WABC (AM)
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WABC (770 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City, carrying a conservative talk radio format known as "Talkradio 77". Owned by John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Media, the station's studios are located in Red Apple Media headquarters on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and its transmitter is in Lodi, New Jersey. Its 50,000-watt non-directional clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. It is the primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System in the New York metropolitan area and New Jersey. WABC simulcasts on WLIR-FM in Hampton Bays, New York, on eastern Long Island.[4]
Owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company for much of its history, it is one of the country's oldest radio stations. WABC began broadcasting in early October 1921, originally as WJZ in Newark, New Jersey. From 1943 through 2007, the station served as the flagship for the original ABC Radio Network (and its direct predecessor, the Blue Network) and ABC's radio news service. While WABC has been a talk radio station since 1982, the station broadcast a Top 40 music format from 1960 to 1982. Starting in the 1960s to 1978, WABC was not only the dominant contemporary music station in New York City, but was also among the most listened-to radio stations in North America, serving as a template for many other Top 40 stations around the country.
History
WJZ Newark (1921–1923)
In November 1920 the
On September 30, 1921, Westinghouse was issued a broadcasting authorization for a station with the randomly assigned call letters WJZ,[7] located at the company's meter factory at Orange and Plane streets in Newark, New Jersey, and transmitting on a wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz).[8]
WJZ's studio and transmitter were initially housed in a shack located on a factory roof that was only accessible by ladder. The station later expanded to a larger studio on the factory's ground floor.
The station soon expanded to feature a wide variety of live programming. A popular early feature was the "Man in the Moon" bedtime stories, written by Josephine Lawrence and read over the air by Bill McNeary (both were Newark Sunday Call employees). Beginning on November 27, 1921, a weekly 90-minute show presented by the Vincent Lopez band was aired.[13]
When it began its broadcast service, WJZ was the only station in the
There were no formal standards in the United States defining broadcasting stations until December 1, 1921, when the
WJZ had difficulty convincing New York City performers – who were not paid – to make the trek to Newark, so on February 5, 1922, a more convenient remote studio was opened at the
On March 15, 1922, WJZ broadcast a studio performance of
WJZ New York City (1923—1953)
Takeover by RCA
May 15, 1923, saw a number of simultaneous major changes. Most notably, on this day the station moved from Newark to New York City, and the ownership was changed from joint Westinghouse-RCA responsibility to full control by RCA. WJZ moved to studios on the sixth floor of the building where the
Program logs from May 15 to December 31, 1923, show WJZ aired 3,426 programs, including 723 talks, 67 church services, 205 bedtime stories and 21 sports events.[23] Many of the broadcasts were musical and ranged from Carnegie Hall and Aeolian Hall recitals to harmonica and banjo solos.[24]
As part of the move to Aeolian Hall, WJZ's transmitting antenna was constructed atop the building, but the location in the middle of New York City proved to be a poor choice. At the end of 1925, the station began operations from a new transmitter site located at Bound Brook, New Jersey. WJZ did not operate regularly at 50,000 watts until 1935.[25]
Initial network operations
Westinghouse and RCA's original financing plan envisioned that profits from receiver sales would provide the funds for broadcast station operations, but this revenue soon became insufficient. In 1922, AT&T adopted a more practical approach, of selling airtime, which it called "toll broadcasting", in addition to connecting stations together using telephone lines to form a radio network that could broadcast programs simultaneously to multiple sites. This first radio network was called the "WEAF chain", named after the flagship AT&T station (later WNBC), located in New York City.[26]
RCA, along with its "radio group" allies of Westinghouse and General Electric, responded by creating a small network of its own, centered on WJZ. Due to AT&T's interpretation of a patent-rights cross-licensing agreement, the telephone company claimed the sole right to sell airtime, so WJZ was not able to charge for advertising, and again there were technical limitations, since the network had to use inferior telegraph lines to interconnect its stations.[27]
NBC-Blue network flagship years
In the summer of 1926, AT&T decided to withdraw from the broadcasting field, and sold its stations and network operations to RCA. Included with this sale was the right to sell advertising time, and access to telephone lines for radio network connections.[28] The earlier network operations were reorganized as the
On March 24, 1932, WJZ claimed to be the first radio station to broadcast a program from aboard a moving train; the station aired a variety show produced aboard a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger train travelling through Maryland.[30] In November 1933, WJZ, WEAF plus the NBC and RCA corporate headquarters moved to 30 Rockefeller Plaza.[31]
In March 1941, under the provisions of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, stations assigned to 760 kHz were shifted to 770 kHz, with WJZ designated as a Class I-A clear-channel station, thus the only station allowed to operate at night on this frequency.[32] However, the following November the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which prior to the 1941 reassignment had also been a clear channel station, from 1030 kHz to 770 kHz, after it was found that there was too much nighttime interference between it and WBZ in Boston on their shared frequency. WJZ soon complained about the interference KOB was causing to its distant nighttime coverage, starting a dispute that would last for 38 years. In 1958 the FCC attempted to rectify the matter by designating the now-WABC and KOB as co-equal occupants of 770 kHz, with both stations required to protect each other's coverage as "Class I-B" stations. WABC appealed this decision, and through a series of legal battles was ultimately successful in maintaining its status as an unrestricted Class I-A station. In 1976 the FCC designated KOB as a Class II-A, station, requiring it to operate with a directional antenna at night to protect WABC's coverage.[33] KOB unsuccessful appealed this on the grounds that it should have been assigned the frequency's Class I-A assignment, and the case was finally settled in 1980, with the courts siding with the FCC decision.[34] However, that same year as part of a general review of clear channel operations, the FCC also reduced nighttime protected coverage for clear channel stations from unlimited to 750 miles (1,207 km) from their transmitters, opening up the band to nighttime operation by additional distant stations.[35]
WJZ and the Blue Network presented many of America's most popular programs, such as Lowell Thomas and the News, Amos 'n' Andy, Little Orphan Annie, America's Town Meeting of the Air, and Death Valley Days. Each midday, The National Farm and Home Hour brought news and entertainment to rural listeners. Ted Malone read poetry and Milton Cross conveyed children "Coast To Coast on a Bus", as well as bringing opera lovers the Saturday matinée Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. Cross would continue to host the Met on NBC, ABC, CBS and NPR until his passing at the beginning of 1975.[citation needed]
Occasionally, a show would premiere on NBC Blue, which had a weaker lineup of stations nationwide, and be shifted to the Red Network if it grew in popularity. Fibber McGee and Molly is one example.[citation needed]
When the FCC limited broadcast stations to 50 kW, a 500 kW transmitter built by RCA for WJZ was no longer allowed. The transmitter was sold by RCA to Britain and used for wartime
Birth of ABC
In 1942, the FCC ruled that no broadcaster could own more than one AM, one FM and one television station in a single market. On January 23, 1942, the FCC approved the transfer of WJZ's operating license from Radio Corporation of America to the Blue Network, Inc.[36] A year later, on October 12, 1943, WJZ and the NBC Blue Network were sold to Edward J. Noble, then the owner of WMCA. This spun off network was simply called "The Blue Network" for little over a year.[citation needed]
On June 15, 1945, "The Blue Network" was officially rechristened the
On March 1, 1953, WJZ changed its call letters to WABC, after the FCC approved ABC's merger with
In 1957, several years after WJZ's callsign change to WABC, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired WAAM-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, and applied to change the calls to WJZ-TV, in honor of its former pioneer radio station.[42] The FCC waived existing rules and granted this request to restore a three-letter callsign years after being retired on an unrelated station in a different market, albeit with a "-TV" suffix (perhaps because Westinghouse was highly regarded as a licensee by both the industry and the FCC at that time),[43][44] and the Baltimore TV station, now owned and operated by CBS, retains the call letters to this day.
WABC's first era (1953–1960)
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Although WABC continued to air ABC programming during this time, ABC Radio – like the other major radio networks of that era – began to drop significant amounts of long-form comedy and dramatic programming, many of which migrated over to television. In response, WABC began using deejays playing recorded music in greater frequency. Some programs featured
(This would continue until 1960, as the Musicradio 77 era formally began, but WABC was still required to carry several of ABC Radio's non–music and entertainment shows, including the long–running Don McNeill's Breakfast Club during the 10:00 am hour, and a long–form news block in the afternoon–drive period. While this was not an issue prior to 1960, such commitments created a programming clash with the Top 40 format up until the network was dissected into four sub–networks in 1968.)[citation needed]
In 1958–1959, legendary rock'n'roll disk jockey Alan Freed hosted a daily evening show on WABC, which was similar in format and musical policy to the early rock shows he had gained fame with on WJW in Cleveland, and later WINS in New York. Freed's time at WABC ended when he was caught up in the investigation of the "payola" scandals of the era; he was terminated in November 1959. Although payola was not illegal at the time, the termination occurred because Freed had refused to sign a statement admitting that he had accepted bribes.[45][46]
At different times in the pre-top-40 era, famed comedian Ernie Kovacs and dean of early disc jockeys Martin Block were heard on the station.[47][48]
The Musicradio 77 era (1960–1982)
Early years
When Harold L. Neal, Jr. was named general manager of WABC, he was charged with making WABC successful in terms of both audience and profits. Neal had been at
Sam Holman was the first WABC program director of this era. Under Holman, WABC achieved No. 1 ratings during much of 1962, after WMGM reverted to WHN. By the summer of 1963, WMCA led the pack among contemporary stations, with WABC at No. 2 and WINS slipping to third place. It has been said, but is difficult to verify, that WMCA dominated in the city proper, while WABC owned the suburbs. This would be consistent with WMCA's 5,000-watt directional signal.
Dominant years
Hal Neal hired
Early 1960s disc jockeys included Dan Ingram, Herb Oscar Anderson, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Chuck Dunaway, Jack Carney, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow and Bob "Bobaloo" Lewis. But some of the best known WABC DJs are the ones that followed them in the mid-1960s and 1970s: Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Chuck Leonard (one of the earliest African-American DJs to be on the staff of a major mainstream radio station), Johnny Donovan, Bob Cruz (a Dan Ingram sound alike), Frank Kingston Smith, Roby Yonge, George Michael, Jim Nettleton, Jim Perry and Steve O'Brien. Meanwhile, "Radio Hall of Fame" member Dan Ingram, perhaps WABC's best known DJ, was held over from the early staff, being heard in the afternoon for much of WABC's Top 40 history. Noted sportscaster Howard Cosell did a brief weekday evening sportscast on WABC, as well as hosting a late Sunday night interview show called "Speaking of Everything".[citation needed]
Especially in the afternoons and evenings, WABC was the station that
An
Just before the famous Northeast blackout of 1965, Dan Ingram noted that the studio's electric power was fluctuating and he began having fun with the slowed-down music. After playing "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" by Jonathan King, he quipped it was played "in the key of R". Ingram then proceeded to run some recorded commercials and a portion of Si Zentner's "Up a Lazy River", backtimed to the news, while commenting on how everything seemed to be running slower than normal. During the 6 pm newscast, WABC left the air as the outage settled in for real.[51] Ingram later drove out to the transmitter site in Lodi, New Jersey, with a box of records, and continued his show from the backup studio housed there.[citation needed]
In the 1970s, WABC was either No. 1 or No. 2 consistently, often trading places with
WABC's ratings strength came from its cumulative audience, what the radio industry calls "cume". Most listeners did not stay with WABC for long periods of time, as the station had some of the shortest "time spent listening" (or TSL) spans in the history of music radio—an average listener spent about 10 minutes listening to WABC. It was the price paid for a short playlist, and numerous commercials between songs (the large number of ads being due to WABC's large audience), but what WABC lacked in TSL it more than made up for with its sheer number of listeners. By 1975, WABC tried becoming more music-intensive, reducing commercial breaks to three per hour. It began playing 3 to 5 songs in a row, still mixed with talk and personality, but done in a tighter manner.[citation needed]
Fed up with the short playlist, Cousin Brucie left in August 1974 to defect to rival WNBC. Rick Sklar was promoted in 1976 to vice president of programming for ABC Radio, and his assistant program director Glenn Morgan became WABC's program director. The station's influence could be found in odd places: Philip Glass' 1976 opera, Einstein on the Beach, has as part of the background a recitation of WABC's DJ schedule in the 1960s.[citation needed]
"Disco" era
The end of the 1970s found FM radio beginning to overtake AM music stations in most markets. In June 1975, an FM station on 92.3, owned by the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Racing Association flipped to Soft Rock and became known as Mellow 92 WKTU. That station had very low ratings and had no effect on WABC. But on July 24, 1978, at 6 pm, WKTU abruptly dropped its Soft Rock format in favor of a disco-based top 40 format known as "Disco 92". By December of that year, WABC was unseated, as WKTU became the No. 1 station in New York City. The first "disco" ratings saw WKTU with 11 percent of the listening audience—a huge number anywhere, let alone in a market the size of New York City—and WABC dropping from 4.1 million listeners to 3 million, losing 25 percent of its audience practically overnight.
After this initial ratings tumble, WABC panicked and began mixing in several extended disco mixes per hour and sometimes played two back-to-back. Some of the disco songs ran in excess of eight minutes. What regular listeners heard was a major change in sound. While the station continued playing non-disco and rock songs about a third of the time, the station's familiar format had seemed to disappear and as a result, WABC began to lose its identity. In late spring 1979, Billboard magazine reported that Rick Sklar had demoted program director Glenn Morgan to "moving carts" instead of making programming decisions. WABC's numbers dropped for four consecutive ratings periods.
On August 2, 1979, the Donna Summer disco hit "MacArthur Park" was playing during Dan Ingram's afternoon drive program. During the song, DJ George Michael (who also was a sports reporter) interrupted to break the news that New York Yankees catcher and team captain Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash. In late summer, WABC moved, temporarily, back to its tight playlists.
That fall, Al Brady took over as programming director of WABC. He had come from WHDH Boston, where he evolved that station from MOR to more of an adult contemporary music format. At WABC, he added a huge amount of music and went as far back as 1964. He added The Beatles, Motown 1960s hits, 1970s rock hits, a few album rock cuts, and basically deepened WABC's music. The same amount of current hits still got played but less often and about 40%. That November, he let Harry Harrison, George Michael, and Chuck Leonard go. He made a couple shifts longer, moved Dan Ingram to mornings, moved Bob Cruz from overnights to afternoons, and hired Howard Hoffman for evenings. For overnights he hired Sturgis Griffin and eliminated the late night shift merging that with evenings and overnights. In the first six months of 1980, ratings were slightly up and stable. Also, Brady made a deal for WABC to air New York Yankees baseball beginning the next year in 1981, though the station carried a few Yankee games from 1010 WINS during Republican Convention week in 1980. It was the first sign of the beginning of the end for the music format of WABC.
"77 WABC, New York's Radio Station" and the transition to talk
Brady left WABC in July 1980 and soon became general manager of WYNY, which by then had a similar format to its sister station WNBC, as well as WABC. That fall, Jay Clark took over as program director at WABC, and Jeff Mazzei arrived as assistant program director from WNEW (which was moving from adult contemporary to big bands and standards).
Under Clark, the station played current music leaning toward a more Adult Contemporary sound, trying to appeal to a slightly older audience, as most younger listeners were listening to FM stations. Part of the reason was the top 40 chart was leaning that way at that point as well. WABC still played rock and soul crossovers in moderation, but began to move away from album cuts and more toward 1960s and 1970s oldies. In September 1980, they also dropped the "Musicradio WABC" slogan and became "77 WABC, New York's Radio Station" (though they called themselves New York's radio station at times as Musicradio), the apparent implication being that the station was more than just music.
By early 1981, WABC's cumulative audience was down to 2.5 million—rival WNBC, a perennial also-ran, was by this time beating them with 3 million.[
Also, that March, WABC became the full-time flagship radio outlet for Yankees baseball games, a distinction the station carried through the end of the 2001 season. This would be the longest continuous relationship the team would have with any flagship station (to date). Clark reasoned that Yankee baseball would bring back some listeners to the station and that they would recycle back into the music format, but not even the "Bronx Bombers" could save music on WABC.
In the fall of 1981, WABC dropped the remaining heavy-rock cuts and non-crossover urban hits, and began playing more oldies, as well as songs from the adult contemporary chart, and added an "advice" talk show with Dr. Judy Kuriansky from 9:00 p.m. to midnight on weeknights. Hoffman and Griffin exited at this point. By then, WABC was almost unrecognizable as a Top 40 station, the ratings were languishing, and rumors, which began as far back as 1979 were rampant that the station would be changing its format to talk and news sooner or later. By early 1982 it looked sooner than later. The management at ABC denied the rumors but did state that plans were to modify WABC into a full service AC format with music by day and talk evenings and overnights like KDKA Pittsburgh was doing. Once a week beginning in February, WABC was auditioning prospective talk shows for the Midnight to 2:00 a.m. time slot.
In February 1982, WABC officially confirmed it would be going to an all-talk format that May. and stated that there would be ample notice before the switch happened. At that point the once a week overnight auditions for talk shows ended and WABC continued playing music overnights until the switch. The airstaff began saying goodbye with a comment here and there. Finally, on April 30, it was announced that the switch to all-talk would occur on May 10 at noon. From May 7 to 9, the departing air-staffers said their goodbyes one last time. The official music format ended 10:45 pm. May 9, 1982. The station aired a Yankee game that day at Seattle. From 2:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. they ran the normal Sunday evening public affairs programs preempted due to the Yankee game. Ross & Wilson played their usual 4 songs. Staffers that departed included Lundy, Ingram, Marc Sommers and Peter Bush. Mazzei left for a similar position at WCBS-FM where he would stay for well over 25 years. Sommers also went to WCBS-FM and eventually Lundy and Ingram would join him there. Donovan and Mike McKay remained at WABC as staff announcers and producers. McKay left WABC in 1984 for RKO Radio Network and Donovan stayed at WABC until his retirement in 2015.
Monday, May 10, 1982, the day WABC stopped playing music, is sometimes called "The Day the Music Died".[
The NewsTalkRadio 77 era (1982–present)
Early years and success
Initially after the format change, the station ran satellite talk shows from corporate ABC's "Talk Radio" network. Initially, WABC's lineup consisted of Ross and Wilson until 10 am, Owen Spann from Satellite until noon, Art Athens and News until 1 pm, Money Management talk until 2 pm, Michael Jackson (a talk show host and not the pop star) from satellite until 4 pm, another advice show with Dr. Toni Grant from satellite until 6 pm, and ending with a half-hour of news at 6. Sports Talk began at 6:30 p.m. and remained on until 9 pm. Doctor Judy remained in her time slot. Overnights were hosted by Alan Colmes, who played some music initially, but stopped doing so by mid-1983. At that time, Colmes was less politically based and more entertainment-based. Weekends had Child Psychology advice shows (Dr. Lawrance Balter), Home and Garden shows, talk about religion (Religion on the Line), and of course, the Yankees.[citation needed]
Ross and Wilson stayed on and continued to play 4 songs per hour (mostly 1960s and 1970s hits but also some currents) throughout 1982. In 1983, they stopped playing music as well. Ross and Wilson split up in 1983 when Ross went over to WHTZ. While the station's final ratings as a music station were mediocre, its talk ratings initially were even lower. Jay Clark was terminated and replaced with then assistant program director, Mark Mason.[citation needed]
Still, the station stuck with the new format. After Brian Wilson left in 1984, Alan Colmes moved to mornings. Mark Mason left for a similar post at All-News WINS. He was replaced by John Mainelli and at that point they dropped satellite programming. They added more issues-oriented talk shows, with an increasing number of conservative talk show hosts, although several liberals, including Colmes and Lynn Samuels, also hosted shows. The ratings grew and by the late 1980s, they were a very successful talk station.[citation needed]
From 1984 to 1996 WABC broadcast the popular Bob Grant, a controversial, early "right-wing" talk radio host. After years of what many considered inflammatory remarks, he was fired in 1996 for a controversial comment regarding the death of United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. After a number of years at competitor station WOR, Grant returned as a host as of July 2007, was removed again in December 2008, and returned again as a weekend host in September 2009. Alan Colmes would leave in 1985 and by 1987 he emerged at WNBC on overnights, where he played moderate amounts of music. He would move to afternoons on WNBC and eventually drop music there as well. He was on the air at WNBC's sign off in 1988. Colmes eventually returned to WABC.[citation needed]
Within its first years, the revamped WABC brought in Rush Limbaugh, who would go on to be the anchor program of the local station for two decades, and soon after the giant of talk syndication, the model for countless other conservative radio shows to follow. In the early 1990s Phil Boyce took over as program director.[citation needed]
Starting in 1997,
On Saturday, September 8, 2001, John Batchelor presented a four-hour program on the attack on the USS Cole, identifying Osama bin Laden as the probable perpetrator. On September 12, Batchelor was invited to broadcast on WABC "until bin Laden is captured". The day bin Laden was caught, Batchelor and his executive producer were in Cracow; they continued on air and, with a hiatus in 2006, have been on air ever since, covering national and international security.[citation needed]
In 2004, the station earned the distinction of being a news/talk radio station even longer than it had been a Top 40 station, by marking 22 years in its present format.[citation needed]
Under Citadel and Cumulus
On February 6, 2006, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would sell WABC and other radio properties not affiliated with either
In December 2007, Don Imus moved his program
In February 2010, WABC added Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and The Shmuley Show as a weekend program.[58][59]
Geraldo Rivera became host of WABC's 10 a.m. to noon slot beginning January 3, 2012, replacing Joe Crummey. He was replaced with Fox News Radio's Brian Kilmeade in 2019.
On January 1, 2013, the traffic reports on WABC switched from Clear Channel's Total Traffic to Radiate Media's Right Now Traffic.[citation needed]
Limbaugh and Hannity departed WABC at the end of 2013.
Acquisition by Red Apple Media
On June 27, 2019, Red Apple Media, which is owned by John Catsimatidis, bought WABC from Cumulus Media for $12.5 million in cash.[1] The sale closed on March 2, 2020.[2] On July 1, 2020, Red Apple Media took over WLIR-FM in Long Island under a local marketing agreement, and converted it to a simulcast of WABC. As it is already cleared by WRCN-FM, Brian Kilmeade's program is substituted by a local program hosted by Frank Morano.[62][63] Morano was also added to WABC's main lineup on Sunday nights beginning July 12, and began hosting an overnight show, The Other Side of Midnight, in October 2020 (replacing Red Eye Radio).[64][65][66]
Previous programs
WABC was where the nationally syndicated programs hosted by
Although the station had good ratings, it underperformed in terms of total revenue, an example being WABC billing $21.3 million in 2008,[68] not even close to industry giant KFI in Los Angeles at $54.4 million.[citation needed]
Phil Boyce departed as program director in October 2008, eventually replaced in February 2009 by former XM Satellite Radio programmer Laurie Cantillo. Laurie Cantillo resigned on October 31, 2011. Chuck Armstrong was named interim program director in November 2011. Craig Schwalb was named program director in January 2014.[citation needed]
Programming
Weekdays
The station features a lineup of
Sports programming
WABC currently does not carry any sports programming. The station's most recent sports contract, with the
Early in its Top 40 incarnation, WABC served as the original radio flagship of the New York Mets upon their establishment in 1962. A notable aspect of WABC's Mets coverage was Howard Cosell and former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca handling the pre- and post-game shows. The station lost those rights to WHN following the 1963 season.
The Jets first called WABC home in the 1980s, but left toward the end of the decade for WCBS. The team would return to the station in 2000 after spending the previous seven seasons on WFAN. After then-sister station WEPN became the Jets' flagship, WABC began simulcasting the games over its airwaves due to its stronger signal. The arrangement ended in 2008 as WEPN began simulcasting all its programming on two other stations.
In December 2001, broadcast rights to the Yankees were lost after 21 years to WCBS. WABC also lost the radio rights to the Devils in 2005, as New Jersey's hockey team moved to WFAN to substitute for the station's loss of the New York Rangers to WEPN. WABC served as an overflow station for the Rangers from 2005 through 2009, and also served the same purpose for the New York Knicks when their games moved from WFAN to WEPN, but those rights moved to WNYM in 2009. The loss of evening sports programming has forced WABC to attempt to solidify its evening talk lineup.
Music programming
WABC announced on August 11, 2020, that it would be breaking with its all-talk format with an oldies music program, Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party, beginning September 5, 2020. The weekly program features music from the 1950s—1960s with a splash from the 1970s, and is hosted by Bruce Morrow aka "Cousin Brucie", who was a WABC disc jockey from 1961 to 1974.[71]
In late October 2020, the station announced that it would add an additional two hours of pop/jazz/soul music after Morrow's program, hosted by TV personality and singer Tony Orlando.[72]
In December 2020, an additional music block was added on Sunday nights, this one featuring
References
- ^ a b "John Catsimatidis acquires 77 WABC radio for $12.5 million". New York Post. June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ a b Davenport, Emily (March 2, 2020). "New York City radio station TALKRADIO 77 WABC under new ownership". amny.com. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WABC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WABC Simulcast on WLIR-FM Begins". wabcradio.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ "The Birthday of WJZ", Literary Digest, July 15, 1922, page 27.
- ^ "List of stations broadcasting market reports (485 meters) and music. concerts, lectures, etc. (360 meters), (March 10, 1922)", Radio Service Bulletin, March 1, 1922, pages 13-14.
- ^ It has been speculated that the call letters might have signified New Jersey; however, this appears to be a case of folk etymology, as there are no contemporary references to support this.
- ^ Limited Commercial license, serial No. 230, issued September 30, 1921, for a one-year term. The station had previously been issued a license in May 1921, but was not used for broadcasting at that time.
- ISBN 0195004744.
- ISBN 0-89950-285-7.
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- ^ "Advertisement for Clark and Tilson Company". The Radio Dealer. Vol. 2, no. 1. October 1922. pp. 84–85. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
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- Department of CommerceRadio Service Bulletin. January 3, 1922. p. 10. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
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- ^ "Early History of Network Broadcasting (1923-1926)", Report on Chain Broadcasting, Federal Communications Commission, May 1941, pages 5-6.
- ^ Lescarboura, Austin C. (September 1926). "How Much It Costs to Broadcast". Radio Broadcast. Vol. IX, no. 5. pp. 367–371. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ A Tower in Babel by Erik Barnouw, 1966, page 285.
- ^ "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission (June 30, 1928), page 202.
- ^ Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society, This Month in Railroad History: March. Retrieved March 24, 2006.
- ^ "Studios Opened in Radio City, World is Told". Daily News. November 12, 1933. p. 69. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
- ^ "United States Assignments", Arrangement between the United States of America, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico, comprising recommendations of the North American Regional Radio-Engineering Meeting (supplemental to North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, Habana, 1937.
- ^ "In the Matter of Clear Channel Broadcasting in the Standard Broadcast Band (KOB/WABC)" (Docket No. 6741, adopted April 21, 1976), Federal Communications Commission Reports: May 14, 1976, to July 16, 1976, (volume 59, second series, 1976), pages 32-47.
- ^ "Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., Appellant, v. Federal Communications Commission, Appellee, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Intervenor, 663 F.2d 220 (D.C. Cir. 1980)". Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Mark Durenberger, Minneapolis, Minnesota. "The Clear-Channel Matter: Part 6". Retrieved July 7, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "FCC Okays Transfer of WJZ, KGO, WENR". Billboard. January 31, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- ^ a b "WABC and WABC-TV ad". Broadcasting Telecasting. Vol. 44, no. 9. March 2, 1953. p. 37. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ "Ambitious ABC Planning Initiated Under New Merged Ownership". Broadcasting Telecasting. Vol. 44, no. 7. February 16, 1953. pp. 27–29. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ "It's now WABC-AM-FM-TV; ABC also changes slides". Broadcasting Telecasting. Vol. 44, no. 9. March 2, 1953. p. 70. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ FCC History Cards for WCBS (AM) (FCC.gov)
- ^ FCC History Cards for WCBS-FM (FCC.gov)
- ^ "WBC's WAAM (TV) buy: $4.4 million". Broadcasting – Telecasting. May 13, 1957. p. 112.
- ^ "WAAM (TV) becomes WJZ-TV as FCC waives call rule". Broadcasting – Telecasting. August 5, 1957. p. 92.
- ^ "Stations (continued, top of page)". Broadcasting – Telecasting. August 12, 1957. p. 94.
- ^ "Radio: How a disgraced DJ made his way to KDAY". LA Daily News. December 23, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ Curtis, p. 37.
- ^ "Mayhem in the A.M.; WABC ad for The Ernie Kovacs Show". Broadcasting. May 30, 1955. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ "Disk Jockey, ABC Sign Big Contract". Youngstown Vindicator. March 17, 1953. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ "Musicradio WABC Beatles Page". Musicradio 77 WABC Information Page.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (November 14, 1995). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING;Beatlemania '95: It's not the real thing, but an incredible simulation". The New York Times.
- ^ "1965 Blackout".
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- ^ Wadler, Joyce (January 15, 1998). "PUBLIC LIVES; Leftist Lawyer Reaches Right for Audience". The New York Times.
- ISBN 9781609802639– via Google Books.
- ^ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Sblendorio, Peter (January 22, 2018). "Don Imus announces date of his radio show's final episode". Daily News. New York. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
- ^ "Kosher Love - Shmuley Boteach". Westport, CT Patch. March 29, 2011.
- ^ "WABC Adds Rabbi Shmuley Boteach For Weekend Show". All Access.
- Daily News. New York. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (January 2, 2014). "Talk Radio on WABC Shifts Focus to the Local". The New York Times.
- ^ "WABC Adds Long Island Simulcast". RadioInsight. July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ "Frank Morano To Host Midday Show On 107.1 WLIR-FM". RadioInsight. July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
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External links
- Official website
- WABC in the FCC AM station database
- WABC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WABC (covering 1927–1981)
- Musicradio 77 WABC (1960 to 1982) tribute site
- Radio-History.com information on WJZ AM
- WABC News Historical Profile & Interviews (1978)
- Norman Sweetser papers, at the University of Maryland Libraries. Sweetser was a WJZ announcer starting in 1927. The collection contains sketches and photographs of announcers and crew members done by Sweetser while working at WJZ.