WFAN (AM): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:14, 3 August 2005

Revision as of 20:07, 3 August 2005

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Despite somewhat different formats, WNBC saw itself as a mostly unsuccessful competitor to New York [[Top 40]] powerhouse [[WABC (AM)|WABC]]. Thus they brought [[Wolfman Jack]] in opposite WABC's "Cousin Brucie" [[Bruce Morrow]] in 1972. This did not improve ratings much.

By 1973 WNBC was an [[adultAdult contemporaryContemporary]] radio station featuring Carpenters, Carole King, Elvis Presley, Stylistics, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Elvis, etc. They also began to play more rock and roll 60's oldies at that point.

[[Ted Brown]] would leave in the very early 70's and return to [[WBBR|WNEW]]. In 1974 WNBC hired Cousin Brucie/Bruce Morrow himself away from WABC. [[Norm N. Nite]] arrived from [[WCBS-FM]] in 1975, as did [[Joe McCoy]] in 1976. The ratings were still mediocre.

By 1975 WNBC was playing an Adult Top 40 format and competying with [[WRKS-FM|WXLO 99X]]. They featured hits from 1964 to what was then current product.

Most of the decisions were mediocre at best.

In 1977 [[Bob Pittman]] took over WNBC and laid the entire airstaff off. He hired a younger airstaffstaff and changed the format to mainstream Top 40 similar to what WABC was doing. Norm N. Nite would return to WCBS-FM as would Joe McCoy. Bruce Morrow would go into business for himself buying regional radio stations which he eventually resold. Imus returned to Cleveland. The station began saying "WNNNNBC" (emphasising the N). The station at that time was playing artists like Andy Gicc, KC & The Sunshine Band, Boston, Peter Frampton, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Billy Joel, Bee Gees, etc.

Ratings did not go up substantially. By the end of 1978 Imus and others would return to the station and Bob Pittman would leave; Pittman would soon become the founder of [[MTV]]. By 1979 WNNNBC was back to an adult top 40 format similar to what WABC was evolving to at the end of 1979. Ratings weres still mediocre with this format. The late 70's/early 80's saw people like [[Frank Reed]], [[Johnny Dark]], and [[Michael Sarzinski]] among others.

===1980s===

In 1981 when WABC added evening talk and evolved musically to Adult Contemporary, WNNNNBC followed suit musically moving to a similar AC format to fraternal twin sister station 97.1 [[WQHT (FM)|WYNY]]. In the early part of 1982 WNNNBC was playing music basically from 1964 tothrough 1982.

Once WABC moved to all talk, WNBC added a few rock songs not heard on an AC station. By Summer 1982, WNBC was near the top with some of their best ratings ever.

In Fall 1982 über-shock jock [[Howard Stern]] was brought in to New York for the first time, to do afternoons; his film ''[[Private Parts]]'' would later contain an amusing scene where he is instructed by the program director on the preferred "W-eNNNNehhNNN-B-C" pronunciation of the station's call letters.

Initially Stern played music (about 10 to 12 songs an hour) much to his dismay. Ratings did stay high. Then in 1983 with [[WPLJ]] 95.5 evolving to CHR (Contemporary Hit radio) as well as [[WHTZ|Z -100]]'s debut on 100.3, WNNNBC began to lose some ratings but still held their own. In 1984 Stern cut down to 4 songs andan hour and began to talk much more. That fall [[Soupy Sales]] was added, whose show was also very talk-intensive. Some evening professional sports broadcasts were added in 1983.

By early 1985 WNBC was more of a full service AC station, with music as a background and personality as the foreground. On weekends they became oldies -based, emphasisingemphasizing 60's oldies while still playing current product in moderation.; Theythey were basically out of the Top 40/CHR realm by then. Their younger audience base had already gone to Z -100 or WPLJ, but with Stern in afternoons and Imus in the morning they continued to do okay.

On September 30, 1985, Howard Stern was terminated aggressively (his last airdate was September 27, a Friday) after a series of outrageous bits and listener complaints.

After that, ratings plumented and they were under a 2 share by 1986. Initially they played a bit more music and then went through several afternoon shows like [[Joey Reynolds]], [[Bill Grundfest]], and [[Alan Colmes]]. Soupy Sales then left as well at one point. They also added sports talk in the evenings, as well as bringing back Wolfman Jack on overnights.

By Fall 1986 WNNNBC was a mess with Imus mornings, a blend of talk and a bit of music till 7 PM, then sports and all talk on overnights. Weekends had this blend of shows with more music in evenings. Ratings stayed very low.

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Dornacker had recently gotten back to flying in a helicopter after surviving a previous crash of the N-Copter into the [[Hackensack River]] in [[New Jersey]] a few months earlier. An episode of NBC's television show ''[[Third Watch]]'' featured a similar incident.

In the summer of 1987 WNNNBC modified their format keeping Imus in the morning playing a few AC cuts and a couple oldies an hour with his usual talk, [[Ray D'Ariano]] (Soupy Sales' former cohost) middays playing oldies, Alan Colmes afternoons with a talk show, Sports Night along with whatever pro sports WNNNBC had in evenings, and [[Jay Sorenson]] overnights with an oldies format playing hits from 1955-74 called "The Time Machine" with old jingles and an echo in processingeffect. This "Time Machine" was also heard all day and night on weekends. So for all intents and purposes WNNNBC was oldies/talk by then.

==Switcheroo==

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===Success of sports format===

Over the years WFAN has continued to have a broad -based Sportssports talk and play -by -play format. Ratings gradually rose and in fact at some points WFAN ishas been the top-billing station in New York and even the billercountry. In 1992 Emmis sold WFAN to Infinity, which would merge with [[CBS]] in 1997.

Ironically,