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WKTU (103.5 FM) is a
rhythmic adult contemporary Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adul ...
formatted radio station
licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Lake Success, New York Lake Success is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The population was 2,897 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Lake Success was the temporary home of the Uni ...
, a suburb of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. WKTU is owned by
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the
Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stree ...
neighborhood of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
; its
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is located at the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
.


History


WGLI-FM–WTFM (1958–1982)

In 1958, 103.5 MHz was assigned to
Babylon, New York The Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Its population was 218,223 as of the 2020 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It border ...
for WGLI-FM, simulcasting sister station WGLI 1290AM. William Reuman, the founder and owner of
WWRL WWRL (1600 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. WWRL airs an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network (BIN). The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. By day, WWRL broadcasts at 25,000 wat ...
in New York City, was the owner of WGLI. 103.5 MHz had previously been assigned to
WPAT-FM WPAT-FM (93.1 FM) – branded "93.1 Amor" – is a radio station that programs a Spanish CHR radio format. Licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, the station is owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System and serves the New York metropolitan area. ...
in
Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In March 1960, Friendly Frost Inc. (a Long Island-based appliance store chain) acquired WGLI Inc. from Reuman and his partners. In November 1961, Friendly Frost moved the station from Babylon to Lake Success, and the call sign was changed to WTFM. WTFM transmitted with 20 kW from a 200-foot tower outside the studio building at 173-15 Horace Harding Expressway visible from the
Long Island Expressway Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music men ...
. Eventually, the transmitter was relocated to the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
, and a major signal boost was accomplished. As WTFM, the station used the slogan "The International Stereo Sound of New York," and played an instrumental-based
easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
format. Initially, it was strictly instrumental versions of pop standards, however by 1969, the station began playing soft instrumental versions of rock and roll baby boomer pop songs as well as standards. The station was eventually sold to Sydney Horne, and the company became known as WTFM, Inc. By 1971, the station began playing soft vocalists once every 15 minutes including soft songs by rock artists and standards artists. They kept this format until 1977, the reason being as an easy listening station, WTFM was up against similar stations: WRFM, WVNJ-FM, and WPAT AM & FM, that had higher ratings. As a result, the station switched to a
soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
-leaning adult contemporary format. The station would at some points be more of an AC format, while at other points more of a mellow rock format. Ultimately, ratings continued to remain low with the new format. WTFM was put up for sale in 1980, and Heftel Broadcasting made a proposal to buy the station from Sydney Horne. The plan was to switch WTFM to an
album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...
format, but the sale was never consummated. The station stayed up for sale and had many offers, but none that were acceptable, throughout 1980 and 1981.


WAPP (1982–1986)

In early 1982, Doubleday bought the station, and by April its call letters were changed to WAPP. However, the format would remain the same for a while longer until new ownership decided what to do with the station. On June 14, 1982, WAPP switched to an
album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...
format similar to
WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmi ...
and
WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary formatted radio station, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Ma ...
, and was renamed "The Apple 103.5"; the format began with "
Won't Get Fooled Again "Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute version appears as the final track ...
" by
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. The station launched with a commercial-free summer. In 1983, a then-unknown
Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...
visited the station and wrote and sung the jingles for the station. He spoke with DJ Chip Hobart, who suggested Bon Jovi let WAPP include the song " Runaway" on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent. Bon Jovi was reluctant, but eventually gave them the song, on which Bon Jovi had used studio musicians to play on "Runaway" (which was written in 1980). As part of a marketing effort, WAPP-FM launched a contest called "New York Rocks 1983." Local music acts were encouraged to submit demo tapes to this competition. Among the tapes submitted to this contest was "Runaway", but didn't win the competition. Another act called the "Frankie Carr Band" won the honors. This competition was repeated in 1984. WAPP worked with
WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW ...
in nearby
Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,CHR that October. They felt that if co-owned stations in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
could do well with the format, then this station could as well. This would not be the case, as the station could not compete with WPLJ or Z-100, and their ratings fell. The station quietly segued back in a rock direction with a rock-leaning CHR format in June 1985. The station leaned toward current based rock while playing a limited amount of rhythmic cuts. Even that would not be able to turn the station's ratings around as 92.3 FM, the original WKTU, flipped to rock as " K-Rock".


WQHT (1986–1988)

In 1986,
Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...
bought WAPP from Doubleday. On August 13, 1986, WAPP began stunting with a
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
format as "Classic 103." On August 15, 1986, at 6 p.m.,
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
' "
It's All Over Now "It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover versio ...
" and a bomb noise rang out, marking the end of WAPP. The station then flipped to a CHR/Dance/Urban Contemporary format as ''Hot 103, New York's Hottest Mix'' with new call letters WQHT. The first song on "Hot" was " R.S.V.P." by
Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK, ...
. No one in the radio industry expected it, but the new format that would be labeled "
Rhythmic CHR Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, a ...
" was taking shape. WQHT was the second such station with the format, months after Emmis launched it on
KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Meruelo Group and airs a Rhythmic Hot AC format. KPWR's stu ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
earlier that year. WQHT's first Program Director was Joel Salkowitz. Steve Ellis, formerly of WAPP, was Music Director. Don Kelly was the consultant for both WQHT and KPWR in those early months. WQHT played a different variety of music than what was on the New York radio dial at that time. There was no CHR/Dance station in the market since
WKTU WKTU (103.5 FM) is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neig ...
left the air a year earlier. WQHT came on the air with a new and improved dance-oriented format, which radio trade magazines of the day called a hybrid format. The station mixed in
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
hits with dance and club music of the day. The station was also known for playing "hotmixes" or extended versions of certain songs. The "hotmixes" were either just the extended versions available commercially on 12" singles, or mixes that were created by local club DJs, such as "Little" Louie Vega. They also aired regular versions of the songs that had longer intros than that of their competitors. Noel used WQHT's version of his single " Silent Morning" for the song's music video, as evidenced in the video's credits. With the debut of WQHT, some record labels such as Atco and Elektra reportedly started to see a spike in 12" single sales in the
New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
, as was reported by Billboard. WQHT's imaging sounded similar to that of sister station
KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Meruelo Group and airs a Rhythmic Hot AC format. KPWR's stu ...
, as WNAP alums Chuck Riley and Eric Edwards became the official voices of the station. While Chuck mainly voiced bumpers and sweepers, Eric on the other hand mostly voiced promos and specialty liners. These two were also the voices for other Emmis stations at the time such as KPWR, WLOL in
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...
, and WAVA in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
A month after the station's launch, WQHT began adding an airstaff. Some of the first Hot 103 DJs to join WQHT were, Deborah Rath-Howell from
KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Meruelo Group and airs a Rhythmic Hot AC format. KPWR's stu ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
Al Bandiero Al Bandiero is an American film, radio personality, and television actor, known for playing Peter Evans in the television series '' Desire''. Other works * Extensive TV Hosting; Children's Miracle Network Telethon, TV 2000, This Week's Music, M ...
from WKTU, Johnny "Big John" Monds from
WUSL WUSL (98.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It carries a mainstream urban radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd. WUSL is ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Sonny Joe Fox from KMEL in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Frederick "Fast Freddie" Colon and Niecie Colon from
WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister station ...
, as well as Vanessa Scott, Rufus Hurt, and Mitchell Phillips, who were hold overs from WAPP. "Broadway" Bill Lee from KPKE in
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
joined the station around Christmas 1986 as the youngest of the Hot Jocks. Rick Allen also joined as Production Director, in addition to being the voice of WQHT's electronic prizedroid Robojock, and TM Communications customized KPWR's "K-Power!" jingle package for WQHT under the name of "The Hot Streak!" with Chuck on rapping vocals. By 1987, WQHT was making a name for itself by playing
freestyle music Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...
in regular rotation. Artists such as Noel, Safire,
The Cover Girls The Cover Girls are an all-female, New York city-based freestyle group that achieved most of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are " Show Me, " " Because of You," “ Don't Stop Now,” a ...
and TKA were made famous because they were played in heavy rotation right next to Mainstream Top 40 artists such as
Exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...
,
Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...
and
Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...
. Freestyle and club music from other cities such as Miami, who had (and continues to have) an active dance and club scene, wasn't ignored either. Company B and Tiger Moon, who were famous in the Florida club scene, were played on WQHT as well. In fact, Hot 103 pioneered custom station versions of songs, where the artists would change lyrics and sing about the station. Because of WQHT's success with the genre,
WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial top 40/CHR station licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the flagship station for '' Elvis Duran and the Morning Show''. The WHTZ studios ...
copied the station's success by adding a few Freestyle titles, as well as
urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
stations
WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister station ...
and
WRKS WRKS (105.9 FM, "The Zone") is a radio station licensed to Pickens, Mississippi, although its studio is located in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Launched on July 2, 2009, the station's format is sports, with programming from ESPN Radio. WRKS is own ...
, who were playing long versions of the records they played as well. That same year, WQHT added a local weekly countdown show called ''New York's Hot Tracks'', hosted by Bill Lee, which counted down the top 10 selling 12" singles of the week. The show started on Sunday nights, then moved to Fridays at 6p.m., and then later at 5p.m. It featured short interview clips and aired
sonovox A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...
numbers produced by Rick Allen identifying the chart position. "Hot Tracks" was produced, for a time, by PD Joel Salkowitz and researched by
Angie Martinez Angela Martinez (born January 9, 1971) is an American radio personality, rapper, singer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice of New York" during her two-decade tenure at New York City station HOT 97 (WQHT), she left that position in 2014 to jo ...
, who would later become an afternoon host after the station flipped to Hip-Hop and R&B in 1992. (The show would later be hosted by Jeff Thomas, and was cancelled in 1993.) In July 1987, WQHT wanted to devote some airtime to older dance music at the urging of Al Bandiero. Management agreed, and thus began "The Disco Classics' Showcase", which would feature dance music older than seven years. The show was broadcast for an hour from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. on Sundays. In 1989, the show was expanded to two hours. Later hosts would be Paco Navarro in 1992 from WKTU fame, and Freddie Colon. The show lasted until 1994.


Morning drive

From the time the station signed on the air, it presented a music intensive morning show with only two stopsets of commercials an hour. Mornings were first hosted by Rufus Hurt with news by Judy Hernandez (another hold over from WAPP, where she went by the name Judy Herron). After Hurt left, "Big John" Monds began took over for him. By the fall of 1987, WQHT was looking for a morning team to round out its dayparts. It settled on the veteran team of "Walton & Johnson & The Not Ready For Drive Time Players." The show didn't click, and was cancelled in a couple months. In 1988, the station brought in the married morning team of Ron Stevens and Joy Grdnic from
KSHE KSHE (styled as K-SHE) is a Classic rock radio station licensed to Crestwood, Missouri which serves the Greater St. Louis area. KSHE transmits on 94.7 MHz and currently uses the slogan "KSHE 95, Real Rock Radio". Owned by Hubbard Broadcast ...
in
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
to handle morning drive. Stevens & Grdnic were unique as they were a male/female team rather than the usual male/male morning show. Veteran newsman J. Paul Emerson of KMEL's Morning Zoo was joined as the wild newsman with a tabloid type delivery. The station added traffic updates via Shadow Traffic and contracted with
WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship W ...
meteorologist
Nick Gregory Nick Gregory (born April 24, 1960) is an American meteorologist and pilot. He is the chief meteorologist for WNYW in New York City. His first weather forecast for WNYW aired on December 26, 1986. Career A native of New Rochelle, New York, Gregory ...
to provide live weather updates.


WQHT's big impact

In February 1987, Billboard created a new "Crossover 30" chart in response to WQHT and the rise in popularity of other CHR/Dance stations. The chart was based solely on airplay from stations that reported to it. Radio trade magazine "Radio and Records" created a similar chart and started reporting the weekly music adds by WQHT and others. The impact of WQHT inspired Emmis to partner with
Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...
to create a weekly national dance music countdown called '' American Dance Traxx'', which debuted the week of March 23, 1987. The show was groundbreaking as it presented the countdown in long music sweeps as opposed to the traditional 2-songs in a row followed by a commercial break. The 3-hour countdown was hosted by KPWR's Jeffrey Wyatt and produced by WQHT PD Joel Salkowitz. The show used the same music beds that were on WQHT and KPWR and featured short interviews with the artists of the day. The show aired on WQHT Sundays from 9p.m.–midnight. After Jeff left both KPWR and Emmis, Deborah Rath was made the permanent host until former
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
VJ and host of "Club MTV" "Downtown" Julie Brown took over in 1992.


Hot Night concert series

In February 1987, the station introduced the "Hot Night" concert series. The concerts consisted of the top CHR/Dance artists of the day. Tickets for the concerts were only available to listeners, with the station giving them away. "Hot Night 1" was held February 4, 1987, at the Palladium and starred
Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...
and The Cover Girls. Hot Night 2 was held at the same location, starring The Jets and Debbie Gibson. As years went on, "Hot Night" got bigger and expanded to more exotic locations such as
The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, on December 13, 1989, with "Hot Night in Paradise", featuring Pajama Party, Seduction, Noel, TKA, Young MC, Roxette, Expose and Stevie B., as well as
Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...
. The last known "Hot Night" was in 1993, at the Palladium and starred
SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...
.


The Original Saturday Night Dance Party

In April 1987, WQHT debuted ''The Original Saturday Night Dance Party'', live from 4D NightClub in Manhattan from 10p.m.–2a.m., with no commercials and limited interruption. All music from the show was live from the club as WQHT plugged right into the DJ booth mixer. Scotty Blackwell was the first DJ to spin for the show, where he would mix with 4 Technics 1200ML Turntables. There was even a cart machine on hand to play the sweepers over the air. As time went on, WQHT was wired into two dozen different clubs around the area, including The Palladium, The Copacabana, Foxes, Emerald City, The Tunnel, Chicago, Limelight, 1018, The L.I. Exchange, and The Roxy. Other notable club DJs such as Glenn Friscia, DJ Animal, Roman Ricardo, Freddie Bastone and Mojo Nicosia were on the turntables for ''The Saturday Night Dance Party''. Artists such as France Joli, Safire, The Cover Girls and others would occasionally perform live on the radio and in the clubs.


WYNY (1988–1996)

On September 22, 1988, at 5:30 p.m. WQHT changed frequencies, as Emmis acquired
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's radio stations. Since
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
regulations at the time required that a company could only own one FM radio station in a market, Emmis sold the 103.5 frequency to
Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...
(which had also acquired the remnants of the NBC Radio Network). At the same time, they moved the format at 103.5 FM to the 97.1 FM frequency which they acquired from NBC, with WQHT becoming "Hot 97." As a result, WYNY, which was running a
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
format at the 97.1 frequency prior to the sale, would move to 103.5 FM. The station, now known as "Country 103.5", had mediocre ratings in their first few months at its new frequency. In 1989, when Westwood One launched "Pirate Radio" (a top 40/rock format) on KQLZ in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, rumors were that if the format worked out well there, WYNY would switch to the format soon after. The format did well initially in Los Angeles, but ratings tanked quickly, so consideration for the change was ended by the spring of 1990. Even though rumors of a format change were always existent at the station, the country format remained. In 1993, the station would be sold to Broadcast Partners, whom were committed to keeping Country on WYNY. As a country station, Jim Kerr would be the station's morning show host from 1990 to 1993, while their airstaff included Dan Daniel, Randy Davis, Bill Rock, Ray Rossi, Lisa Taylor, Charlie Berger and Susan Browning. In May 1995, Broadcast Partners opted to sell the station to
Evergreen Media iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, and after a lot of speculation about the station's future, Evergreen confirmed in January 1996 that the station would be changing formats. On the final weekend that the station would play country music (which would be from February 2 to 4, 1996), the entire air staff said goodbye. WYNY ended local programming at 6 p.m. on February 4 with " The Dance" by
Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
, followed by syndicated programming. After airing the syndicated ''After Midnite with Blair Garner'' show in the early morning hours of February 5 (which also ended with "The Dance"), the country music format was gone from the station, thus leaving New York City without a full-time country station. (Later that year, country would resurface on several suburban stations, one of which would get the WYNY calls, resurfacing in late 1998.) Beginning at 6 a.m. on February 5, WYNY began stunting by simulcasting sister stations across the country, the first being
Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
-formatted WRCX
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. On February 6, at 6 a.m., the simulcasting switched to
urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
-formatted KKBT
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. On February 7, at 6 a.m., the simulcasting switched to
talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...
-formatted
WLUP-FM WCKL (97.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring a Christian contemporary format via the K-Love network. Owned and operated by Educational Media Foundation (EMF), WCKL serves the Chicago metro area w ...
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. On February 8, at 6 a.m., the simulcasting switched to AC-formatted
KIOI KIOI (101.3 FM, "Star 101.3") is a hot AC-formatted radio station licensed to San Francisco, California and owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in the SoMa district of San Francisco. KIOI has an effective radiated po ...
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. On February 9, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the simulcast switched to
modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...
-leaning
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
WXKS-FM WXKS-FM (107.9 FM), branded as ''Kiss 108'', is a commercial top 40/CHR radio station licensed to serve Medford, Massachusetts, and covering Greater Boston. Owned by iHeartMedia, the WXKS-FM studios are in Medford and the transmitter sits at ...
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. At 6 p.m., the simulcasting of sister stations ended.


WKTU (1996–present)

At 6 p.m. on February 9, 1996, WYNY switched its stunting to a heartbeat sound effect, promoting the launch of a new format coming the following day at Noon. At that time, WKTU was relaunched on 103.5 FM with a dance-based CHR format; WKTU's first song was " Gonna Make You Sweat" by
C+C Music Factory C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...
. The station went to number one in the Arbitron ratings.
Drag performer The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someone ( ...
RuPaul co-hosted mornings with
Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction which ...
, Lisa Taylor and Freddie Colon around this period, further helping their ratings.
Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton is an American radio personality. On November 8, 2019 he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He is the creator and host of the ''Weekend Top30 Countdown'' and the ''Remix Top30 Countdown'' heard in over 15 ...
and Goumba Johnny made their debut at night, and after much success, were moved to mornings in January 1998. By 2002, the moderate amount of rap played on the station was gone and the station evolved into more of a
Rhythmic Hot AC Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adul ...
. On May 31, 2006, WKTU announced that actress/comedian
Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
would become the station's new morning host, and that the station would serve as the flagship station for her syndicated morning show. Her show, which aired mostly on AC and Rhythmic outlets in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, especially those owned by WKTU's now-parent company Clear Channel Communications, began on July 31, 2006. The news of Goldberg being named 'KTU's new morning star, and the departures of popular afternoon drive DJ "Broadway" Bill Lee and late night hostess Jewelz in June 2006, led to talk that KTU might switch formats (some suspected an upbeat female targeted Hot AC-type direction similar to sister station
KBIG KBIG (104.3 FM, 104.3 MYfm) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a hot AC format heavy on music from the 2000s to ...
/
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
) with Goldberg's arrival. WKTU management insisted that there were no plans to flip formats, even with Goldberg in mornings. Another surprise move was the reunion of former KTU morning hosts Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton and Goumba Johnny, who hosted afternoons on the station beginning September 5, 2006. Hamilton continues to host the syndicated shows the ''Weekend Top 30'' and the ''Remix Top 30'' heard in cites across America and around the world. However, on September 9, 2006, after many format flips by Clear Channel of other radio stations throughout the country, WKTU took on the upbeat Rhythmic AC direction by playing only popular current rhythmic material, as well as increasing the airplay of older rhythmic sounds such as
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
and freestyle. On November 28, 2007, WKTU announced that it had dropped Whoopi's morning show. According to station management, the reason was due to Goldberg's duties on '' The View'', although it may also have to do with the show's ratings. Her show continued to air in syndication through Premiere Radio Networks until April 18, 2008, when she called it quits.
Paul "Cubby" Bryant Paul "Cubby" Bryant (born June 1, 1971) is an on-air radio personality who has hosted and co-hosted programs at stations in multiple markets and in syndication. Notable tenures, all based in New York City, include ten years at WHTZ (Z100), co-hos ...
, who served as Goldberg's co-host, left the syndicated show and returned to WKTU in January 2008 to host his own morning show. Around 2009, WKTU did another tweak in their Rhythmic AC format, dropping the older elements of dance music (disco and freestyle, including Judy Torres' "Freestyle Free For All" Sunday show; Torres has since returned to doing a Sunday afternoon shift at WKTU) and focusing mainly on a current direction, with mainstream dance and rhythmic music. The station pursued the advertiser-friendly demographic of people who are 25–54 years old, a move which has helped increase station ratings. In September 2010, the station returned to a Rhythmic Top 40 direction, as WKTU was added to the
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 analytic ...
Rhythmic panel joining rival
WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...
. On December 15, 2010, Goumba Johnny left WKTU after 15 years, leaving Hamilton solo in afternoons. On April 4, 2011, WKTU was moved from the
rhythmic CHR Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, a ...
panel on Mediabase to CHR (top 40), reflecting the recent evolution of the station's music to a more
rhythmic adult contemporary Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adul ...
direction again without disco/classic dance titles. At the same time,
Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
refrained from including WKTU's playlist on its top 40/CHR panel because of its direction and having sister station WHTZ as a reporter, but the station did contribute to BDS'
Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic ...
panel due to having club music mix shows on the station up until August 16, 2014, when BDS added WKTU to the top 40/CHR panel, with the inclusion of non-rhythmic titles. On
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend 2014, WKTU started airing commercial free weekends, in order to compete with WBMP, which also started airing commercial free weekends after that station was relaunched as ''92.3 AMP Radio''. The commercial free weekends era on WKTU lasted until
Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
weekend, 2014. Despite its pop-leaning direction, WKTU has continued to embrace current dance product, even breaking new songs from the genre a lot quicker than its top 40/CHR or rhythmic top 40 counterparts.


HD2 operation

WKTU began broadcasting in HD in late winter 2004. WKTU-HD1 duplicates the analog signal's Rhythmic AC format, while WKTU-HD2 originally broadcast country music similar to WYNY. On July 23, 2009, the country music format was dropped in favor of
Pride Radio Pride Radio (stylized as PRIDE Radio) is an LGBTQ+ lifestyle and top 40 radio network launched by Clear Channel Communications Format Lab under the direction of Michael Albl, who conceived the format, on terrestrial HD2 & HD3 stations and onlin ...
, a lifestyle format targeted to the LGBTQ community.


Live events

Every August, WKTU holds an annual event called Beatstock. The event showcases artists from every dance genre, from disco to electronica, and is held at two locations in the New York area:
Jones Beach Theater Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater (commonly known as the Jones Beach Theater) is an outdoor amphitheatre at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York metropolitan area, along with P ...
in Wantagh, New York and the
PNC Bank Arts Center The PNC Bank Arts Center (originally the Garden State Arts Center) is an amphitheatre in Holmdel, New Jersey. About 17,500 people can occupy the venue; there are 7,000 seats and the grass area can hold about 10,500 people. Concerts are from May t ...
in Holmdel, New Jersey. The original KTU Beatstock concert, which took place in 1997, was an all-day event held at
Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...
in Brooklyn, New York. It featured over 50 acts from various genres of dance music, all performing on one stage. For 2011, WKTU had decided to no longer sponsor the event; however, Beatstock continued for the year on Long Island at the Brookhaven Amphitheater on August 20. (That event was featured in ''
The Real Housewives of New Jersey ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'' (abbreviated ''RHONJ'') is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo. Developed as the fourth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired twelve seaso ...
'', episode 4.12 (July 15, 2012), as two of the cast members -
Melissa Gorga Melissa Ann Gorga ( née Marco; born March 21, 1979) is an American television personality, author, singer, designer and businesswoman. She is a member of the cast of '' The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', joining the show in its third season i ...
and
Teresa Giudice Teresa Giudice ( , ; ; born May 18, 1972) is an American television personality best known for starring in ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey''. Besides appearing on the show, Giudice wrote multiple ''New York Times'' bestseller cookbooks and ...
's daughter,
Gia ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth M ...
- performed there.) In April 2012, WKTU announced a new concert event called KTUphoria. The all star concert event took place at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on May 20, 2012, and, like Beatstock, was an all-day event featuring DJs and artists performing on one stage, albeit modified. On June 29, 2014, Ktuphoria was held at Izod Center with
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
,
Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...
,
The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM- pop duo achieved a breakthrough with the ...
,
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
and
Cash Cash Cash Cash is an American electronic music group from Roseland, New Jersey. The group consists of three DJs / musicians: brothers Jean Paul Makhlouf, Alex Makhlouf and Samuel Frisch. They produce, record, mix and master all their music together as ...
.


Notable personalities

* Carolina Bermudez *
Hollywood Hamilton Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton is an American radio personality. On November 8, 2019 he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He is the creator and host of the ''Weekend Top30 Countdown'' and the ''Remix Top30 Countdown'' heard in over 1 ...


Former personalities

*
Al Bandiero Al Bandiero is an American film, radio personality, and television actor, known for playing Peter Evans in the television series '' Desire''. Other works * Extensive TV Hosting; Children's Miracle Network Telethon, TV 2000, This Week's Music, M ...
* Paul Cubby Bryant * RuPaul *
Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
*
Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction which ...


References


External links

* *
Radio Maria New York in Italian (WKTU subcarrier with streaming audio)
---- {{Authority control KTU NBC Radio Network affiliates Radio stations established in 1958 Rhythmic adult contemporary radio stations 1958 establishments in New York (state) IHeartMedia radio stations