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WNEW-FM (102.7 FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a
hot adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
formatted radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
, 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 New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
and owned by Audacy, Inc.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
The station's studios are located at the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square
Hudson Square is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by Clarkson Street to the north, Canal Street to the south, Varick Street to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. To the north of the neig ...
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 ...
.
WNEW-FM is best remembered for one of its previous incarnations, a progressive rock radio format that began in 1967 and lasted into the 1990s. That station became very influential in the development of rock music during the 1970s and 1980s.
Between 1958 and 1986, the station shared the WNEW call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
with former sister AM station WNEW (1130 kHz) and television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
WNEW-TV
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 ...
(channel 5), with all being owned by Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...
. After WNEW-TV was sold to the News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
in 1986 and the AM station was sold to Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan (Bloomberg), Duncan MacMi ...
in 1992, 102.7 FM retained the WNEW-FM call sign until it was changed in 2007; the call letters returned to 102.7 on March 15, 2016.
WNEW-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
format.
History
Abortive efforts
The 102.7 FM frequency was first assigned in the mid-1940s as WNJR-FM fromNewark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.WNJR (1430 AM), the FM station never made it to the air despite being granted several extensions of its
On October 30, 1967, WNEW-FM adopted a
At 1:00 a.m. on January 27, 2003, WNEW officially dropped the talk format. For the next three months, the station stunting (broadcasting), stunted with Contemporary hit radio, CHR music, using a limited playlist of approximately 50 songs from artists like Pink (singer), Pink, Eminem, Bowling for Soup, and Avril Lavigne, as well as nightly simulcasts of CBS's ''Late Show with David Letterman''.
Sounders during that period teased listeners about how "a new station" would soon be coming to the 102.7 frequency, and it arrived at 8 p.m. on April 10, when WNEW became "Blink 102.7" and adopted an unusual "Entertainment AC" format, launching with "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. The station mixed old and contemporary pop hits with talk shows and entertainment news from sources such as E!; on-air personalities during this period included the morning team of Chris Booker and Lynda Lopez (who were also dating during this time), game show host Todd Newton and afternoons with Tim Virgin and Alison Stewart. Other personalities included Rick Stacy, Michael Maze and reporters Matt Wolfe and Lisa Chase, providing hourly entertainment updates. The station also used AIM (software), AOL Instant Messenger to take requests, and ''24 (TV series), 24'' star Kiefer Sutherland was the station's voice.
However, the station's ratings sank further. The station's pink logo led to the derisive nickname "Barbie Radio", and Booker & Lopez did little more on the air than talk about Jennifer Lopez, Lynda's older sister. On September 12, the station fired most of the staff, rebranded as "102.7 Blink FM: Music Women Love", and adopted a more mainstream Adult contemporary music, adult contemporary format, with ratings going up slightly. That November, the station (like many AC stations) adopted the increasingly popular "all Christmas music, all the time" format, and dropped the "Blink" format after less than 7 months for the name "New York's New 102.7 FM".
On December 26, 2003, at 10:27 a.m., the station became "Mix 102.7", making the switch to a more Rhythmic adult contemporary, rhythmic-leaning adult contemporary format, playing a range of upbeat, danceable hits from the 1970s to the 2000s, with the slogan "The Station That Picks You Up and Makes You Feel Good." The first song on "Mix" was ''Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now'' by McFadden & Whitehead. The original program director was Smokey Rivers, and the music director was Rick Martini. WNEW initially was a mainstream AC, but began to focus on dance hits, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s, by the end of January. In the succeeding months, the "mix" tended to skew towards 90s and current dance hits (during this time, program director Frankie Blue was fired for drunken on-air behavior, not only saying "fuck" on-air, but also misidentifying the station as rival "WKTU, 103.5 KTU"), with this all culminating in a change with Rick Martini as the new program director and an official "classic dance" or rhythmic AC format in early 2005 under the slogan "Move to the Mix", and in the later months, adopted the "New York's Classic Dance Mix" slogan. However, the "Mix 102.7" moniker and the WNEW call letters remained. Ratings continued to be among the lowest of any major station in New York City.
On December 31, 2005, the station underwent another ownership change after Viacom and CBS Corporation organized a split that saw the Infinity Broadcasting division go under CBS ownership, which resulted in a corporate name change to CBS Radio.
In December 2006, the station began increasing the amount of Christmas music, and at the same time, Michelle Visage was let go and Joe Causi was relegated to his Sunday night Studio 54 classic Disco program. As of December 22, 2006, Paco Lopez, Efren Sifuentes, Carol Ford and Yvonne Velázquez had also been released in anticipation of an expected format change.
In 2006, WNEW launched WNEW-HD2, an
At 5 a.m. on January 2, 2007, after playing Kool and the Gang's "Fresh (Kool & the Gang song), Fresh", WNEW flipped to an adult contemporary format known as "Fresh 102.7", with "How to Save a Life (song), How to Save a Life" by The Fray being the first song played. Program Director Rick Martini remained in charge of programming the new format, targeted to a younger (age 25–44) female audience, with claims of a playlist "without the kid stuff or tired, old and boring music like the lite station" (though the former is no longer mentioned), an obvious shot at competitor WLTW (in response, the station briefly dropped its ''Lite FM'' moniker and was referred to on-air as simply "106.7" during that time). The station would also compete against WPLJ. Around 2009 in radio, 2009, the station began to add more 1980s hits (most of which could not be played on its classic hits sister station WCBS-FM).
The WWFS calls were approved on January 9, 2007, by the
In April 2003, WNEW-FM launched the "Blink" format, describing itself as "The first FM station in New York to broadcast in high definition radio."WNEW aircheck, April 2003. Contributor: John Yanagi
/ref> WNEW-HD2 was launched in 2006 as a simulcast of all-news sister station 1010
WNEW News Department Historical Profile (1978)
* Format Changes
102.7 WNEW to 102.7 Blink102.7 Blink to Mix 102.7Mix 102.7 to Fresh 102.7
{{Authority control Radio stations in New York City, NEW-FM Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Metromedia Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in New York City Audacy, Inc. radio stations Hudson Square
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
. WNJR gave up and turned in the FM license to the 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 ...
(FCC) in 1953.
In 1955 the FCC awarded a new permit for 102.7 FM to a group called Fidelity Radio Corporation, based in West Paterson, New Jersey
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
. The station was later granted the call sign WHFI, and a year later the community of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broa ...
was moved back to Newark from West Paterson. Once again, the owners failed to put the station on the air.
WNEW-FM
In November 1957, the WHFI construction permit was purchased by the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation, which already owned television station WABD (channel 5) and earlier in the year purchased WNEW radio. In January 1958, WHFI was renamed WNEW-FM, and DuMont completed its build-out, moving the license to New York City. The station finally came on the air on August 25, 1958, mostly simulcasting WNEW (AM) with apopular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
format. DuMont Broadcasting, meanwhile, would change its corporate name twice within the next three years before settling on Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...
in 1961.
All-female DJ staff
WNEW-FM's early programming also included anautomated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
middle-of-the-road format, followed quickly by a period (July 4
Events Pre-1600
* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...
, 1966, to September 1967) playing pop music with an unusual twist in its day...an all-female air staff. The lineup of disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
s during this stunt included actress and TV personality Peggy Cass
Mary Margaret "Peggy" Cass (May 21, 1924 – March 8, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.
She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting ...
, Alison Steele
Alison Steele (born Ceil Loman; January 26, 1937 – September 27, 1995) was an American radio personality who was also known by her air name, The Nightbird. She amassed a large and loyal following on her night shifts on WNEW-FM in New York City ...
(who stayed on to become the "Night Bird" on the progressive rock format), Rita Sands (later with WCBS Newsradio 880), Margaret Draper
Margaret Ruth Draper (November 20, 1916 – October 14, 2011) was an American actress and international service worker.
Early years
Draper was born in 1916, the third of six children born to Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers. ...
, Ann Clements, Arlene Kieta, Pam McKissick, and Nell Bassett. The music was similar to that of WNEW (AM)'s MOR format. But only Bassett, Cass, Draper, Sands and Steele had broadcast experience, and not as disc jockeys. Meanwhile, the male DJs on WNEW (AM) were still very popular, so it was hard for WNEW-FM to find an audience. The all-female disc jockey lineup endured for a little more than a year, switching in September 1967 to a mixed-gender staff, before a major change the following month.
"Where Rock Lives"
Origins and disc jockeys
On October 30, 1967, WNEW-FM adopted a progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
radio format. It was not the first in New York to do so – WOR-FM
WEPN-FM (98.7 MHz) branded as ''ESPN New York'', is an all-sports radio station licensed to New York City. The station is owned by Emmis Communications and its operations are controlled by Good Karma Brands, under a local marketing agreeme ...
preceded it – but it was the one that prospered and became famous for the format and that in turn influenced the rock listenership as well as the rock industry. The original disc jockeys were Bill "Rosko" Mercer, who started on October 30, 1967; Jonathan Schwartz, who made his debut on November 16, 1967; and "the Professor" Scott Muni
Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an American disc jockey, who worked at the heyday of the AM Top 40 format and then was a pioneer of FM progressive rock radio. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine termed him "legendary".
Early life
B ...
, who first appeared on November 18, 1967. Alison Steele would stay on from the female staff and eventually take over the overnight shift on January 1, 1968.
The station's disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
s would broadcast in ways that bore out their personalities:
* morning host Dave Herman was not afraid to mix Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...
or Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...
into the playlist;
* noontime host Pete Fornatale
Peter Salvatore Fornatale (August 23, 1945 – April 26, 2012) was a New York City disc jockey and author of numerous books on rock and roll. He is considered a "pioneer of FM rock", who played an important role in the progressive rock era of FM ...
promoted the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
when it was not fashionable and later started his eclectic weekend ''Mixed Bag'' program;
* afternoon host Muni would use his gravelly voice to introduce largely unknown British artists on his "Things from England" segments;
* nighttime host Schwartz was a raconteur who would sneak in the Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
pop standards
Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...
that he not-so-secretly liked better than rock;
* overnight host Steele would play new-age music
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...
and space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
groups in between readings of her equally spacey poetry;
* weekend host Vin Scelsa
Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several freeform radio programs, the best-known titled ''Idiot's Delight''. H ...
started his idiosyncratic ''Idiots' Delight'' program, which soon gained a devoted following.
Other well-known disc jockeys who worked at the station included Dennis Elsas
Dennis Elsas is an American disc jockey in New York City, whose radio and voiceover career has spanned 50 years, most notably his more than 25 years at WNEW-FM in New York City, where he debuted on July 11, 1971. He also served as music director ...
, Carol Miller, Pete Larkin, brothers Dan Neer and Richard Neer
Richard Neer (born c. 1949 in Syracuse, New York) is an American disc jockey and sports radio personality who has been involved in, and has chronicled, key changes in both music and sports radio.
Biography
Neer began his radio career as a student ...
, Dan Carlisle, Jim Monaghan, Pam Merly, Thom Morrera, Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a fictional character in the animated television series ''Family Guy''. Meg is the eldest child of Peter Griffin, Peter and Lois Griffin and older sister of Stewie Griffin, Stewie and Chris Griffin, Chris, but is also the family ...
and John Zacherle
John Zacherle ( ; sometimes credited as John Zacherley; September 26, 1918 – October 27, 2016) was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host, oft ...
.
Height of influence
WNEW-FM was among the first stations to giveBruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
significant airplay, and conducted live broadcasts of key Springsteen concerts in 1975 and 1978; Springsteen would sometimes call up the DJs during records. Later, Dave Herman featured a "Bruce Juice" segment each morning. John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
once stopped by to guest-DJ along with Dennis Elsas and appeared on-air several other times during his friend Scott Muni
Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an American disc jockey, who worked at the heyday of the AM Top 40 format and then was a pioneer of FM progressive rock radio. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine termed him "legendary".
Early life
B ...
's afternoon slot. Members of the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
and other groups would hang out in the studio; Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...
's visit to Muni's show is often credited for popularizing the group in America. In addition to music, youth-oriented comedy record
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...
ings such as from Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
would also be aired.
The station sponsored a benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
each holiday season that drew reasonably big-name acts.
The station thrived during the late 1970s when it helped boost the transition of the punk rock/ new wave movement into the mainstream. During this era, the station hosted many live broadcasts from the legendary Greenwich Village night club, The Bottom Line. Among the bands featured live from the club were The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, The Records
The Records were an English power pop band formed in 1978. They are best remembered for the hit single and cult favourite "Starry Eyes".
Music career
The Records formed out of the ashes of the Kursaal Flyers, a pub rock group featuring drumme ...
, Rachel Sweet
Rachel Sweet (born July 28, 1962)
accessed May 2, 2014. is an American singer, television writer and actres ...
, accessed May 2, 2014. is an American singer, television writer and actres ...
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...
, Rockpile
Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, gui ...
, Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, after ...
and the Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up Ag ...
. Many of these bands were being spotlighted during their debut New York City performance.
At the same time, the station began to feel the threat of disco. They hired Gianettino and Meredith Advertising to come up with a way to communicate with the New York area. The pitch by creative director George Meredith to station manager Mel Karmazin
Melvin Alan "Mel" Karmazin (born August 24, 1943) is an American executive. He was the president of Infinity Broadcasting (formally known as CBS Radio now Entercom) and eventually became the president and CEO of CBS television . From 2004–2012, ...
: "You can't tell them what you want to say, which is 'Disco Sucks,' but you can tell them that 'Rock Lives.'" That became their battle cry, and it could fairly be said that WNEW-FM earned the slogan "Where Rock Lives". The station's television commercials during these years featured the song "Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compose ...
" by Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previou ...
and was considered one of the station's anthems.
Beginning in the mid 1970s and extending into the 1980s, WNEW fielded a successful softball team, the WNEW All-Stars, playing in and around the New York metropolitan area and competing in the New York Sports and Entertainment League. Among the All-Stars were DJs Thom Morrera, Jim Monaghan, Richard Neer, Dan Neer and Pat Dawson, along with ''Crawdaddy
The Crawdaddy Club was a music venue in Richmond, Surrey, England, which opened in 1963. The Rolling Stones were its house band in its first year and were followed by The Yardbirds. Several other notable British blues and rhythm and blues acts a ...
'' editor Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler (born 1946) is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on fifteen books, ten of them best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of ''Crawdaddy'' magazine from 1972 to 1979.Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
, among others.
On the evening of December 8, 1980, Vin Scelsa broke the news of the murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
of John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
to the WNEW-FM audience. The station became a kind of therapy center for the rock community, playing Lennon's music for 24 hours straight and opening up its lines for calls from grieving listeners.
In the 1980s, the station gradually adopted a more conventional 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-oriente ...
format, and sometimes seemed stodgy compared to college radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
stations playing alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
. When long-time competitor 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 transmitte ...
switched away from rock in 1983, WNEW-FM picked up some of its most popular DJs, such as Carol Miller, and years later, Pat St. John
Pat St. John (born February 12, 1951) is an American radio personality and voice-over artist. He began his radio career on Windsor, Ontario's CKLW (800 AM) in 1969 and 1970, followed by WKNR (1310 AM) in late 1970 to early 1972, followed by WRIF FM ...
, who would take over the morning show and programming duties.
In 1986, following the sale of WNEW-TV and Metromedia's other television outlets to News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
, the company's radio station group was spun off from Metromedia into a new company, Metropolitan Broadcasting. Two years later, WNEW-FM was sold to Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...
, bringing it into common ownership with all-news outlet WINS WINS may refer to:
*WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City
*WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City
*World Institute for Nuclear Security
*Windows Internet Name Service
*WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems
*Wireles ...
. WNEW-FM and WINS became CBS-owned stations in 1996, when Westinghouse Broadcasting's corporate parent purchased the network.
Declining relevance and changes
By the 1990s, the station was further losing relevance in the face of the popularity ofgrunge rock
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of pu ...
and so became more of 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 ...
station. It spent its remaining music days flip flopping between a variety of classic, adult album and alternative rock.
On September 1, 1990, WWHB on Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
began simulcasting WNEW-FM. The simulcast would be dropped on December 7, 1996, when WWHB flipped to country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and joined a simulcast with a network of suburban stations as ''Y-107''.
In 1995, WNEW-FM adopted an adult album alternative
Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...
format. The station, which now had the slogan of "New York's Rock Alternative", evolved to an eclectic mix of adult rock by the end of 1995. Longtime listeners were alienated when Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...
's death on August 9, 1995, was virtually ignored by the station.
In January 1996, the station declined to switch to classic rock when WXRK, also known as ''K-Rock'', which had a classic rock format for several years, decided to adopt an alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
format. In July 1996, WAXQ
WAXQ (104.3 FM) is a classic rock- formatted radio station licensed to New York City. WAXQ is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is located ...
adopted a classic rock format. By the beginning of 1997, the station reverted to a classic rock station, becoming the second choice for the format when earlier they could have been first. At this point, many long-time fans felt WNEW-FM had completely lost its focus.
Throughout the 1990s, many of WNEW-FM's DJs defected to classic rock competitors WXRK and later WAXQ
WAXQ (104.3 FM) is a classic rock- formatted radio station licensed to New York City. WAXQ is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is located ...
, or to smaller but more freeform WFUV
WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the air ...
. Ratings remained dismal. In 1996, Westinghouse merged with CBS. Infinity Broadcasting
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus an ...
would then merge with CBS in 1997, and CBS retained the Infinity name for its radio division; thus, ownership of this station would go from one network owner to another.
In December 1997, sister station WFAN (then flagship station of the MetroStars) announced that WNEW-FM would be their FM flagship station after Infinity Broadcasting (now Entercom
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
) reached a six-year extension deal (starting in the 1998 MLS season) with the MSG Network
The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provider ...
and the MetroStars to simulcast their games until the 2004 season. However, in the fall of 2004, the MetroStars and the MSG Network reached a deal with Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-owned radio station WEPN and then-sister FM station WPLJ to broadcast their games, ending their relationship with Infinity/CBS Radio.
In 1998, WNEW-FM moved to a harder-edged active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
format and continued to slump in the ratings. The remaining older DJs left on the station departed one by one during 1998. In June of that year, ex-Boston shock jock
A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor and/or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative o ...
s Opie and Anthony
''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...
arrived from WAAF WAAF may refer to:
* w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner
* Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II
** Waaf, a member of the service
* WAAF (AM ...
to do afternoons on WNEW. They played several songs an hour, but for the most part, the show was a typical shock-jock talk show. Opie and Anthony immediately got attention from the station by interrupting their annual "Evolution of Rock and Roll" event by refusing to play the music, or destroying the CDs. They were confronted by WNEW peer Carol Miller a few times on the air, until they were forbidden by management to make eye contact.
With Opie and Anthony's ratings soaring, Infinity announced in June 1999 that the station would drop its 32-year rock format for a "hot talk" format in September. On September 12, 1999, sole remaining long-time jock Richard Neer signed off his Sunday morning show by playing Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
's dirge-like "Racing in the Street
"Racing in the Street" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1978 album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town''. In the original vinyl format, it was the last song of side one of the album. The song has been called Springsteen's best song by several c ...
", and identifying the station one last time, changing the slogan to "Where Rock Lived". The day after, on September 13, in the run-up to 3 p.m., the rock format ended with an all-request midday show by Ralph Tortora (which featured a phone call from Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
, who talked about the impact WNEW had on his life), which concluded with "Thank You
"''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...
" by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, " Better Things" by The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
and "The End
The End may refer to:
Films
* ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine
* ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds
* ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997
* ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...
" by The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, followed by the famous final chord of their song " A Day in the Life".
"Hot Talk" era
After a commercial break, the newhot talk
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
format officially began as "FM Talk @ 102.7, Talk You Can't Ignore". Opie and Anthony
''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...
signed on the talk format by saying that WNEW did not die that day or that week, but that "it died years ago", saying that WNEW's death had been "the longest funeral ever", and inaugurated "FM Talk" by holding an on-air funeral for the old rock format, complete with a coffin, hearse, and a fat lady singing "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a 1969 song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a ...
".
The new format consisted of shock jocks, including Opie and Anthony, Don and Mike
The ''Don and Mike Show'' was an American nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by the shock jocks Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara, which aired from December 1985 through April 11, 2008. The show debuted on WAVA-FM in 1985 as ''The Morning ...
, The Radio Chick, Ron and Fez
''The Ron and Fez Show'' was an American talk radio show hosted by Ron Bennington and Fez Whatley, which aired from August 1998 to April 2015.
After a run in Tampa, Florida as part of '' The Ron and Ron Show'', and then several other stints in D ...
and Tom Leykis
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
. Mornings featured "guy talk" from ''Mason & Kalinsky'', who would be replaced by morning programming that revolved around sports, such as ''The Sports Guys'' and ''Ferrall In The Morning'' hosted by Scott Ferrall
Scott Ferrall (born July 29, 1965) is an American sports talk radio personality who hosts two shows on the SportsGrid video streaming service, Scott Ferrall: Coast to Coast and In-Game Live.
Scott's father Thomas C. Ferrall was a former radio pe ...
, while overnight programming featured syndicated programs such as ''Loveline
''Loveline'' is a syndicated radio call-in program in North America, offering medical and relationship advice to listeners, often with the assistance of guests, typically actors and musicians. Its host through most of its run was Dr. Drew Pins ...
'' and repeats of weekday programming. On weekends, the station retained a hard rock music format with live announcers, including Tony Pigg and Tom Rich, both of whom were held over from prior to the introduction of the Hot Talk format. In 2000, Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
acquired CBS/Infinity Broadcasting, keeping the radio division under the "Infinity" banner. By 2002, WNEW added brokered programming
Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
on weekends and stopped playing music altogether, with the exception of Eddie Trunk
Edward Scott Trunk (born August 8, 1964) is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock- and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows.
Biography
Trunk was born on ...
's Friday and Saturday night hard rock-oriented shows, as well as Vin Scelsa
Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several freeform radio programs, the best-known titled ''Idiot's Delight''. H ...
's ''Idiot's Delight''.
On September 11, 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, Opie and Anthony did their show live from the WLIR
WLIR was a radio station that played a new music/modern rock format on the frequencies 92.7 FM, 98.5 FM, and 107.1 FM from the 1980s into the 2000s. Bob Wilson, longtime WLIR employee and historian, created the website WDARE (Dare FM), which m ...
studios because of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center, which caused city officials to block all roads going into 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 ...
. ''The Don and Mike Show'' started a little earlier than usual, and stayed on for most of the morning and mid-afternoon. ''Ron and Fez'' did their show at WNEW at the regular time. All three shows opened the airways and let the listeners speak their minds and let other listeners who were looking for loved ones search for them by descriptions.
During this time, the station's ratings were abysmal apart from Opie and Anthony. A harbinger for the "hot talk" format's end came in August 2002, when Opie and Anthony were fired for encouraging a stunt involving two people allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse in a vestibule within St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan), St. Patrick's Cathedral. The FCC eventually fined Infinity $357,000—the maximum fine allowed by law, and the third largest indecency fine in American radio history at the time. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps dissented, claiming the FCC should have taken steps to revoke WNEW's license. A few months earlier, the FCC had fined Infinity $21,000 for three "patently offensive" Opie and Anthony broadcasts, including one referring to incest.
The station's ratings plummeted even further—in the fall of 2002, it only netted a 0.7 rating, an unprecedented level for a major-market FM station, and lower than ratings for noncommercial stations. With the cancellation of the only show that generated any ratings for the station, management decided that the station needed to take a new direction.
"Blink 102.7"
At 1:00 a.m. on January 27, 2003, WNEW officially dropped the talk format. For the next three months, the station stunting (broadcasting), stunted with Contemporary hit radio, CHR music, using a limited playlist of approximately 50 songs from artists like Pink (singer), Pink, Eminem, Bowling for Soup, and Avril Lavigne, as well as nightly simulcasts of CBS's ''Late Show with David Letterman''.
Sounders during that period teased listeners about how "a new station" would soon be coming to the 102.7 frequency, and it arrived at 8 p.m. on April 10, when WNEW became "Blink 102.7" and adopted an unusual "Entertainment AC" format, launching with "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. The station mixed old and contemporary pop hits with talk shows and entertainment news from sources such as E!; on-air personalities during this period included the morning team of Chris Booker and Lynda Lopez (who were also dating during this time), game show host Todd Newton and afternoons with Tim Virgin and Alison Stewart. Other personalities included Rick Stacy, Michael Maze and reporters Matt Wolfe and Lisa Chase, providing hourly entertainment updates. The station also used AIM (software), AOL Instant Messenger to take requests, and ''24 (TV series), 24'' star Kiefer Sutherland was the station's voice.
However, the station's ratings sank further. The station's pink logo led to the derisive nickname "Barbie Radio", and Booker & Lopez did little more on the air than talk about Jennifer Lopez, Lynda's older sister. On September 12, the station fired most of the staff, rebranded as "102.7 Blink FM: Music Women Love", and adopted a more mainstream Adult contemporary music, adult contemporary format, with ratings going up slightly. That November, the station (like many AC stations) adopted the increasingly popular "all Christmas music, all the time" format, and dropped the "Blink" format after less than 7 months for the name "New York's New 102.7 FM".
"Mix 102.7"
On December 26, 2003, at 10:27 a.m., the station became "Mix 102.7", making the switch to a more Rhythmic adult contemporary, rhythmic-leaning adult contemporary format, playing a range of upbeat, danceable hits from the 1970s to the 2000s, with the slogan "The Station That Picks You Up and Makes You Feel Good." The first song on "Mix" was ''Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now'' by McFadden & Whitehead. The original program director was Smokey Rivers, and the music director was Rick Martini. WNEW initially was a mainstream AC, but began to focus on dance hits, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s, by the end of January. In the succeeding months, the "mix" tended to skew towards 90s and current dance hits (during this time, program director Frankie Blue was fired for drunken on-air behavior, not only saying "fuck" on-air, but also misidentifying the station as rival "WKTU, 103.5 KTU"), with this all culminating in a change with Rick Martini as the new program director and an official "classic dance" or rhythmic AC format in early 2005 under the slogan "Move to the Mix", and in the later months, adopted the "New York's Classic Dance Mix" slogan. However, the "Mix 102.7" moniker and the WNEW call letters remained. Ratings continued to be among the lowest of any major station in New York City.
On December 31, 2005, the station underwent another ownership change after Viacom and CBS Corporation organized a split that saw the Infinity Broadcasting division go under CBS ownership, which resulted in a corporate name change to CBS Radio.
In December 2006, the station began increasing the amount of Christmas music, and at the same time, Michelle Visage was let go and Joe Causi was relegated to his Sunday night Studio 54 classic Disco program. As of December 22, 2006, Paco Lopez, Efren Sifuentes, Carol Ford and Yvonne Velázquez had also been released in anticipation of an expected format change.
In 2006, WNEW launched WNEW-HD2, an HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
channel, broadcasting WINS (AM), 1010 WINS.
"Fresh 102.7"
At 5 a.m. on January 2, 2007, after playing Kool and the Gang's "Fresh (Kool & the Gang song), Fresh", WNEW flipped to an adult contemporary format known as "Fresh 102.7", with "How to Save a Life (song), How to Save a Life" by The Fray being the first song played. Program Director Rick Martini remained in charge of programming the new format, targeted to a younger (age 25–44) female audience, with claims of a playlist "without the kid stuff or tired, old and boring music like the lite station" (though the former is no longer mentioned), an obvious shot at competitor WLTW (in response, the station briefly dropped its ''Lite FM'' moniker and was referred to on-air as simply "106.7" during that time). The station would also compete against WPLJ. Around 2009 in radio, 2009, the station began to add more 1980s hits (most of which could not be played on its classic hits sister station WCBS-FM).
The WWFS calls were approved on January 9, 2007, by the 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 ...
, resulting in the WNEW calls disappearing from the New York radio/television spectrum after being used continuously in the market since 1934. The WNEW call sign, call letters were transferred to WUUB, a CBS-owned station in West Palm Beach, Florida during the second week of January 2007, reportedly to keep another New York station from claiming the historic call. In December 2011, CBS again transferred the WNEW call letters to 99.1 FM in Washington, D.C. as it began an all-news format.
Until the launch of WWFS, WLTW had gone unchallenged as the only adult contemporary station in New York City (along with rimshot (broadcasting), rimshots New Brunswick, New Jersey's WMGQ, and Hempstead, New York's WKJY), and was the most listened to station in the city for years. WWFS's ratings improved after switching to the adult contemporary format, with increases in both the Winter 2007 and Spring 2007 ratings periods. After a peak 3.1 rating in the Spring 2007 period, WWFS settled down to a 2.5 rating in the Summer 2007 period. Some speculate that WWFS has drawn listeners from WLTW, causing that station's ratings to decline.
As a result of the station's success, CBS Radio cloned the format and branding in Chicago on WCFS-FM, Washington, D.C.'s WIAD, and KEZK-FM, KEZK in St. Louis, although the Washington station was Hot AC.
On October 12, 2011 in radio, 2011, the station dropped the ''Today's Fresh Music'' slogan and shifted to Hot AC while also adopting the "Fresh Music...Better Variety" slogan. (However, CBS Radio still reported the station as an AC.) WWFS did not switch to all-Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 2011, as main rival WPLJ aired Christmas music during those days.
After the flip to hot AC, ratings improved for a time, surpassing WPLJ by having a 3.9 share over WPLJ's 2.7 in December 2011 in radio, 2011. By June 2015, with ratings down again, they started adding more adult-targeting alternative rock, alternative music to their playlist and saw an increase in the ratings from 2.4 in June 2015 to 3.5 in July 2015.
On March 15, 2016, the station reverted to the WNEW-FM callsign, as the previous station to hold the calls changed theirs to WDCH-FM at the same time.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.
The All "NEW" 102.7
On the afternoon of July 13, 2018, WNEW began running jockless and airing liners between songs taking swipes at WLTW and promoting something "NEW" to come the following Monday, July 16; at 6 a.m. that day, WNEW-FM relaunched as "The All NEW 102.7", with "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" by Adele as the first song played under the “NEW” brand, with the intention of taking direct aim at WLTW. WNEW had ranked 16th in the New York market in the June 2018 Nielsen Audio ratings with a 2.4 share, while WLTW led the market with a 7.3 share. However, despite the rebranding, the station remained a Hot AC station, with a playlist featuring current and recurrent hits from artists like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Fifth Harmony and Imagine Dragons, mixed with songs from as far back as the 1990s from artists like Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith. WNEW-FM became the only Hot AC station in New York City in May 2019, whenWPLJ
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 transmitte ...
signed off and became the east coast flagship station for the K-Love Contemporary Christian music network, after Cumulus Media sold the station to Educational Media Foundation in February 2019. Since then, WNEW-FM's ratings have been rising; a 3.3 share in the June 2019 ratings for ages 6+, 3.8 in September 2019, and then a 4.1 in December 2019 (ahead of WKTU, who had a 3.4 in December 2019).
HD radio operations
In April 2003, WNEW-FM launched the "Blink" format, describing itself as "The first FM station in New York to broadcast in high definition radio."/ref> WNEW-HD2 was launched in 2006 as a simulcast of all-news sister station 1010
WINS WINS may refer to:
*WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City
*WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City
*World Institute for Nuclear Security
*Windows Internet Name Service
*WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems
*Wireles ...
. On April 12, 2008, WNEW-HD2 (as WWFS-HD2) flipped to a rock format, under the branding of "102.7 WNEW" and the slogan "Where Rock Lives". In early October 2008, the WINS simulcast returned to 102.7 on WWFS-HD3. After WINS began simulcasting full-time on WINS-FM, 92.3 FM (formerly WNYL) on October 27, 2022, the WINS simulcast would be dropped from the HD3 channel, and deactivating the HD3 channel entirely.
In 2009, the rock format on WWFS-HD2 switched to an alternative format from internet radio website last.fm known as "Last FM Discover", which aired on several CBS Radio owned HD subchannels.
In November 2012, WWFS-HD2 flipped to an all-Christmas format. The Christmas format continued into January and early February. On February 7, 2013, the all-Christmas format changed to a mainstream smooth jazz format under the name "Smooth Jazz 102.7".
In 2016, WNEW-HD4 (as WWFS-HD4) signed on with a Russian language format as "Russkaya Reklama." In late 2017, this moved to WPLJ's HD2 sub-channel, where it remained until that station became a K-Love affiliate on May 31, 2019.
References
Further reading
* Neer, Richard. ''FM: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio''. Villard, 2001. .External links
* * *WNEW News Department Historical Profile (1978)
* Format Changes
102.7 WNEW to 102.7 Blink
{{Authority control Radio stations in New York City, NEW-FM Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Metromedia Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in New York City Audacy, Inc. radio stations Hudson Square