WLTW
Encyclopedia
WLTW is a radio station
with an Adult Contemporary format
in New York City
.
The station is often number one or close to it in Arbitron
ratings for New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the station generated more revenue than any other radio station in the New York market. One reason for its success, in a city that heavily identifies with rap, hip hop, and dance music (formats whose stations make up many of the other top rated FM stations in New York), is that its playlist variety (where just about any popular song from the late 1960s to today that is not rap/hip hop, hard rock, or non-crossover country is played) has attracted an unusually broad demographic range of listeners. Some radio industry analysts have likened the station's format to "a Jack FM
with reporters giving weather/traffic news and financial reports."
XM Satellite Radio
currently simulcasts the station on Channel 13.
For many years actress Teri Garr
was seen in television commercials promoting the station. In later years animated commercials were used with Lite music playing around offices and homes.
that also played some jazz. A remnant of this period comes from the fact that at 5 A.M. on Sunday mornings, a sermon from the church airs on the station. As time went on, WRVR was a full-time jazz station with a strong following, but low ratings.
In 1976 WRVR was purchased by Sonderling Broadcasting, owner of WWRL
, with the hope that it could move to an urban format and compete against WBLS
, which had cut into WWRL's ratings. However, community opposition prevented the format change and WRVR remained a jazz station under Sonderling ownership. At that time it developed the precursor to what would later become known as the "smooth jazz
" format.
bought the Sonderling chain, and the station adopted a country music format as "Kick" WKHK. The station was known as "Kick 106.7 FM." The format change, from jazz to country, took place in the middle of the night. The change brought many protests from New York Jazz fans, and a petition to the FCC to deny the station's license renewal, which was denied. (The WRVR calls were moved to a radio station in Memphis, Tenn., that had once been owned by Viacom, but is now owned by Entercom.) However, ratings were low, as they were unable to compete with WHN
, which also had a country music format at the time. In 1988, a new jazz station appeared on the New York airwaves, called CD101.9; it now exists as an HD2 station to WRXP, the station that replaced it.
Then, in January 1984, Viacom dropped country and changed the calls to WLTW. The station became an MOR station known as "Lite FM 106.7 WLTW". Initially they were an easy listening
station without anything that would be classified as "elevator music
". At this point, the station played music from such artists as Barbra Streisand
, Frank Sinatra
, the Carpenters
, Dionne Warwick
, Kenny Rogers
, Tony Bennett
, Andy Williams
, Barry Manilow
, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor
, and the Stylistics
. The station also played softer songs from such artists as Elton John
, Elvis Presley
, the Beatles
, the Everly Brothers
, the Righteous Brothers
and Billy Joel
. At this point, the station wouldn't play any new music except for new songs by artists that were familiar to listeners of the station. With this format change, ratings did increase from its previously low levels. (Almost immediately after the call letter switch, the WKHK calls were picked up by an FM station at 95.3 in Colonial Heights, Virginia that was also doing a country format. That station still has the WKHK calls and is now Heritage Richmond Virginia Country station "K95".)
By the late 1980s, WLTW started to play songs from such artists as Whitney Houston
, Chicago
, Foreigner
, the Doobie Brothers
and Bruce Springsteen
. As other competing New York City stations changed their focus, the station stayed with their soft adult contemporary format, even though they were phasing out songs from artists such as Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, and the Carpenters. At this point, the station's ratings were at or near the top compared with other New York City radio stations.
adapting a Spanish adult contemporary format, WPLJ
adapting a hot adult contemporary format, and WMXV
(now WWPR-FM
) switching to a modern adult contemporary format, WLTW segued to a mainstream adult contemporary format. The station added more uptempo songs from such artists as Bruce Springsteen
, Mariah Carey
and Billy Joel
, as music from artists such as Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers were phased out, and new songs were now being played on the station. Despite the fact that the station had now changed its approach musically, they still refused to play any jingles or have their airstaff talk over the music (they would change in due course, with the former just recently added). The station had been number one more often than not in the ratings, and since 2002, they have continuously been the number one radio station in New York City.
Chancellor bought Viacom Radio in 1997 making WLTW a Chancellor Station. In 1999 Chancellor and Capstar merged, as the station would then be owned by AM/FM. After a 2000 merger between Clear Channel Communications
and AM/FM, the station would be owned by its current owners, Clear Channel Communications. (Of note, Viacom would not be out of the radio business for long, for when they bought CBS
, they also bought their radio properties, which were owned by the radio subsidiary Infinity Broadcasting
-which interestingly owned WLTW's future competitor, WNEW-FM.)
WLTW was simulcast nationwide on XM Satellite Radio
from 2001 to the end of 2003, under the channel name "Lite." WLTW on XM was replaced by The Blend on February 2, 2004
. In 2004, all XM music channels went commercial free, and WLTW was replaced with a unique-to-XM channel called Sunny
, which had an easy listening
format. Since then, Clear Channel has regained the right to air commercials on their XM music channels.Sunny then began carrying commercials, but was still exclusive to XM. After a few format tweaks, Sunny played soft oldies until it became The Pink Channel.
During the holiday season (Thanksgiving
through Christmas
), WLTW has played Christmas music
interspersed with its regular playlist. Only on Christmas Day and a few days leading up to it would the station devote all its airtime to holiday music. After the September 11 attacks, Christmas music was seen as a comforting "feel-good" format for radio listeners. Already established as a popular station for Christmas music, WLTW began to switch to an all-Christmas format earlier in 2002. After retaining its leadership in market share, and as part of a national trend, the station continued to make the switch earlier in the following years. By 2004, the all-Christmas format ran from Thanksgiving through Christmas, and in 2005, it began on November 18, the week before Thanksgiving (November 24). On November 18, 2006 (the Saturday before Thanksgiving 2006) the station switched to all Christmas music for the holiday season. This is the 2nd year in a row they made such a move. They were the first NYC Station to do so. They did so the same day as WALK, a Long Island-based station which shares a good portion of their listening audience.
By all accounts, the gamble paid off; WLTW captured 7.4% of the New York radio audience during the fall of 2005—the biggest market share in WLTW's history and the highest share for all New York stations since the winter of 1995. At some points during the 2008 holiday season, WLTW would draw as much as a third of all radio listeners in the New York area.
. WLTW Program Director Jim Ryan has denied these firings were part of the company's cost cutting that were going on at all the other Clear Channel stations in preparation for their conversion the leveraged buyout that took the company from public to private ownership in 2006, but rather from their desire to improve ratings.
The syndicated Delilah show, distributed by sister company Premiere Radio Networks
, replaced Kennedy's local evening lovesongs show on November 20, 2006, bringing the syndicated show to the full New York market for the first time. Prior to WLTW picking her show up, Delilah was only heard in outer portions of the New York market from stations in neighboring areas, such as WEZN-FM
. In a departure from her normal format, Delilah and her syndicator, are allowing Ryan to program the music on the WLTW's version of Delilah, instead of the selections that are sent to her other affliliates.
On April 2, 2007
, just after April Fool's Day, WLTW removed the "Lite" branding and was simply known as "New York's 106.7." This probably took place in reaction to the "Lite" brand being associated with an older demographic turning away the younger listeners, as well as increased competition from the new Fresh 102.7. Later in 2007, the Lite-FM branding returned on the station. This was true even though WLTW played Livin' on a Prayer
by Bon Jovi
and Crazy
by Gnarls Barkley
, just like with most AC stations today. By 2009
, most of the hot AC content was toned down in order for competitor WWFS's shift from hot AC to adult contemporary. In 2011
, WWFS switched panels to the hot adult contemporary panel from the adult contemporary panel on Nielsen BDS and later Mediabase
, giving WWFS more format similarity to rival WPLJ
(owned by Cumulus Media
) rather than WLTW or its rimshot rivals (WFAS-FM
, WFAF
, WKJY
or WMGQ
, the latter two on 98.3 FM).
Further cost-cutting efforts by Clear Channel caused the departure of longtime station favorites Al "Bernie" Berstein and Valerie Smaldone in early 2008. It was also announced that Program Director Jim Ryan would exit as of May 2008. Chris Conley took over the Program Director Position. Mr. Conley was a programming consultant with McVay Media and long time programming veteran with years in the Adult Contemporary radio format. Chris had a very successful tenure at WBEB
B101 FM in Philadelphia. Ms. Morgan Prue, winner of several Music Director Of The Year Awards, stayed on as the station's Music Director and Assistant Program Director.
Lite FM has evolved into a more upbeat "Variety" station from its earlier "Soft Rock" approach with deejays talking over intros, keeping a non stop music flow, and has added a jingle package for the first time in the history of the station. The station uses Reelworld One AC with its own logo. The station is also well known for having somewhat of a lean toward Rhythmic AC compared to most other AC stations owned by Clear Channel, possibly due to the younger-leaning audience in the NY market.
In May of 2011, WLTW returned to XM Satellite Radio
, with a full time simulcast on Channel 13.
Since the arrival of Program Director Chris Conley, the Adult Contemporary format Lite FM ratings have gone from a market position of 3rd place with a 5.6 share of Persons 25-54 (Arbitron April 2008) to 1st place with a 7.5 share of Persons 25-54 (Arbitron March 2010). In the August 2010 ratings (Arbitron August 2010) the station went to a 7.0 share in the much wider demographic of Persons 6 PLUS giving Lite FM a dominant 1st place lead in the market over all others.
's went from New York Country to Pride Radio, the country format went to WLTW HD2. On April 28, 2011 WLTW HD2 became "Classic Rock", one of few 'wheel of formats' that will be on it, based on iheartradio
and Clear Channel's Select Choice stations. They said that there would be a new permanent format on 106.3 FM, which used to be W293BU 106.5 in Union City, NJ on May 12. On May 6, 2011, they postponed the date for the new radio station for 106.3 FM and WLTW HD2 to May 18. Also on that date, W293BU 106.5 moved to its final destination, testing on 106.3 as W292DV. The 106.3 translator stopped and WLTW continued to play a variety format music every day. There were many rumors that when the stunting should have ended on May 18, the new format on 106.3 and WLTW HD2 would be smooth jazz, a format that has not been in New York, since WQCD 101.9 dropped smooth jazz for rock WRXP in February 2008. As of September 2011, the country format has returned to WLTW HD2.
magazine.
Other nominees included WMJX
in Boston, KOST
in Los Angeles, WALK-FM
in Nassau, New York, WBEB
, in Philadelphia, and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
with an Adult Contemporary format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
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 is often number one or close to it in Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings for New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the station generated more revenue than any other radio station in the New York market. One reason for its success, in a city that heavily identifies with rap, hip hop, and dance music (formats whose stations make up many of the other top rated FM stations in New York), is that its playlist variety (where just about any popular song from the late 1960s to today that is not rap/hip hop, hard rock, or non-crossover country is played) has attracted an unusually broad demographic range of listeners. Some radio industry analysts have likened the station's format to "a 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 reporters giving weather/traffic news and financial reports."
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
currently simulcasts the station on Channel 13.
For many years actress Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
was seen in television commercials promoting the station. In later years animated commercials were used with Lite music playing around offices and homes.
History
The station first went on the air in 1961 as WRVR, a religious station owned by Riverside ChurchRiverside Church
The Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...
that also played some jazz. A remnant of this period comes from the fact that at 5 A.M. on Sunday mornings, a sermon from the church airs on the station. As time went on, WRVR was a full-time jazz station with a strong following, but low ratings.
In 1976 WRVR was purchased by Sonderling Broadcasting, owner of WWRL
WWRL
WWRL is a radio station in New York City, broadcasting at 1600 kHz AM owned by Access.1 Communications. Since September 1, 2006, its format has been progressive talk radio...
, with the hope that it could move to an urban format and compete against WBLS
WBLS
WBLS is an urban adult contemporary FM radio station in New York City, operating on 107.5 MHz. WBLS is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WLIB...
, which had cut into WWRL's ratings. However, community opposition prevented the format change and WRVR remained a jazz station under Sonderling ownership. At that time it developed the precursor to what would later become known as the "smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
" format.
1980s
In 1980 ViacomViacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
bought the Sonderling chain, and the station adopted a country music format as "Kick" WKHK. The station was known as "Kick 106.7 FM." The format change, from jazz to country, took place in the middle of the night. The change brought many protests from New York Jazz fans, and a petition to the FCC to deny the station's license renewal, which was denied. (The WRVR calls were moved to a radio station in Memphis, Tenn., that had once been owned by Viacom, but is now owned by Entercom.) However, ratings were low, as they were unable to compete with WHN
WHN
WHN was a radio station in New York City located at 1050 kHz. Its best known format was country music, which the station played from 1972 to 1987...
, which also had a country music format at the time. In 1988, a new jazz station appeared on the New York airwaves, called CD101.9; it now exists as an HD2 station to WRXP, the station that replaced it.
Then, in January 1984, Viacom dropped country and changed the calls to WLTW. The station became an MOR station known as "Lite FM 106.7 WLTW". Initially they were an 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...
station without anything that would be classified as "elevator music
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
". At this point, the station played music from such artists as Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, 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...
, the Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, and the Stylistics
The Stylistics
The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the...
. The station also played softer songs from such artists as Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, 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...
, the Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, the Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers
The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
and Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
. At this point, the station wouldn't play any new music except for new songs by artists that were familiar to listeners of the station. With this format change, ratings did increase from its previously low levels. (Almost immediately after the call letter switch, the WKHK calls were picked up by an FM station at 95.3 in Colonial Heights, Virginia that was also doing a country format. That station still has the WKHK calls and is now Heritage Richmond Virginia Country station "K95".)
By the late 1980s, WLTW started to play songs from such artists as Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
, the Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. As other competing New York City stations changed their focus, the station stayed with their soft adult contemporary format, even though they were phasing out songs from artists such as Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, and the Carpenters. At this point, the station's ratings were at or near the top compared with other New York City radio stations.
1990s
By 1996, with WPAT-FMWPAT-FM
WPAT-FM, known on-air as "93.1 Amor", is a radio station with a Spanish-language Rhythmic AC format. Located on 93.1 FM, the station, which is licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, serves the New York City Metropolitan area.-History:...
adapting a Spanish adult contemporary format, 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...
adapting a hot adult contemporary format, and WMXV
WMXV
WMXV is a radio station licensed to St. Joseph, Tennessee. WMXV broadcasts as part of the Florence/Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Arbitron radio market...
(now WWPR-FM
WWPR-FM
WWPR-FM, also known as "Power 105.1", is an urban contemporary radio station that features hip hop and R&B licensed to New York City that serves the Greater New York area....
) switching to a modern adult contemporary format, WLTW segued to a mainstream adult contemporary format. The station added more uptempo songs from such artists as Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
and Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, as music from artists such as Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers were phased out, and new songs were now being played on the station. Despite the fact that the station had now changed its approach musically, they still refused to play any jingles or have their airstaff talk over the music (they would change in due course, with the former just recently added). The station had been number one more often than not in the ratings, and since 2002, they have continuously been the number one radio station in New York City.
Merger with Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and AM/FM, the station would be owned by its current owners, Clear Channel Communications. (Of note, Viacom would not be out of the radio business for long, for when they bought 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...
, they also bought their radio properties, which were owned by the radio subsidiary Infinity Broadcasting
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...
-which interestingly owned WLTW's future competitor, WNEW-FM.)
WLTW was simulcast nationwide on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
from 2001 to the end of 2003, under the channel name "Lite." WLTW on XM was replaced by The Blend on February 2, 2004
2004 in radio
The year 2004 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*30 October - In the UK a 163-metre-high radio mast at Peterborough collapses in a fire.-Debuts:...
. In 2004, all XM music channels went commercial free, and WLTW was replaced with a unique-to-XM channel called Sunny
Sunny (XM)
The Music Summit was a channel on XM Satellite Radio located on channel 13 . The channel was programmed out of Cincinnati, Ohio, and sold to advertisers by Premiere Radio Networks...
, which had an 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. Since then, Clear Channel has regained the right to air commercials on their XM music channels.Sunny then began carrying commercials, but was still exclusive to XM. After a few format tweaks, Sunny played soft oldies until it became The Pink Channel.
During the holiday season (Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
through Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
), WLTW has played Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
interspersed with its regular playlist. Only on Christmas Day and a few days leading up to it would the station devote all its airtime to holiday music. After the September 11 attacks, Christmas music was seen as a comforting "feel-good" format for radio listeners. Already established as a popular station for Christmas music, WLTW began to switch to an all-Christmas format earlier in 2002. After retaining its leadership in market share, and as part of a national trend, the station continued to make the switch earlier in the following years. By 2004, the all-Christmas format ran from Thanksgiving through Christmas, and in 2005, it began on November 18, the week before Thanksgiving (November 24). On November 18, 2006 (the Saturday before Thanksgiving 2006) the station switched to all Christmas music for the holiday season. This is the 2nd year in a row they made such a move. They were the first NYC Station to do so. They did so the same day as WALK, a Long Island-based station which shares a good portion of their listening audience.
By all accounts, the gamble paid off; WLTW captured 7.4% of the New York radio audience during the fall of 2005—the biggest market share in WLTW's history and the highest share for all New York stations since the winter of 1995. At some points during the 2008 holiday season, WLTW would draw as much as a third of all radio listeners in the New York area.
Since 2006
As part of Clear Channel's nationwide cost-cutting efforts WLTW fired station veterans Bill Buchner (mornings) and J.J. Kennedy (evenings) on November 6, 2006. Buchner was replaced with Karen Carson, who is co-hosting mornings with fellow WLTW staffer Christine NagyChristine Nagy
Christine Nagy is an American radio broadcaster, of Hungarian ancestry. She is a morning radio personality at WLTW-FM , which is New York City's highest rated radio station. She is also an actress....
. WLTW Program Director Jim Ryan has denied these firings were part of the company's cost cutting that were going on at all the other Clear Channel stations in preparation for their conversion the leveraged buyout that took the company from public to private ownership in 2006, but rather from their desire to improve ratings.
The syndicated Delilah show, distributed by sister company Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks is an American radio network. It is the largest syndication company in the United States based on popularity of programming...
, replaced Kennedy's local evening lovesongs show on November 20, 2006, bringing the syndicated show to the full New York market for the first time. Prior to WLTW picking her show up, Delilah was only heard in outer portions of the New York market from stations in neighboring areas, such as WEZN-FM
WEZN-FM
WEZN is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format, licensed to the Bridgeport, Connecticut community. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio and it has a strong signal which reaches into most of Westchester County, New York and well north of Hartford, Connecticut...
. In a departure from her normal format, Delilah and her syndicator, are allowing Ryan to program the music on the WLTW's version of Delilah, instead of the selections that are sent to her other affliliates.
On April 2, 2007
2007 in radio
The year 2007 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 8: Nanci "The Fabulous Sports Babe" Donnellan returns to radio after a six-year absence, filling in for local hosts in Florida....
, just after April Fool's Day, WLTW removed the "Lite" branding and was simply known as "New York's 106.7." This probably took place in reaction to the "Lite" brand being associated with an older demographic turning away the younger listeners, as well as increased competition from the new Fresh 102.7. Later in 2007, the Lite-FM branding returned on the station. This was true even though WLTW played Livin' on a Prayer
Livin' on a Prayer
"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi's second single from their Slippery When Wet album. Written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora with Desmond Child, the single, released in late 1986, was well-received at both rock and pop radio and its music video was given heavy rotation at MTV, giving the band...
by Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
and Crazy
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)
"Crazy" is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere...
by Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley is an American soul duo comprising Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album St. Elsewhere was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download...
, just like with most AC stations today. By 2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...
, most of the hot AC content was toned down in order for competitor WWFS's shift from hot AC to adult contemporary. In 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,...
, WWFS switched panels to the hot adult contemporary panel from the adult contemporary panel on Nielsen BDS and later Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
, giving WWFS more format similarity to rival 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...
(owned by Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks...
) rather than WLTW or its rimshot rivals (WFAS-FM
WFAS-FM
WFAS-FM is a radio station located in Westchester County, New York, covering the county and surrounding vicinity. The station features an adult contemporary format and is under ownership of Cumulus Media...
, WFAF
WFAF
WFAF is a radio station broadcasting a Adult Contemporary format that simulcasts WFAS-FM. Licensed to Mount Kisco, New York, USA, the station serves Northern Westchester and Putnam Counties. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media.-History:...
, WKJY
WKJY
WKJY, known on-air as KJOY 98.3, is a U.S. radio station, based on Long Island, with an adult contemporary format. Located at 98.3 and 96.1 MHz FM, the station is licensed to Hempstead, New York. The station, whose studios are located in Farmingdale, New York, is owned by the Long Island Radio...
or WMGQ
WMGQ
WMGQ, known on-air as Magic 98.3, is a radio station broadcasting from Somerset, New Jersey and licensed in New Brunswick . It is located at 98.3 FM. The station can be heard in Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset, Mercer, Union, and Hunterdon counties...
, the latter two on 98.3 FM).
Further cost-cutting efforts by Clear Channel caused the departure of longtime station favorites Al "Bernie" Berstein and Valerie Smaldone in early 2008. It was also announced that Program Director Jim Ryan would exit as of May 2008. Chris Conley took over the Program Director Position. Mr. Conley was a programming consultant with McVay Media and long time programming veteran with years in the Adult Contemporary radio format. Chris had a very successful tenure at 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...
B101 FM in Philadelphia. Ms. Morgan Prue, winner of several Music Director Of The Year Awards, stayed on as the station's Music Director and Assistant Program Director.
Lite FM has evolved into a more upbeat "Variety" station from its earlier "Soft Rock" approach with deejays talking over intros, keeping a non stop music flow, and has added a jingle package for the first time in the history of the station. The station uses Reelworld One AC with its own logo. The station is also well known for having somewhat of a lean toward Rhythmic AC compared to most other AC stations owned by Clear Channel, possibly due to the younger-leaning audience in the NY market.
In May of 2011, WLTW returned to XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
, with a full time simulcast on Channel 13.
Ratings
For Holiday 2009, the station received a rating of 11.6, (7,024,700 people).Since the arrival of Program Director Chris Conley, the Adult Contemporary format Lite FM ratings have gone from a market position of 3rd place with a 5.6 share of Persons 25-54 (Arbitron April 2008) to 1st place with a 7.5 share of Persons 25-54 (Arbitron March 2010). In the August 2010 ratings (Arbitron August 2010) the station went to a 7.0 share in the much wider demographic of Persons 6 PLUS giving Lite FM a dominant 1st place lead in the market over all others.
WLTW HD2 & Translator W292DV
The first HD2 radio station on WLTW was "Classic Lite", playing an older version of Lite FM on the HD1. In 2008, when WKTUWKTU
WKTU is a radio station based in New York City that plays an upbeat, gold-based CHR format. The station's broadcast transmitter is located on the top of the Empire State Building and its city of license is Lake Success, New York, with offices formerly in the "Newport" section of Jersey City, New...
's went from New York Country to Pride Radio, the country format went to WLTW HD2. On April 28, 2011 WLTW HD2 became "Classic Rock", one of few 'wheel of formats' that will be on it, based on iheartradio
Iheartradio
iHeartRadio is a Clear Channel Radio network to aggregate local radio brands, personalities and on-demand content. It is best known as a mobile application...
and Clear Channel's Select Choice stations. They said that there would be a new permanent format on 106.3 FM, which used to be W293BU 106.5 in Union City, NJ on May 12. On May 6, 2011, they postponed the date for the new radio station for 106.3 FM and WLTW HD2 to May 18. Also on that date, W293BU 106.5 moved to its final destination, testing on 106.3 as W292DV. The 106.3 translator stopped and WLTW continued to play a variety format music every day. There were many rumors that when the stunting should have ended on May 18, the new format on 106.3 and WLTW HD2 would be smooth jazz, a format that has not been in New York, since WQCD 101.9 dropped smooth jazz for rock WRXP in February 2008. As of September 2011, the country format has returned to WLTW HD2.
Awards
In 2007, the station won the top 25 markets Adult Contemporary station of the year award by Radio & RecordsRadio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
magazine.
Other nominees included WMJX
WMJX
WMJX is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. It has an Adult Contemporary format. The station's transmitter is located atop the Prudential Tower in Downtown Boston...
in Boston, KOST
KOST
KOST is a radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with an adult contemporary musical format. It is one of three adult contemporary formatted radio station in the Los Angeles/Orange County area, the others being sister station KBIG and CBS-owned KTWV...
in Los Angeles, WALK-FM
WALK-FM
WALK-FM, known on-air as "WALK 97.5," is a radio station on Long Island with an adult contemporary format. Located on 97.5 FM, the station is licensed to Patchogue, New York...
in Nassau, New York, 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...
, in Philadelphia, and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.