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WIP-FM (94.1
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
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 to serve
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...
. The station is 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 ...
and broadcasts a
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. The WIP-FM offices and studios are co-located within Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City,
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 ...
, and the broadcast tower used by the station is located in the
Roxborough Roxborough may refer to: Places * Roxborough, Manchester, Jamaica * Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, a neighborhood * Roxborough, Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago Island, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago * Roxborough Castle, Ireland * Roxborou ...
section of Philadelphia at (). WIP-FM is the flagship station for the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Network and the
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
Philadelphia Phillies Radio Network The Philadelphia Phillies Radio Network is a network of 21 radio stations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey that air Major League Baseball games of the Philadelphia Phillies. The lead announcers are Scott Franzke with play-by-play and Larr ...
. The station has local hosts days and evenings, with programming from
CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...
heard overnight. WIP-FM broadcasts using
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 ...
. Its HD2 subchannel is a
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
of co-owned 1060 KYW's
all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...
format. The HD3 channel carries 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 that had been once heard on 94.1 when it was WYSP. The HD4 channel is known as "Eagles 24/7," with continuous programming about the football team.


History


Beginning as WIBG-FM

In 1948, the station
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as WIBG-FM. It was the
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
of WIBG, and mostly simulcast the AM station, including the 1960s when WIBG was one of Philadelphia's leading
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 ...
stations. However, it was hard to hear the FM station outside of Philadelphia and its close suburbs, because it was only powered at 10,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s on a 180 foot tower, well below the standard for other Philadelphia FM stations. In the mid-1960s, WIBG-FM began to experiment at night with a prerecorded
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 ...
format without announcers. In 1968, owner
Storer Broadcasting Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the Northeastern United States. It was incorporated in Ohio 1927, and was broken up in 1986. History 1920s–1940s In 1927, George B. Storer ...
shut the station down while attempting to get
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) permission for an increase in power. WIBG-FM was a restricted Class B station at the time. It was limited in range to avoid interfering with WKOK-FM in
Sunbury, Pennsylvania Sunbury is a city and county seat of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and west ...
, also on 94.1 MHz, 106 miles away (see Signal Note below). In 1969, WIBG-FM's
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 ...
was changed to WPNA when Storer sold WIBG (AM) but kept the FM station. The station remained silent for two years.


Sold to SJR Communications

Having been unsuccessful in getting the Sunbury station to agree to an FCC waiver, Storer sold WPNA, along with
WCJW WCJW (1140 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Warsaw, New York and serving Western New York. It is owned by Lloyd Lane, Inc, and calls itself "CJ Country." The radio studios and transmitter are on Merchant Road in Warsaw. WCJW ...
in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, to SJR Communications for a combined $1.4 million. (SJR stood for "San Juan Racing," referring to the company's lone U.S. holding: a horse racing track in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
.) SJR changed the call sign to WYSP ("Your Station in Philadelphia"), and quickly made a deal with the Sunbury station that allowed WYSP to increase its power. The station became a full Class B. The
effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
(ERP) was boosted to 39,000 watts and the tower was increased to 550 feet in
height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...
(HAAT). On August 23, 1971, WYSP went on the air. The format consisted of live announcers playing
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
and
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 ...
music from half-hour-long reel-to-reel tapes that were produced in-house. The WYSP studios were located in the Suburban Station Building at 16th and JFK Parkway in Philadelphia. A new
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
transmitter and circular polarized five-bay Gates antenna were installed at the transmitter site.


Album rock format

At 6 a.m. on August 6, 1973, the easy listening and big band music abruptly stopped, and WYSP began playing
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 ...
(AOR). The entire announcing staff was fired (despite attempts to unionize), and five new announcers were hired, including Tom Straw and Dean Clark. The music included popular cuts from top-selling rock albums by artists such as
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and
Crosby Stills and Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
. Radio consultant Kent Burkhart was signed up. He hired Dick Findley from
WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial mainstream rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals R ...
in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to be the Program Director, Music Director, handle the promotions, and host middays. With promotional help from artists like
Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
,
Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...
, and
Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...
, the station took off. After a series of concerts in the park, high school hops and public involvement, the station beat rock competitor
WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...
by more than 2 to 1 in the ratings. It was at that point in 1975-1976 that the station peaked. New consultant Ken Abrams began "The Fox & Leonard Morning Show" (Sonny Fox & Bob Leonard), the first two-man morning show on AOR radio. In 1974, WYSP became Philadelphia's "quad" station, piping its audio through a
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
Quadrophonic encoder, which provided "ambience" effects to the rear channels of the handful of quad radios in the market. Due to a compatibility problem with regular mono radios, and a lack of interest from the listening public, the quad encoder was quietly dismantled in 1976. In 1977, the station moved its transmitter to its current location at the Philadelphia master antenna farm in Roxborough. In June 1979, Program Director Steve Sutton was hired to put a failing WYSP back on track. Assembling a line-up of Jerry Abear, Sean McKay and Bill Fantini (6-10a), Denny Somach (10a-2p), Randy Kotz (2-6p), Gary Bridges (6-10p), Cyndy Drue (10p-2a) and Trip Reeb (2-6a), the station broke artists like
Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...
in Philadelphia. Sutton hired popular Eagles linebacker Frank LeMaster for mornings during football season. The station was loud, uptempo and cutting edge. Production, including outrageous spots and promos, came from Jay Gilbert and later, R.D. Steele, making WYSP unique. The station was hugely creative, generating syndicated shows picked up by other album rock stations around the country. In 1981, WYSP was acquired by the
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation 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 ...
. Infinity had been buying FM rock stations in large cities. It already owned
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 neighbo ...
in
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 ...
, WBCN in
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 ...
and
KOME KOME was a commercial FM radio station in San Jose, California, broadcasting at 98.5 MHz. KOME was on the air from 1971 through 1998. Currently, the 98.5 FM frequency is home to KUFX "K-Fox," a classic rock station. An unrelated FM statio ...
in San Jose.


Classic rock format

In the fall of 1981, WYSP became one of the first radio stations to switch to "
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 ...
." Account Executive Jim Sacony gave General Manager Frank X. Feller a reel-to-reel tape with a sample of what the Classic Rock format would sound like. The featured artists on the reel to reel were
The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
,
The Zombies The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
, The
Young Rascals Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...
,
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Steppenwolf and
The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
. Feller liked what he heard and directed Program Director and Midday DJ Dick Hungate to team up with station consultant Lee Abrams to come up with a plan. They wanted to better compete with the two more-established rock stations, 93.3
WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...
and 102.1
WIOQ WIOQ (102.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are on Presidential Boulevard in Bala Cynwyd. The station c ...
. The actual on-air description, "Classic Rock," was thought of in a strategy session, in which other adjectives such as "timeless" and "vintage" also were discussed by Hungate and Abrams. Hungate created a
playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...
of older rock tracks based upon his previous Philly experience as Music Director of WMMR in 1978-79. For the on-air playlist, Hungate used metal file boxes and color-coded 3" X 5" index cards to manually rotate titles depending on each song's popularity.


Hard rock format

In 1995, WYSP abandoned classic rock for a new contemporary hard rock format during a period when former WMMR morning host
John DeBella John DeBella is an American DJ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 102.9 WMGK-FM. He was born in Queens, New York. Career Before arriving in Philadelphia, DeBella did a stint at WLIR Garden City. In the early 1980s he hosted ''The DeBella Traves ...
joined the station. WYSP returned to classic rock again a few years later, but ultimately switched back to a current, hard-rock format.


Purchase by CBS Radio

In 1996, Infinity Broadcasting merged with
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
. CBS already owned rival rock station WMMR, and the Infinity merger left CBS one station over the FCC's ownership limit at that time. WMMR was sold to
Greater Media Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, was an American media company that specialized in radio stations. The markets where they owned radio stations included Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey. The compa ...
. This left empty space at the KYW-AM- TV studios on Independence Mall, which served as the headquarters for CBS' broadcasting operations in Philadelphia. On April 5, 1997, WMMR and WYSP switched studios, with WYSP moving to 5th and Market Street near Independence Mall in Downtown Philadelphia and WMMR moving to Bala Cynwyd.


Talk shows added to rock format

Over its years as a rock station, WYSP sometimes added talk-intensive or talk-based shows during the daytime hours. In 1986, WYSP was the first affiliate when ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'' began syndicating from its
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 ...
home base. Stern was often the top show in the ratings when he was heard in mornings from 6-10 a.m. on WYSP. (Stern left for
Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...
in 2005.) Over time, other syndicated shows made WYSP their Philadelphia home, including ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Don and Mike The ''Don and Mike Show'' was an American nationally Radio syndication, syndicated Talk radio, 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 WAV ...
''. While some shows proved successful in their time slot, the station did not retain many of them, usually replacing them with the music format.


Free FM

On October 25, 2005, CBS Radio switched WYSP and several other Stern affiliates to the "
Free FM Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name ...
" format. From its inception until early 2007, WYSP featured
hot 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 ...
on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. A mix of talk and music was heard from 7 to 10 p.m. WYSP aired all music after 10 p.m. and around the clock on weekends. For many years, WYSP
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
NFL games, while co-owned WIP was the primary
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
station. From April 2006 to October 2007, the station carried Opie and Anthony's syndicated talk show in the morning, after
David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...
's syndicated Free FM morning show failed to garner good ratings. At 11:59 p.m. on March 16, 2007, WYSP D.J. Jacky Bam Bam (now with
WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...
) signed off at the station's studios at 5th and Market Streets, also shared with KYW, KYW-TV, and
WPSG WPSG (channel 57) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station KYW-TV (channel 3). Both stations share stu ...
, before switching over to the new studios one block away, located on the 9th floor at 4th and Market. (KYW (AM) is also located in the same building, but on the 10th floor.) The first all-talk broadcast from the new studios, the 9 a.m. '' Barsky Show'', was broadcast on March 19, 2007, with minor, but correctable problems. On November 20, 2006, WYSP added the ''Scotty and Alex Show'' to replace
Couzin Ed Couzin Ed (real name Michael Andrews, born 1968) is an American bar manager and former radio disc jockey who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2002 he received a Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Award as local air personality of the year ...
. While they continued to play music, their show was part of the mostly-talk Free-FM format. On April 17, Scotty and Alex stopped playing music. WYSP also began to carry the syndicated ''
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 '' John and Jeff shows'', effectively ending weekday music programming.


Philadelphia's FM Talk Station

During the week of June 18, 2007, WYSP stopped calling its talk format "Free FM." New imaging was slowly rolled out which referred to the station as either "94-1 WYSP" or "94 WYSP." During the week of June 25, a new "94 WYSP Talks" logo was unveiled on the station website, wiping clean any reference to "Free FM" from the station's identity. On August 13, during the first "Eagles Radio" broadcast of the year, new imaging began to refer to the station as "Philadelphia's FM Talk Station." A similar nickname also began to be used by corporate sister station KLSX 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' ...
. In June 2007, long time music programmer Gil Edwards was let go, further evidence that WYSP was committed to talk programming. Edwards lobbied for a return to rock before leaving but was rebuffed by management. On September 11, 2007, an article was published in the ''
Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...
'' reporting a format change at WYSP was imminent. Paul Barsky brushed the article off as rumor, as did Matt of the ''Matt and Huggy Show'' and
Kidd Chris Christopher Derek Foley, commonly known as KiddChris. (AKA Foley / Cobra / The Chris) (born 1974) is an American radio host. He has hosted radio shows in several cities since 1998. The radio show originated in his hometown of Syracuse, New York. ...
. Scotty and Alex referred to their show that night as their "last" show, claiming that not many radio shows get to do a final broadcast. They hoped to return the next day, but it turned out that night's show really was their last. On September 12, 2007, Paul Barsky stated that he had re-signed with the station, and his show continued as normal with guest
Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and b ...
of the Philadelphia Eagles. Promos for the station would later be heard featuring McNabb announcing that "The Rock Is Back," which had been recorded the day of his appearance. At the start of Kidd Chris' broadcast, he discussed the topic of the format change, revealing that Scotty, Alex, Matt and Huggy had been fired, the ''Barsky Show'' was no more, and that Chris himself had lost members of his show (later revealed to be co-producer "Monkeyboy" Dave Eitel and producer Brad Maybe).


Return to rock

The following day, Opie and Anthony broadcast their show from the WYSP studios. They joked about the lack of secrecy about the format change. Articles about the switch appeared in that day's ''
Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...
'' and ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
''. Opie joked about the "94 WYSP, The Rock Station" sweatshirt Anthony was wearing and the tearing down of a "94 WYSP Talks" poster in the studio. At 5 p.m., WYSP switched back to an
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, without the alternative lean previously heard during WYSP's last months as a music station. Only Opie and Anthony in the morning drive slot and Kidd Chris as the afternoon host remained. The first three songs on the return of WYSP's rock format were ''
Welcome to the Jungle "Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 then again in October ...
'' by
Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
, ''
Back In Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death of ...
'' by
AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
, and ''
Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...
'' by
Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
. On October 23, 2007, WYSP ceased airing the syndicated Opie and Anthony Show, replacing them with music. October 23, 2007 was also the last day Kidd Chris's show aired in the 3-7 PM slot. He ended his show with "
Don't Stop Believin' "Don't Stop Believin' is a song by American rock band Journey. It was released in October 1981 as the second single from the group's seventh studio album, ''Escape'' (1981), released through Columbia Records. "Don't Stop Believin'" shares writ ...
" by
Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
, and music took over his time slot the next day. For nearly a month, he was in talks with the station for a new contract, and was expected to return in the morning slot. On November 25, WYSP's website announced that Kidd Chris would be returning the following day, with his show airing from 6-10 a.m., Opie and Anthony's old time slot. Kidd Chris remained the morning host for seven months until May 16, 2008, when CBS terminated Chris and WYSP program director John Cook due to an offensive song called "Schwoogies" which first aired on March 21 and several times there after. The song referred to
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s in slang terms that station management determined to be highly offensive. On August 25, 2008, WYSP returned to the classic rock format it shed in 1995, using the slogan "The Rock You Grew Up With from the 70s, 80s, & 90s." WYSP's version of classic rock had a harder direction than that of the market's other classic rock station,
WMGK WMGK (102.9 FM, "102.9 MGK") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. The broadcast tower used by the station ...
, WMMR's sister station. Former "
Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
" TV star
Danny Bonaduce Dante Daniel Bonaduce (born August 13, 1959) is an American radio personality, actor, television personality, and professional wrestler. Bonaduce is the son of veteran TV writer and producer Joseph Bonaduce (''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', '' One Da ...
was named the new morning drive host for WYSP, with his program beginning on November 10, 2008.


Sports talk format

WYSP's sister station, WIP, had been airing a popular all-sports format since 1988; by 2009, it had to compete with an FM sports rival,
WPEN-FM WPEN (97.5 MHz, "97.5 The Fanatic") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Burlington, New Jersey, in the Philadelphia radio market. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and ...
. Speculation had grown that CBS would want an FM counterpart to capitalize on WIP's popularity. On August 18, 2011, CBS Radio announced that WIP would begin
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
ing its sports format on 94.1 FM, starting on September 6, thus ending music on 94.1. The change actually took place on September 2, four days earlier than announced. On its final day,
Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
called into the station to discuss his time on WYSP with host Spike Eskin. At 3:00 p.m. that day, WYSP ended its music format with " Fade to Black" by
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
as its final song. The WYSP classic rock programming was then moved to its HD-3 subchannel. The station switched its call sign to WIP-FM. Shortly after WIP-FM began its simulcast with WIP (AM), the two stations began to sometimes split, with certain sporting events not heard on both frequencies. Most Philadelphia Phillies broadcasts, heard on WIP-FM in 2012, were also carried on the AM dial by co-owned
WPHT WPHT (1210 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its transmitter and broadcast tower are in Moorestown, New Jersey. The radio studios ...
, while WIP (AM) aired other sports programming. The syndicated '' Nick & Artie Show'' was added to 610 AM's programming in February 2012, while local programming continuing on WIP-FM. The simulcast ended entirely January 2, 2013, when WIP became a full-time affiliate of
CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...
, with local sports programming continuing to air on WIP-FM.


CBS station trades and Entercom ownership

On October 2, 2014, CBS Radio announced that it would trade 14 radio stations located in
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
and WIP (AM) to the
Beasley Broadcast Group Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc., based in Naples, Florida, is an owner/operator of radio stations in the United States. , the company owned 63 stations under the Beasley Media Group name. History The company was founded in 1961 by George G. Beasl ...
in exchange for three stations in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and two FM stations in Philadelphia,
WXTU WXTU (92.5 FM) is a commercial radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, the station broadcasts a country music format. Its studios and offices are located at 1 Bala Plaza on East City Avenue in Bala Cynwy ...
and WRDW-FM. WIP-FM was not affected by this transaction, remaining with CBS. 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 November 17.


Notable on-air staff


Current on-air staff

* Angelo Cataldi (November 1990 – present) - Morning Show (5:30AM – 10:00AM) * Al Morganti Morning Show (5:30AM – 10:00AM) *
Rhea Hughes Rhea may refer to: * Rhea (bird), genus of flightless birds native to South America * Rhea (mythology), a Titan in Greek mythology It may also refer to: People * Rhea (name), list of people with this name Mythology * Rhea Silvia, in Roman myt ...
Morning Show (5:30AM – 10:00AM) * Ava Graham Morning Show (5:30AM – 10:00AM) * Joe DeCamara (10:00AM – 2:00PM) *
Jon Ritchie Jon David Ritchie (born September 4, 1974) is an American sports radio host and former professional American football fullback in the National Football League. He started for seven seasons in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders and the Ph ...
(10:00AM – 2:00PM) *
Ike Reese Isaiah "Ike" Reese (born October 16, 1973) is an American sports radio host and former professional football player. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). Reese played college football for the Michigan State Spartans ...
(2:00PM – 6:00PM) * Jon Marks (2:00PM – 6:00PM) * Joe Giglio (6:00PM – 10:00PM) *
Howard Eskin Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
(September 1986 – Present) Ended full weekday 3-7 pm slot on September 2, 2011. Eskin's final full-time show was the first show on 94 WIP-FM. In 2011, Eskin began a Saturday show on WIP. *
Glen Macnow Glen Harry Macnow (born April 23, 1955) is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sports talk radio host on 94 WTEL (AM), WIP. Background Macnow was born in New York City on April 23, 1955, and raised in Buffalo, New York. He went to Boston University (w ...
* Jody McDonald * Keith Jones Morning Show (5:30AM – 10:00AM) *
Sonny Hill William Randolph "Sonny" Hill (born July 22, 1936) is an American former announcer. He is a member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and current sports radio personality in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also serves as an executive advisor f ...
*
Scott Franzke Scott Franzke (born March 6, 1972) is an American sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or ev ...
* Jim Jackson *
Merrill Reese Merrill Alan Reese (born September 2, 1942) is an American sports radio announcer best known for his role as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Philadelphia Eagles on SportsRadio 94.1 WIP-FM. He has been the voice of the Eagles since 1977. ...
*
Mike Quick Michael Anthony Quick (born May 14, 1959) is a color commentator and former American football wide receiver. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles for nine seasons, from 1982 to 1990. Quick ...
* Lawrence Asiamah (Ghana UEW-Ksi) * Reuben Frank (weekday evenings) * Peter Solomon (Sunday mornings) * Sue Shilling (sports updates) * Ed Benkin (late nights and Sports Updates, also a sports reporter for sister station KYW 1060) * Matt Hammond (weekend and fill-in host) * Paul Jolovitz (late nights) * Rob Ellis (formerly at NBC Sports Philadelphia) * Dave Uram (sports updates) * Rob Charry * Steve Trevelise * James Seltzer * Tom Kelly (fill-in host and sports updates) * Ben Livingston * Vince Quinn * Jon Johnson * Andrew Porter * Jack Fritz * John Barchard * Joe Altimonte (weekends) * Mark Eckel (weekday evenings)


Former staff

* Mike Missanelli (1992-May 1, 2003; July 5, 2005 – March 20, 2006) * Michael Barkann (now with NBC Sports Philadelphia) * Tom Brookshier * Tony Bruno * Joe Conklin * Craig Carton * Anthony Gargano (now at 97.5 The Fanatic) * Garry Cobb * Pat Croce * Ray Didinger * Steve Fredericks (1992-April 16, 2004) * Big Daddy Graham (deceased) * Steve Martorano * John Marzano * Brian Startare * Sweeny Murti * Hollis Thomas * Jan Gorham (retired) * Sal Violante * John McAdams * Lucy Jones * Don McKee * Bill Campbell * Lenny Stevens * Jack McCaffery * Joe Altimonte * John Kincade * Jay Sapovites * Donna McQuillan * Kris Gamble * Josh Innes


Signal note

WIP-FM is short-spaced to two other Class B stations: WQKX ''94KX'' (licensed to serve
Sunbury, Pennsylvania Sunbury is a city and county seat of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and west ...
) also operates on 94.1 MHz and the distance between the stations' transmitters is as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current Federal Communications Commission, FCC rules is . WNYC-FM ''WNYC 93.9 FM'' (licensed to serve
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 ...
) operates on a first adjacent channel (93.9 MHz) to WIP-FM and the distance between the stations' transmitters is as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two List of North American broadcast station classes#Station class description, Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current Federal Communications Commission, FCC rules is .


References


External links

* *
WYSP audio clip from 1985
{{Entercom Radio stations in Philadelphia, IP-FM Sports radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 CBS Sports Radio stations Audacy, Inc. radio stations