WCBS (AM)
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|
FCC | |
Facility ID | 9636 |
---|---|
Class | A (Clear channel) |
Power | 50,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
Website | www |
WCBS (880
History
The station's history traces back to September 20, 1924, when it was issued its first license, as WAHG on 920 AM, to Alfred H. Grebe & Company.[2] WAHG was a pioneering station in New York, and was one of the first commercial radio stations to broadcast from remote locations including horse races and yachting events. In early 1925, WAHG moved to 950 kHz.[3]
In 1926, Grebe arranged a change to the station's call sign to WABC, reflecting the Atlantic Broadcasting Company, after concluding a business arrangement with the Ashland Battery Company in Asheville, North Carolina, which had been assigned WABC in 1925 for its station. Grebe then moved the studios to West 57th Street, which would not be the last time it would operate from 57th Street. On March 26, 1925, a second station, WBOQ, standing for "Borough of Queens", was licensed to A. H. Grebe & Company on 1270 kHz.[4] Grebe's Atlantic Broadcasting Company eventually was licensed for four New York City-area stations: WABC, WBOQ, plus portable stations WGMU and WRMU.
The two portable stations were deleted on July 31, 1928, after the recently formed
The station increased its transmitting power from 5,000 to its present 50,000
On June 15, 1940, the generally unused WBOQ call sign was eliminated from the station's dual call letters, and it became just WABC.[8] In 1941, due to the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, WABC moved to the frequency it currently occupies, 880 kHz.
On September 8, 1946, the call sign of a station in Springfield, Illinois, was changed from WCBS to WCVS. This allowed WABC in New York to change to WCBS on November 2, 1946, to identify more closely with its parent network, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and avoid possible confusion with the rival network of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which began operation under that name in 1945.[9] Control of the WABC call sign was retained by renaming a relay station from WEHG to WABC.[10] Longtime, and unrelated, ABC radio flagship station on 770 kHz in New York was assigned the WABC call letters in 1953, after operating since its beginning in 1921 as WJZ.
Over the next 20 years WCBS developed a series of radio soap operas, afternoon talk shows and an all night easy listening music show, Music 'til Dawn hosted by Bob Hall and sponsored by American Airlines. During this time WCBS featured well-known personalities including Arthur Godfrey, future CBS News President Bill Leonard, author Emily Kimbrough and folk singer Oscar Brand.
Fear on Trial controversy
In the 1950s, one of the stations daytime hosts, John Henry Faulk, was part of an anti-blacklisting wing (including CBS newsman Charles Collingwood) that assumed leadership of the flagship New York chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) broadcasters' union.
After Faulk and WCBS came under pressure from anti-Communist group Aware, Inc., Faulk and attorney Louis Nizer sued Aware, Inc. for libel, a case often considered one of the key turning points in the battle against McCarthyism. Faulk was supported by fellow CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who was tipped off to Faulk's plight by Carl Sandburg. According to Murrow biographer Joe Persico, Murrow gave Faulk the money he needed to retain Nizer as his lawyer.[11] Faulk finally won the case in 1963, in the meantime becoming a popular radio personality in his native Texas, and later, a national television personality as a regular in the cast of the country music/humor variety show Hee Haw.
WCBS fired Faulk because of declining ratings while he waited for the case to come to trial,[12] but Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson's book The Murrow Boys asserted[citation needed] that WCBS executive Arthur Hull Hayes admitted on the stand the station's overall ratings, not Faulk's specifically, had slipped.
The controversy became the subject of the 1975 CBS television movie Fear on Trial, based in part on Faulk's autobiography of the same name.
Adoption of News format
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2011) |
By the late 1950s and early 1960s, WCBS evolved into a middle of the road (MOR) music and personality format, which included limited talk programming. Personalities included morning host Jack Sterling, Bill Randle and Lee Jordan. Like many MOR stations at the time, WCBS did mix in softer songs by rock-and-roll artists. Its ratings at the time were ordinary compared to the higher ratings at WOR and WNEW, both of which also had MOR formats and more distinct identities. Through it all, the variety show Arthur Godfrey Time remained a weekday mid-morning staple. Eventually, WCBS gained a foothold in local news coverage (WOR and WNEW's strengths) bolstered by its standing as CBS's flagship radio station.
During the 1960s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, concerned about the station's low ratings, started a process that led to the creation of a news radio format that would become known as "Newsradio 88". Paley hired Clark B. George, then vice-president and general manager of WCBS-TV, to create the new format and turn the station's low ratings around.[13] The format debuted on August 28, 1967 – although on WCBS-FM, because a small airplane had crashed into and destroyed WCBS's AM antenna tower just a few hours earlier.[14] Its original roster of anchors included Charles Osgood, Ed Bradley, Robert Vaughn[15] and Pat Summerall. Later anchors included veteran newscaster Lou Adler, Jim Donnelly,[16] Harvey Hauptman,[17] Bill Lynch[18] and Gary Maurer.[19]
Initially, the station only ran news during drive time periods, and maintained an MOR format during midday and overnight hours. Within a couple of years, it expanded all-news programming to much of the broadcast day, still excepting overnights. "Newsradio 88" began its transformation into an all-news format[20] in 1970, when the overnight American Airlines-sponsored Music Till Dawn ended in January of that year, and completed the process in 1972, when Godfrey's weekday morning variety show came to an end. The station built a reputation as an all-news powerhouse[21] during the 1970s, and has continued with an all-news format to this day.
Although
In October 2000, WCBS made another move, from CBS corporate headquarters building at 51 West 52nd Street known as "Black Rock" to the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th Street. Around this time, the station began referring to itself as "Newsradio 880". On December 2, 2011, the station moved operations to 345 Hudson Street, known as the Hudson Square Broadcast Center, sharing space with CBS Radio's other New York stations.
Ownership transfer to Entercom
On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge
On October 10, 2022, after Audacy had reached a new deal with
WCBS's switch to all-news was directly spurred by the switch of WINS to a similar format in April 1965. It was also the first move in CBS Radio's long-term plans to convert its group of AM stations – along with WCBS, the group was then composed of KNX in Los Angeles; WBBM in Chicago; WCAU in Philadelphia; KMOX in St. Louis; WEEI in Boston; and KCBS in San Francisco – to some form of news programming. Once WCBS had been established in the format, CBS began to work on the rest of its AM outlets. KCBS, KNX and WBBM all transitioned in 1968. WEEI adopted an all-news format in 1974, and WCAU made the switch a year later. The programming shift was a gradual one just as it had been at WCBS, with the stations running all-news most of the day while some local and network non-news programming remained at first. KMOX, which had been programming a talk radio format for several years was left unaffected, though it would later evolve into a news/talk station.
In Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, CBS-owned stations had a monopoly on the all-news format. But in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, CBS had to compete with Westinghouse-owned stations (WINS, KFWB and KYW, respectively) which had adopted all-news programming before the CBS stations did. While the Los Angeles stations made the switch within days of each other, WCAU in Philadelphia did not switch to the format until 1975, giving KYW a ten-year head start with the audience. Many blame this as the primary reason WCAU did not succeed in competing with KYW; the all-news format on WCAU lasted only three years. In contrast, the other CBS all-news stations experienced success and stability with the format. In 1995, Westinghouse merged with CBS, making WCBS a sister station to its longtime archrival WINS.
Before the merger with Entercom, CBS Radio operated eight of the country's largest all-news radio stations: WCBS, WINS, KNX, WBBM, KYW, WBZ in Boston, WWJ in Detroit and KRLD in Dallas. (As part of the Entercom transaction, and to gain regulatory approval of it, WBZ, along with several other Entercom stations, were sold to iHeartMedia effective December 19, 2017.)
Programming
Time announcement
Since 1924, WCBS has been known for announcing the time every three minutes.[citation needed] This is because during the early 20th century, not all listeners had reliable time pieces.[citation needed] They relied on synchronising their clocks up with the radio almost every day. On the hour, WCBS plays the iconic and distinctive CBS network "bong" indicating that the time is on the hour, although the station now broadcasts with a 10-second delay. The time is distinctly introduced with "WCBS news time: _:__". This standard practice, with slight variations, is also used at other CBS-affiliated news radio stations nationwide.
"Traffic and Weather Together"
For many years, WCBS has promoted its pairing of traffic and weather reports every ten minutes "on the eights", and has used the tagline "Traffic and Weather Together". The station's chief meteorologist, Craig Allen, and its rush hour traffic reporter Tom Kaminski, have both been with WCBS for over three decades and recorded a series of commercials together to that effect. WCBS part-time meteorologist Todd Glickman, who fills in for Craig, has been with the station since 1979.
WCBS's promotional work was the inspiration for the title of the Fountains of Wayne album Traffic and Weather, according to an interview the New Jersey-based band gave to the station.
Sports
In
WCBS has served three stints as the radio flagship of the Yankees, with the most recent running from 2002 until 2013. The station had previously carried the Yankees from 1939 to 1940 (when the outlet was known as WABC); and from 1960 to 1966, a period that included a time in which the team was owned by CBS Inc., which purchased a majority interest in the Yankees in 1964. The broadcaster sold the club to a group led by George Steinbrenner in 1973.
Until WFAN began broadcasting its
WCBS served as a springboard to athletes-turned-broadcasters in its pre-all-news period. Most notably, former football Giants Pat Summerall and Frank Gifford were employed in various capacities by WCBS and the CBS Radio Network late in their playing days. Sports announcer Marty Glickman served as sports director during a time in the 1960s.
Mel Allen was originally renowned as an all-purpose broadcaster on WCBS and the CBS Radio Network before and during his tenure as the Yankees' lead broadcaster. Decades later, Ed Ingles established a 25-year career as sports director and morning sports anchor at WCBS, reporter for the Jets and St. John's broadcasts, and mentor to several veteran local and national broadcasters such as Barry Landers, Bill Schweizer, Spencer Ross and Bill Daughtry.[34]
See also
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCBS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, October 1, 1924, page 3.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 2, 1925, page 8.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1925, page 4.
- ^ "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, July 31, 1928, page 18.
- ^ "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 for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928, page 203.
- ^ "WCBS" (advertisement), Broadcasting, October 21, 1946, page 67.
- ^ "C. LIST OF BROADCASTING STATIONS": (3) Changes to List", Radio Service Bulletin, June 15, 1940, page 15.
- ^ "WABC, WCBS Call Letter Switch O.K.'d", The Billboard. September 7, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ "WABC Becomes WCBS; Shifting FM, Video Calls", Broadcasting, September 2, 1946, page 94.
- ^ "Notable New Yorkers". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ "Articles about John Henry Faulk - latimes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ "Clark B. George, 88; Former Executive With CBS and Viacom". Los Angeles Times. April 8, 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- ^ "2 Killed as Plane Hits Radio Tower In Rainstorm Here". The New York Times. August 28, 1967. p. 1. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ Kumar, Divya (September 19, 2017). "Epilogue: Bob Vaughn, national news anchor who worked in St. Petersburg, remembered for voice". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ Hinckley, David (August 28, 2007). "Old pals return to toast WCBS' 40 years of news". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "Former WCBS-A/New York News Anchor Harvey Hauptman Dies At 87". allaccess.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "Reporters Honored Here By Firefighters Association". The New York Times. March 17, 1975. p. 26. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "Back Stories: Former WCBS Reporter & Anchor Gary Maurer". newyork.cbslocal.com. July 20, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "WCBS Schedules & Guides, Circa 1978". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ Hardee, Martin. "WCBS - Historical Profile - 1978". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ "Stations a Study in Contrast". donswaim.com. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- ^ "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations". Fortune. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ "WCBS and KCBS Calls Will Stay Put at Entercom". insideradio.com. February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ "Audacy To Launch 92.3 WINS-FM New York". RadioInsight. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- ^ "WCBS 880 to become new radio home of the Mets". September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ Venta, Lance (March 31, 2022). "Audacy App To Carry New York Mets Broadcasts". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ "Rutgers Sports Moves To WFAN/WCBS". RadioInsight. May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
- ^ List of New York Jets broadcasters#cite note-9
- ^ "WFAN And WCBS Newsradio 880 To Broadcast Islanders Playoff Games". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ Williams, Jeff (March 8, 2020). "Radio broadcaster Ed Ingles dies at 87; spent years as a mentor at Hofstra". Newsday. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
External links
- Official website
- WCBS in the FCC AM station database
- WCBS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WCBS (covering 1927-1981 as WABC / WABC-WBOQ / WCBS (cards 1-2, 5+), plus WBOQ from 1927 until consolidation with WABC on November 11, 1928 (cards 3-4))
- New York City AM Radio History (oldradio.com, last updated March 3, 2003)
- WCBS Historical Profile – 1978
- WCBS Newsradio88 Appreciation Site