This Week In Radio Station History

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This week two big things happened in American radio station history.

First, WEAF Radio in New York City changed its call letters to WNBC on November 1, 1946, and used them until October 7, 1988 when the station became WFAN and switched formats from Top 40 to all sports, where it continues to successfully program that format (WFAN is a CBS Radio owned and operated station, the copyright holder of this blog).

WNBC was the home of many famous personalities such as Don Imus, Howard Stern, Wolfman Jack, Soupy Sales, Don Criqui, Murray "The K" Kaufman, and Cousin Bruce Morrow, to name a few. Bob Pittman, the President and CEO of iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel Communications), was Program Director for the station in the early 1970's. WNBC's direct competitor for years was WABC 77 who dominated the New York radio market in the Top 40 genre for years. By the mid 80's, AM radio's age of successfully programming music was pretty much over as FM became the dominate one for music. WFAN pioneered the 24 hour all sports format and became the model for other stations around the country. The only exception was the Imus In The Morning show which focused mainly on politics but had sports content as well with personalities such as Mike Breen, Mike & The Mad Dog (Mike Francesa and Chris Russo) and Warner Wolf (Breen is now a play by play personality on ESPN/ABC Television, Francesca is still with WFAN, Russo with Sirius XM, and Wolf is still with Imus on WABC). NBC, which had been in the radio business since the 1920's, exited the radio station business around this time. Its parent company, RCA, was sold to General Electric.

On the same day, CBS changed the call letters of their AM station from WABC to WCBS. WCBS Newsradio 880 is one of America's most successful radio stations today both in terms of audience reached and from a business perspective. In 1967, William S. Paley, CBS's Chairman and Founder, decided that the station needed a new format as its ratings at that time were very low. 1010 WINS, owned by Westinghouse, had been all news since April 1965 and was doing very well. Paley envisioned WCBS as a "New York Times" style radio station, reaching an affluent audience that would in turn result in generating higher revenue. On August 28, 1967, the all-news format premiered………..but on WCBS-FM, because a small airplane had crashed in WCBS's AM tower which completely destroyed it. Since 1967, WCBS has been a favorite among New York listeners with its 50,000 watt signal day and night (as does WFAN). WCBS can also be heard on WCBS-FM HD 2 channel which provides crystal clear reception if you are driving in midtown Manhattan!

Today, November 2nd, is the 95th anniversary of Pittsburgh's KDKA 1020. This station (formerly a Westinghouse station before being a part of CBS Radio) had been a Top 40 station for a number of years before it flipped to news/talk where it continues to program that format. With its huge 50,000 signal reaching 38 states and some Canadian provinces, KDKA is a popular station with Pittsburgh radio listeners. News you need when you need it. And popular talk personalities such as Marty Griffin and Mike Pintek. And like WCBS, KDKA can also be hear on KDKA-FM, 93.7, on its HD2 channel. What is also unique about the station is that it operates with a "K" as its first letter. Most stations are licensed to use call letters starting with a "W" east of the Mississippi River and a "K" west of the river. But there are exceptions, KDKA being one of them, and they are usually for stations grandfathered to retain those call letters under FCC rules.

Congratulations to these fine radio stations. See you next time.