
, and it operates an outright oldies format, unlike WCBS's old greatest hits format.
Many criticized the change of formats, among them Mayor Michael Bloomberg
, who, according to the New York Post
, responded to the change by declaring he would "never listen to that f---ing CBS radio again." "Jack" picked up on the mayor's comments, making jokes about his quip,"Hey, Mayor Bloomberg. I heard you took a shot at us in the Post. What's with all the swearin' like a sailor? Fleet Week is over. It's just music." In an interview with the New York Daily News
, Cousin Brucie likened the format switch to "replacing Yankee Stadium
with a fruit stand". Cousin Brucie has since signed on with Sirius Satellite Radio
to continue playing oldies.
Recognizing the controversy of the sudden change, on June 14, 2005, the station announced that it would be unique among those with the Jack format in that it would occasionally include '50s and early '60s songs in its rotation as well as songs by performers like Frank Sinatra that are normally not part of the Jack format, though a later Web update retracted this and songs from before the late '60s were no longer played.
In March 2006, Chad Brown hired Brian Thomas as program director, replacing Steve Smith. Brown was replaced by Les Hollander later that year after a big layoff of personnel at CBS Radio. In 2007, Jennifer Donohue (from WWFS) was named as Jack's new general manager. Later that year, Maire Mason replaced Donohue.
, owner of the station, declined to comment on the rumors. Initial reports about the WCBS-FM format change initially surfaced on July 6, 2007, in the Radio Business Report online newsletter and at CrainsNewYorkBusiness.com.
CBS Radio confirmed the rumors on July 9, 2007, that live announcers would indeed return to 101.1 and the HD1 channel on July 12. The returning format concentrates on music from 1964 to 1989, with more pre-1985 hits as well as selected older hits from 1955 through 1963. There would be a wider variety of hits, unlike the CBS-FM of 2005, which had a limited playlist from 1964 through 1979.
On July 12, the final song on Jack FM which was Don't Stop Believin'
by Journey
, ending in the same spot where the song abruptly ended during the series finale of The Sopranos
. Then, after a few seconds of dead air and a few seconds of a "Wayback Machine
" audio special effect, the oldies format returned with the resumption of the last song played before the change to Jack FM, Frank Sinatra
's Summer Wind
(starting like a phonograph record played very slowly but quickly accelerated to normal speed). This was followed by greetings from former CBS-FM DJs
Harry Harrison
and Ron Lundy
. Next were audio-clip montages of music, movies, television shows, and events for each year from 1964 through 1979 followed by a single montage, similar to the aforementioned, which paid homage to the entire decade of the 1980s, with WCBS-FM jingles interspersed between. Former Mayor Ed Koch
then welcomed back the format, noting the "mistake" CBS Radio
had made with the switch. Then at exactly 1:01pm the legally mandated station identification played, and WCBS-FM's classic hits
format officially returned with Do It Again by the Beach Boys. This sequence is now repeated on-air every July 12. WOCL
in Orlando
did that thing the following year
, dropping alternative rock
for classic hits
, and later WJMK in Chicago
also used the same sequence (with a few modifications) on March 14, 2011
when they switched from Jack FM to a classic hits
format.
Upon hearing of WCBS-FM's confirmation that oldies would return, Cousin Brucie commented, "I’m thrilled that this music is getting a chance again." He added, "This music has been treated terribly, and people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s are still a very viable product in this society." Mayor Bloomberg, who had criticized the Jack FM format after its debut, also welcomed oldies back with open arms, proclaiming July 12, 2007, as "WCBS-FM Returns to New York City Day".
Arbitron's switch from diary to PPM facilitated a move back to oldies and classic hits as sister station WOGL
in Philadelphia had demonstrated ratings success in the new methodology by reaching the top five. WCBS-FM's return to classic hits has also been a success, ranking it among the top five stations in every quarter of the new ratings for Arbitron, consistently either first or second in overall audience. The station was recently number one among all stations in the New York region, 25-54 and 12+ (Arbitron PPM report, May 2010).
As of August 2009, WCBS-FM started carrying New York Giants
football
on occasions when sister station WFAN
could not carry the game. For the 2010 season, two Giants pre-season games and two regular season games were carried on WCBS-FM including the first game at the New Meadowlands Stadium
against the New York Jets
on August 16.
(10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), Broadway Bill Lee (3 to 7 p.m. plus Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Ron Parker (Monday through Thursday, 7 p.m. to midnight, plus Sundays 3 to 7 p.m.) and Joe Causi hosts the overnight shift. Weekend hosts include Sue O'Neal (6 to 10 a.m.), Pat St. John
(Sundays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and Causi (Fridays and Saturdays 7 p.m. to midnight), and assistant program director Lenny Bloch on weekend overnights. Both Causi's and Bloch's overnight shifts use voice-tracking
. In addition, Fast Jimi Roberts, Big Jay Sorensen, Steve O'Brien, Famous Amos, Randy Davis, Dave Packer and Don Geronimo
have done occasional fill-in work.
Dick Bartley
's syndicated Classic Countdown airs on Sunday nights from 7 to 11 p.m., followed by the Classic Dance Showcase hosted by Joe Causi from 11 p.m. to midnight. These shows replaced Radio Greats and Top 20 Countdown, which aired from the station's relaunch in July 2007 until June 7, 2009. Another syndicated show, Dick Clark Presents Rewind with Gary Bryan
, airs on Sunday mornings from 12 to 4 a.m.
The Radio Greats program showcased veteran on-air personalities, with music tailored to their era of success. Don K. Reed, Norm N. Nite
, Ed Baer, Steve O'Brien, Randy Davis, Big Jay Sorensen, and Famous Amos were regularly featured on the program. Other guests included Ross Brittain, Max Kinkel, Big Ron O'Brien, Bobby Jay, Dan Ingram
, Gary Bryan
, Harry Nelson, Al Bandiero, Al Bernstein, former CBS-FM program director Joe McCoy, Rick Hunter, Howard Hoffman, Dick Bartley
, and ex-morning man and Monkee
Micky Dolenz
, who finally got to do his long postponed 101st show on CBS-FM. A recording of Wolfman Jack
's final radio broadcast from 1995 was also featured on two occasions. The final Radio Greats show was hosted by WCBS-FM veteran Dick Heatherton.
s. WBEB
, an Adult Contemporary station in Philadelphia, also broadcasts at 101.1 FM. WBEB's signal reaches far north into New Jersey
, especially along Interstate 287
south of Morristown
, and in Northwestern New Jersey. In those areas WBEB interferes with WCBS-FM which also broadcasts on 101.1, and in some spots, WBEB's signal actually seems stronger. This is because WBEB broadcasts at 14,000 watts, although from a lower antenna height.
WCBS is simulcast on 105.7 FM (call sign W289BE) in the Hudson Valley region of NY; however, in many areas the broadcast signal from the city is relatively clear.
WCBS-FM's subcarrier also airs Spanish language Catholic programming for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from Radio Maria Hispana, a local unit of Radio Maria
USA.
on December 12, 2005 (before most of the other NY stations, which launched in early 2006).
Air personalities did on-air auditions on the WCBS-FM HD2 oldies station on July 11, 2007, as a preview of the next day's changeover. The format then moved to the analog and HD1 channels. The HD2 station also simulcast the oldies format until 2:00 p.m. that day, at which time Jack FM moved to HD2. At 3:00 p.m. that day, Jack FM resumed streaming on their website ilikejack.com. In February 2008, Howard Cogan was replaced by Pat St. John
as the pre-recorded voice of the Jack character on WCBS-FM-HD2 and ilikejack.com. On May 7, 2008, the Jack branding was dropped from WCBS-FM HD2 and was just called 101.1 HD2 or WCBS-FM HD2 due to the end of a licensing agreement with the owner of the Jack name and slogan, Sparknet Communications. In late June 2009, the HD2 channel was rebranded again as "ToNY", meaning "to New York" but pronounced as "Tony". The channel continues to feature an adult hits
format.
On October 2, 2008 around 3 a.m., WCBS-FM HD3 was launched as a simulcast of WCBS
News Radio 880.
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
-owned radio station in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and its transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
is located on the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
.
WCBS-FM was one of the first notable oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
stations in the country, with the format dating back to July 7, 1972. Between June 3, 2005 and July 12, 2007, the station aired the automated 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...
format "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...
". The new programming was unsuccessful, and WCBS-FM switched back to personality-driven classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
and oldies format, which featured a broader playlist concentrating on music from 1964 to 1989, but unlike other classic hits stations, it also played selected hits from before 1964.
Early years
In 1940, during the early days of FM broadcastingFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
, what is now WCBS-FM was allocated an FM frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
and callsign, W67NY, becoming CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's first FM station. The allocated dial position changed several times before the station finally went on the air at 46.7 MHz on December 1, 1941. On November 1, 1943, the callsign was changed to WABC-FM for Atlantic Broadcasting Company, the former owner of CBS's AM station (no relation to the present-day WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
). With the reallocation of the FM band, WABC-FM's new frequency became 96.9 MHz. Finally, in September 1947 the station became WCBS-FM, and the frequency moved to the current 101.1 MHz. This allowed the station to reflect its corporate ownership by the Columbia Broadcasting System or CBS.
For many years, WCBS-FM simulcast its programming with its AM sister station. From the 1940s until the late 1950s, both stations aired a typical network-dominated general entertainment format with comedies, dramas, news and information, sports, talk shows and some music. As these types of radio shows either moved to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
or were canceled outright, WCBS and WCBS-FM evolved toward a personality-oriented format featuring news and information, popular music, and sports. As rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
became popular, the stations played only softer songs of the genre.
Each of the stations began broadcasting its own programming in in 1966. The AM station retained its personality-oriented Middle of the road format until August 27, 1967. WCBS-FM initially programmed a younger-leaning easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format known as "The Young Sound", playing soft instrumental versions of current pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs. This automated format was syndicated to CBS stations across the country and to AFR (American Forces Radio). On August 27, 1967, the AM station had to launch its news format (which was not full-time until 1972) on WCBS-FM because a small airplane had crashed into the AM transmitter a few hours earlier.
In 1969, WCBS-FM launched a freeform rock
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
format, which was becoming increasingly popular, and all other CBS-owned FM stations followed suit. For the first time, WCBS-FM would have an airstaff. Bill Brown
Bill Brown (radio personality)
Bill Brown was a long time air personality on the "oldies" radio station WCBS-FM in New York City. For most of his tenure there he aired at midday on the station. Brown also did many voiceovers on commercials airing on that and other New York City radio and television stations.-Early career:Brown...
began his long tenure with the station, and Don K. Reed began his late in 1971; both remained there until 2005. Radio personalities such as Bobby "Wizzard" Wayne, Tom Tyler, Ed Williams, Steve Clark, Roby Yonge
Roby Yonge
Roby Yonge was an American radio DJ, most notable in the 1960s. He was best known for being fired from New York station WABC-AM in 1969, after he reported over the air that the singer Paul McCartney of The Beatles might be dead....
, K.O. Bayley (Bob Elliott from WOR-FM), Les Turpin, Bob "Bob-A-Lew" Lewis also briefly joined the WCBS-FM "freeform" format. Besides Bill Brown and Don K. Reed, Wizzard Wayne and Ed Williams also stayed into the early part of the oldies format.
Original oldies years
WCBS-FM was never successful with their rock format, competing with stations such as WPLJWPLJ
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...
(the other former WABC-FM) and WNEW-FM had most of the rock audience. As a result, WCBS-FM switched to oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
on July 7, 1972, becoming one of the first full-time stations in the country to use that format. The change coincided with rival WOR-FM's decision to drop pre-1964 oldies from its playlist a few months prior (as they became WXLO). Johnny Michaels, formerly of WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
, played the first record, Dion
Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....
's "Runaround Sue". The entire staff from the rock format remained at the station.
At first, the station focused on rock-and-roll hits from 1955 to 1964 and mixed in some softer hits of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as a few then-current songs. WCBS-FM also played a moderate amount of adult standards from the rock era. The station played two current hits per hour known as "future gold". By the late 1970s however, the station dropped most of the adult standards, with a few exceptions, and added rock hits from the late 1960s.
WCBS-FM's oldies format weathered many trends and corporate moves. By 1979, three FM stations owned by CBS had begun playing disco music. In 1981, all of CBS's FM stations, except for WCBS-FM, adopted a CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format known as "Hot Hits
Hot Hits
Hot Hits was a radio format created by consultant Mike Joseph in the 1970s. That concept, which helped spur the birth of what is now known as CHR, also revitalized the Top 40 format and would play a role in bringing the format to the FM band throughout the 1980s.The concept was to play only the...
". The oldies format on WCBS-FM continued to be a success.
One ongoing favorite feature was a countdown of the top 500 songs of all time, as voted by the station's listeners. The countdown always took place on Thanksgiving weekend (with a new survey taken every other year. On even years, up to 1990, the survey from the previous year was played. In the first Top 500, The Five Satins
The Five Satins
The Five Satins are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1956 million-selling song, "In the Still of the Night."-Career:The group, formed in New Haven, Connecticut, consisted of leader Fred Parris, Lou Peebles, Stanley Dortch, Ed Martin and Jim Freeman in 1954. With little success, the...
' doo wop classic "In the Still of the Night" was #1 and "Earth Angel
Earth Angel
"Earth Angel " is an American doo-wop song, originally released by The Penguins in 1954 on the Dootone label , as the B-side to "Hey Señorita." The song became a major hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955, reaching the Billboard charts on January 29, 1955. It peaked at #3 on the Disk Jockey chart, #8 on...
" by The Penguins
The Penguins
The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel ", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts...
was #2. "In the Still of the Night" remained at #1 every year after that.
In 1992, CBS-FM ran a Top 500 Countdown based on all their surveys from 1973 to 1991. They repeated 1993's Top 500 in 1994, conducting their last listener surveys in 1995 and 1996. After compiling an all-time survey based on past surveys in 1997, the station abandoned listener surveys, repeating the 1997 all-time survey on subsequent Thanksgiving weekends.
For New Years weekend in 1999–2000, the station compiled and played a Top 1001 countdown based on original New York radio charts, with "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at number one. This survey would be repeated on Thanksgiving weekend in 2002. In 2003, the station played a Top 500 Countdown covering the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and some 1950s songs, and in 2004 played a Top 500 Countdown with mostly songs from 1964 to 1979 with some pre-1964 songs and 1980s songs.
When the station returned to a modified oldies and classic hits format in 2007, the station compiled a new listener-voted survey and played the results Labor Day weekend. This survey featured mostly songs from the 1960s and 1970s with a moderate selection of songs from the 1955–1963 time period. There was also a moderate amount of 1980s music on the survey.
Joe McCoy took over as program director in 1981, and at that point WCBS-FM began to gradually shift its focus to the 1964–1969 era, but would also feature a more pre-1964 oldies than most other such stations. The station continued to also feature hits of the 1970s and some hits of the 1980s while cutting future gold selections to one per hour. Also in the 1980s, after WABC
WABC
WABC may refer to:* WABC , a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States* WABC-TV, a television station licensed to New York, New York, United States* Classic Gold WABC, a defunct British radio station...
and later WNBC (AM)
WNBC (AM)
WNBC was a radio station that operated in New York City from 1922 to 1988. For most of its history, it was the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network...
abandoned music in favor of talk, WCBS-FM began employing many disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s who were widely known on other New York City stations (and sometimes nationally), most notably Musicradio WABC alumni Ron Lundy
Ron Lundy
Fred Ronald "Ron" Lundy was a popular radio announcer in New York City from the early-1960s to his retirement from WCBS-FM in 1997...
, Dan Ingram
Dan Ingram
Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram is an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a forty-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York...
, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow
Bruce Morrow
Bruce Morrow is an American radio personality known to many listeners as Cousin Brucie.-Radio work:...
, Chuck Leonard
Chuck Leonard
Charles Wesley "Chuck" Leonard was an American radio personality at WABC in New York City during the 1960s and 1970s. His deep voice and smoothness resonated across 38 states for 14 years at ABC...
and Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison (radio)
Harry Harrison has been a popular American radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA “Good Guy,” a WABC “All-American,” and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the “Jack” format in June, 2005.-WBEZ, Chicago, Illinois—1953:At age 23, Harrison...
, as well as Dan Daniel and Jack Spector.
Bob Shannon
Bob Shannon (WCBS-FM)
Don Bombard , more widely known under the air name Bob Shannon, is an American radio disc jockey best known for his work on WCBS-FM in New York City...
, whose only previous New York City radio experience before coming to WCBS-FM was as a fill-in DJ at WYNY, became well-known himself through his 19-year run as the station's afternoon disk jockey. Bill Brown
Bill Brown (radio personality)
Bill Brown was a long time air personality on the "oldies" radio station WCBS-FM in New York City. For most of his tenure there he aired at midday on the station. Brown also did many voiceovers on commercials airing on that and other New York City radio and television stations.-Early career:Brown...
(who had started with the station in 1969, during their rock days) and Don K. Reed (who started at the station 6 months before the switch to oldies) remained with the station during their entire first period as an oldies station.
In 1989, WCBS-FM moved current music to late nights and overnights. While most oldies stations were playing songs from exclusively 1955 to 1973, WCBS-FM continued to play a moderate amount of songs from the late 1970s as well as about one 1980s hit per hour. Most of the 1980s music came from core oldies artists.
The station's ratings increased during the 1990s (and were sustained into the 2000s) and market research studies showed a small and growing audience in the 35-to-49-year-old demographic as a new generation's "songs they grew up with" moved into the oldies format. The station even hit number one overall in the ratings on at least several occasions during the 1990s.
During this period, the station's on-air jingles were made by JAM Creative Productions
JAM Creative Productions
JAM Creative Productions, Inc., is an American company that produces radio jingles, promo music for television, and commercial jingles for advertisers. It has made more radio jingles than any other jingle company and has become part of American pop culture....
in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Such was the appeal of the packages of jingles that stations around the world wanted that WCBS-FM sound for their stations, including for example the UK's Victory FM.
By 2000, as demographics for 1950s and early 1960s oldies started to eclipse the target age groups that many advertisers covet, WCBS-FM began cutting pre-1964 songs while adding more music from the 1970s and 1980s. By early 2001, they had cut many specialty shows. Eventually, they began to shorten the regular playlist and moved away from pre-1964 and toward 1970–1989 songs even more. In the summer of 2002, Don K. Reed's long-running Sunday night Doo-Wop Shop program was cancelled. The station even began to de-emphasize the phrase 'oldies' in promotion of the station.
The station canceled more specialty shows in 2003 such as the "Top 20 Oldies Countdown". In the summer of 2003, to appease some fans, they did add a specialty 1955–1964 oldies show called "Heart & Soul of Rock & Roll" with Norm N. Nite
Norm N. Nite
Norm N. Nite , was born Norman Durma and is the author of the Rock On! series of books. Rock On is coined as the official encyclopaedia of rock and roll music. He has spent many years on radio stations such as WGAR-AM and WMJI-FM in Cleveland and WCBS-FM in New York City...
(who had been with WCBS off and on since 1973). Also in that year, Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison (radio)
Harry Harrison has been a popular American radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA “Good Guy,” a WABC “All-American,” and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the “Jack” format in June, 2005.-WBEZ, Chicago, Illinois—1953:At age 23, Harrison...
and Dan Ingram
Dan Ingram
Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram is an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a forty-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York...
both retired.
In the spring of 2004, WCBS-FM narrowed the playlist even more. The station's playlist consisted of music almost entirely from 1964 to 1979, dividing about equally between the 1960s and 1970s, playing only a handful of pre-1964 oldies and songs from the 1980s. Joe McCoy left the station shortly thereafter and was replaced by Dave Logan.
WCBS-FM's last morning show host of this period was ex-Monkee
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, who had appeal to this audience segment by virtue of 1970s The Monkees reruns and the mid-1980s Monkees revival. His broadcast on June 3, 2005, was a remote at a Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
restaurant to celebrate his 100th day at the station. However, by the end of that day, the station would be changed dramatically.
101.1 JACK FM
On Friday, June 3, 2005, Mickey Dolenz, Mike Fitzgerald, and Randy Davis all signed off their last on-air shifts expecting to be back the following Monday. But, Bill Brown signed off saying, "Have you ever got the urge to scream 'Rescue MeRescue Me (Fontella Bass song)
"Rescue Me" is a song written by Fontella Bass, Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith. In 1965, it was released as a single by Fontella Bass. It would prove the biggest hit of Bass' career, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for four weeks and placing at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100...
'?! I am getting that feeling; here's 'Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
'". Then the station played the usual station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
, and then a mix of oldies referring to change, including "Movin' Out", "Get a Job
Get a Job (song)
"Get a Job" is one of the best known doo-wop songs of the 1950s. Recorded by The Silhouettes in October 1957, the song reached the number one spot on the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts in February 1958....
", "Glory Days
Glory Days (song)
"Glory Days" is a 1984 song, written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A.-History:...
", "Hit the Road Jack
Hit the Road Jack
"Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by rhythm and bluesman Percy Mayfield and first recorded in 1960 as an a capella demo sent to Art Rupe, available on the Memory Pain CD vol. 2, Specialty Records SPCD-7027-2. It became famous after it was recorded by singer-pianist Ray Charles. It hit number...
", among others. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's "Summer Wind
Summer Wind
"Summer Wind" is a 1965 song, with music by Heinz Meier and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Original german lyrics by Hans Bradtke. The song is a nostalgic tale of a fleeting romance, first recorded by Wayne Newton who had the first national chart hit with the song in 1965, peaking at number 78."Summer...
" was the last song played before the format change. At 4:30 p.m., the station played a montage of lines from various movies and other sources for 30 minutes.
Then, at 5:00 p.m. the station began its new "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...
" format, identifying itself by that name. A pre-recorded station identification was played followed by a short introduction of the new format by Howard Cogan (Jack FMs station imaging voice) and the announcement of the new station name: "Welcome to the NEW 101.1 Jack FM, playing what we want." The first song aired was Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' "Fight for Your Right
Fight for Your Right
" Fight for Your Right " is a song by American rap group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album Licensed to Ill...
". The format featured nearly 2,000 unique songs in the playlist.
With this move, WCBS-FM had left the oldies format after 33 years. In an attempt to cater to fans of the old format, the station created an internet-only oldies station on its website. Initially, the internet-only station was DJ-less like Jack FM, whose "DJ" was a pre-recorded voice work done by Cogan. But in a letter on the WCBS-FM website posted on June 5, 2005, station VP Chad Brown announced the webstream might try to bring back most of the original shows and DJs and that eventually the station would also be able to be heard on HD radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
.
The change left WBZO
WBZO
WBZO, known on-air as "B-103" is an oldies radio station in Bay Shore, New York.- History :B-103 first signed on the air in February 1993 as WBSI, broadcasting from the Bay Shore location on Sunrise Highway and playing oldies from the 50's, 60's, and 70's....
as the only FM station playing any type of oldies format in the market. The signal there is weak however because it is operates out of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, and it operates an outright oldies format, unlike WCBS's old greatest hits format.
Many criticized the change of formats, among them Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, who, according to the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, responded to the change by declaring he would "never listen to that f---ing CBS radio again." "Jack" picked up on the mayor's comments, making jokes about his quip,"Hey, Mayor Bloomberg. I heard you took a shot at us in the Post. What's with all the swearin' like a sailor? Fleet Week is over. It's just music." In an interview with the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, Cousin Brucie likened the format switch to "replacing Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
with a fruit stand". Cousin Brucie has since signed on with Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
to continue playing oldies.
Recognizing the controversy of the sudden change, on June 14, 2005, the station announced that it would be unique among those with the Jack format in that it would occasionally include '50s and early '60s songs in its rotation as well as songs by performers like Frank Sinatra that are normally not part of the Jack format, though a later Web update retracted this and songs from before the late '60s were no longer played.
In March 2006, Chad Brown hired Brian Thomas as program director, replacing Steve Smith. Brown was replaced by Les Hollander later that year after a big layoff of personnel at CBS Radio. In 2007, Jennifer Donohue (from WWFS) was named as Jack's new general manager. Later that year, Maire Mason replaced Donohue.
Return to the classic hits format
The "Jack" format experiment at WCBS-FM is widely regarded, inside and outside the industry, as one of the greatest failures in modern New York radio history, as the station fell to the very bottom of the ratings of full-market-coverage FM stations in the New York market. In early July 2007, various websites quoted sources as saying the station was ready to shift from its current "Jack FM" format and return to its previous format. CBS RadioCBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
, owner of the station, declined to comment on the rumors. Initial reports about the WCBS-FM format change initially surfaced on July 6, 2007, in the Radio Business Report online newsletter and at CrainsNewYorkBusiness.com.
CBS Radio confirmed the rumors on July 9, 2007, that live announcers would indeed return to 101.1 and the HD1 channel on July 12. The returning format concentrates on music from 1964 to 1989, with more pre-1985 hits as well as selected older hits from 1955 through 1963. There would be a wider variety of hits, unlike the CBS-FM of 2005, which had a limited playlist from 1964 through 1979.
On July 12, the final song on Jack FM which was Don't Stop Believin'
Don't Stop Believin'
"Don't Stop Believin is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2009 as a result of increased prominence of digital...
by Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
, ending in the same spot where the song abruptly ended during the series finale of The Sopranos
Made in America (The Sopranos)
"Made in America" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the series finale. It is the eighty-sixth overall episode of the series and the ninth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two batches with a break...
. Then, after a few seconds of dead air and a few seconds of a "Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three...
" audio special effect, the oldies format returned with the resumption of the last song played before the change to Jack FM, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's Summer Wind
Summer Wind
"Summer Wind" is a 1965 song, with music by Heinz Meier and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Original german lyrics by Hans Bradtke. The song is a nostalgic tale of a fleeting romance, first recorded by Wayne Newton who had the first national chart hit with the song in 1965, peaking at number 78."Summer...
(starting like a phonograph record played very slowly but quickly accelerated to normal speed). This was followed by greetings from former CBS-FM DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison (radio)
Harry Harrison has been a popular American radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA “Good Guy,” a WABC “All-American,” and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the “Jack” format in June, 2005.-WBEZ, Chicago, Illinois—1953:At age 23, Harrison...
and Ron Lundy
Ron Lundy
Fred Ronald "Ron" Lundy was a popular radio announcer in New York City from the early-1960s to his retirement from WCBS-FM in 1997...
. Next were audio-clip montages of music, movies, television shows, and events for each year from 1964 through 1979 followed by a single montage, similar to the aforementioned, which paid homage to the entire decade of the 1980s, with WCBS-FM jingles interspersed between. Former Mayor Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
then welcomed back the format, noting the "mistake" CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
had made with the switch. Then at exactly 1:01pm the legally mandated station identification played, and WCBS-FM's classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format officially returned with Do It Again by the Beach Boys. This sequence is now repeated on-air every July 12. WOCL
WOCL
WOCL is a radio station broadcasting in Orlando, Florida. The station airs a Classic hits format, focusing on music from 1964-1989 with the core being the 1970s. It is similar to the format used by sister station WCBS-FM in New York...
in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
did that thing the following year
2008 in radio
Several events occurred in radio in 2008.- Events :* January 2: WWFT finished Christmas music stunting, rolling out the red carpet for Adult contemporary music branded as "Warm."...
, dropping alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
for classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
, and later WJMK in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
also used the same sequence (with a few modifications) on March 14, 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
when they switched from Jack FM to a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format.
Upon hearing of WCBS-FM's confirmation that oldies would return, Cousin Brucie commented, "I’m thrilled that this music is getting a chance again." He added, "This music has been treated terribly, and people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s are still a very viable product in this society." Mayor Bloomberg, who had criticized the Jack FM format after its debut, also welcomed oldies back with open arms, proclaiming July 12, 2007, as "WCBS-FM Returns to New York City Day".
Arbitron's switch from diary to PPM facilitated a move back to oldies and classic hits as sister station 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...
in Philadelphia had demonstrated ratings success in the new methodology by reaching the top five. WCBS-FM's return to classic hits has also been a success, ranking it among the top five stations in every quarter of the new ratings for Arbitron, consistently either first or second in overall audience. The station was recently number one among all stations in the New York region, 25-54 and 12+ (Arbitron PPM report, May 2010).
As of August 2009, WCBS-FM started carrying New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
on occasions when sister station WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
could not carry the game. For the 2010 season, two Giants pre-season games and two regular season games were carried on WCBS-FM including the first game at the New Meadowlands Stadium
New Meadowlands Stadium
MetLife Stadium is a stadium in the New York City Metropolitan Area, part of the MetLife Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets of the National Football League and is adjacent to the site of the former Giants Stadium, which was home...
against the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on August 16.
On-air personalities
Dan Taylor hosts WCBS-FM's morning show from 6 to 10 a.m., with Irv 'Mr. G.' Gikofsky providing weather updates. The weekday lineup also features Bob ShannonBob Shannon (WCBS-FM)
Don Bombard , more widely known under the air name Bob Shannon, is an American radio disc jockey best known for his work on WCBS-FM in New York City...
(10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), Broadway Bill Lee (3 to 7 p.m. plus Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Ron Parker (Monday through Thursday, 7 p.m. to midnight, plus Sundays 3 to 7 p.m.) and Joe Causi hosts the overnight shift. Weekend hosts include Sue O'Neal (6 to 10 a.m.), Pat St. John
Pat St. John
Pat St. John is one of the U.S.'s preeminent and longest serving radio personalities and voice artists. Known as The Dee-Jay’s DJ, he began his radio career on Windsor, Canada's CKLW in 1969, but is best known for his work in the New York City market on WPLJ, WNEW-FM, WCBS-FM and WAXQ...
(Sundays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and Causi (Fridays and Saturdays 7 p.m. to midnight), and assistant program director Lenny Bloch on weekend overnights. Both Causi's and Bloch's overnight shifts use voice-tracking
Voice-tracking
Voice-tracking, also called cyber jocking and referred to sometimes colloquially as a robojock, is a technique employed by some radio stations in radio broadcasting to produce the illusion of a live disc jockey or announcer sitting in the radio studios of the station when one is not actually...
. In addition, Fast Jimi Roberts, Big Jay Sorensen, Steve O'Brien, Famous Amos, Randy Davis, Dave Packer and Don Geronimo
Don Geronimo
Michael Sorce , better known by his stage name Don Geronimo, is an American radio personality formerly featured on the nationally syndicated radio talk show Don and Mike Show...
have done occasional fill-in work.
Dick Bartley
Dick Bartley
Dick Bartley, a popular American radio disc jockey since 21 June 1969, hosts several popular syndicated radio shows of the oldies/classic hits genre, including the current Classic Countdown since 1991 and the Saturday night call-in request show Rock & Roll's Greatest Hits since 1982...
's syndicated Classic Countdown airs on Sunday nights from 7 to 11 p.m., followed by the Classic Dance Showcase hosted by Joe Causi from 11 p.m. to midnight. These shows replaced Radio Greats and Top 20 Countdown, which aired from the station's relaunch in July 2007 until June 7, 2009. Another syndicated show, Dick Clark Presents Rewind with Gary Bryan
Gary Bryan
Gary Bryan is a radio disc jockey, currently on the air in Los Angeles, California at KRTH 101.1 FM. With more than 30 years in broadcasting, Bryan's career includes major-market morning show duties, serving as host and producer of several syndicated programs, and ventures online and in...
, airs on Sunday mornings from 12 to 4 a.m.
The Radio Greats program showcased veteran on-air personalities, with music tailored to their era of success. Don K. Reed, Norm N. Nite
Norm N. Nite
Norm N. Nite , was born Norman Durma and is the author of the Rock On! series of books. Rock On is coined as the official encyclopaedia of rock and roll music. He has spent many years on radio stations such as WGAR-AM and WMJI-FM in Cleveland and WCBS-FM in New York City...
, Ed Baer, Steve O'Brien, Randy Davis, Big Jay Sorensen, and Famous Amos were regularly featured on the program. Other guests included Ross Brittain, Max Kinkel, Big Ron O'Brien, Bobby Jay, Dan Ingram
Dan Ingram
Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram is an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a forty-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York...
, Gary Bryan
Gary Bryan
Gary Bryan is a radio disc jockey, currently on the air in Los Angeles, California at KRTH 101.1 FM. With more than 30 years in broadcasting, Bryan's career includes major-market morning show duties, serving as host and producer of several syndicated programs, and ventures online and in...
, Harry Nelson, Al Bandiero, Al Bernstein, former CBS-FM program director Joe McCoy, Rick Hunter, Howard Hoffman, Dick Bartley
Dick Bartley
Dick Bartley, a popular American radio disc jockey since 21 June 1969, hosts several popular syndicated radio shows of the oldies/classic hits genre, including the current Classic Countdown since 1991 and the Saturday night call-in request show Rock & Roll's Greatest Hits since 1982...
, and ex-morning man and Monkee
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, who finally got to do his long postponed 101st show on CBS-FM. A recording of Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
's final radio broadcast from 1995 was also featured on two occasions. The final Radio Greats show was hosted by WCBS-FM veteran Dick Heatherton.
Signal strength
WCBS-FM broadcasts at 6,700 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s. WBEB
WBEB
WBEB is a radio station broadcasting a Soft Rock/Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it serves the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1963 under the call sign WDVR. The station is currently owned by Jerry Lee...
, an Adult Contemporary station in Philadelphia, also broadcasts at 101.1 FM. WBEB's signal reaches far north into New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, especially along Interstate 287
Interstate 287
Interstate 287 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving the northern half of New Jersey and the counties of Rockland and Westchester in New York...
south of Morristown
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
, and in Northwestern New Jersey. In those areas WBEB interferes with WCBS-FM which also broadcasts on 101.1, and in some spots, WBEB's signal actually seems stronger. This is because WBEB broadcasts at 14,000 watts, although from a lower antenna height.
WCBS is simulcast on 105.7 FM (call sign W289BE) in the Hudson Valley region of NY; however, in many areas the broadcast signal from the city is relatively clear.
WCBS-FM's subcarrier also airs Spanish language Catholic programming for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from Radio Maria Hispana, a local unit of Radio Maria
Radio Maria
Radio Maria is an international Catholic radio broadcasting service founded in Erba, province of Como, in the diocese of Milan in 1983. The World Family of Radio Maria was formed in 1998 and today has branches in 55 countries around the world...
USA.
HD Radio Operations
A few hours after the change back from Jack FM, WCBS-FM's '60s and '70s music was brought back online at wcbsfm.com. CBS FM's longtime music director Jeff Mazzei was retained as program director of the wcbsfm.com oldies stream. Over the next couple of weeks, the station started playing pre-1964 oldies again. Additionally, the '60s and '70s oldies became broader and '80s and early '90s oldies were also mixed in, and the format got much deeper. However, it was commercial-free and had no airstaff. WCBS-FM HD 2 also began broadcasting in HD radioHD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
on December 12, 2005 (before most of the other NY stations, which launched in early 2006).
Air personalities did on-air auditions on the WCBS-FM HD2 oldies station on July 11, 2007, as a preview of the next day's changeover. The format then moved to the analog and HD1 channels. The HD2 station also simulcast the oldies format until 2:00 p.m. that day, at which time Jack FM moved to HD2. At 3:00 p.m. that day, Jack FM resumed streaming on their website ilikejack.com. In February 2008, Howard Cogan was replaced by Pat St. John
Pat St. John
Pat St. John is one of the U.S.'s preeminent and longest serving radio personalities and voice artists. Known as The Dee-Jay’s DJ, he began his radio career on Windsor, Canada's CKLW in 1969, but is best known for his work in the New York City market on WPLJ, WNEW-FM, WCBS-FM and WAXQ...
as the pre-recorded voice of the Jack character on WCBS-FM-HD2 and ilikejack.com. On May 7, 2008, the Jack branding was dropped from WCBS-FM HD2 and was just called 101.1 HD2 or WCBS-FM HD2 due to the end of a licensing agreement with the owner of the Jack name and slogan, Sparknet Communications. In late June 2009, the HD2 channel was rebranded again as "ToNY", meaning "to New York" but pronounced as "Tony". The channel continues to feature 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...
format.
On October 2, 2008 around 3 a.m., WCBS-FM HD3 was launched as a simulcast of WCBS
WCBS (AM)
WCBS , often referred to as "WCBS Newsradio 880" , is a radio station in New York City. Owned by CBS Radio, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of the CBS Radio Network...
News Radio 880.
External links
- 101.1 WCBS-FM
- 101.1 WCBS-FM HD2
- History of WCBS-FM
- The WCBS-FM Top 1001 of All Time
- New York Daily News: Oldies suddenly a thing of past in WCBS shift (June 4, 2005)
- Interview with Cousin Brucie in The Villager
- WCBS-FM tribute site
- WCBS-FM Station Information
- Newsday stories from July 7, 2007 and July 12, 2007 on the return of oldies to WCBS-FM.
- CBS drops licensing deal with SparkNet in NYC