WFAN (AM)

WFAN pioneered, and has been the most successful example of, the sports radio format. Over the years, WFAN has been the broadcast home to several big names in the world of radio, including the sports-talk team of Mike and the Mad Dog (Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo) and the political commentator Don Imus, whose Imus in the Morning program is now nationally syndicated.

WNBC local programming

1960s

By the early 1960s the station was switching from NBC network programs to more local, WNBC-specific programs. In 1964 they adopted a talk radio format, the first in New York. Hosts included actor Robert Alda, comedian Mort Sahl, and early talk radio provocateur Joe Pyne.

Related Topics:
Talk radio - Format - Robert Alda - Mort Sahl - Joe Pyne

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Later in the decade WNBC evolved to an MOR music format featuring music from the 1940's to the 1960's with only the non-rock and soft rock hits after 1955. The format would feature such artists as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, The Everly Brothers, Tom Jones, The 5th Dimension, Peggy Lee, and Dionne Warwick. By 1971, music from such acts as Sinatra and Cole would disappear.

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1970s

Don Imus was hired in 1971, which gave New York its first exposure to the shock jock genre. Imus stayed with the station for most of the next two decades, except for a couple of years in the late 1970s when there was a general purge of the air staff.

Related Topics:
Don Imus - Shock jock

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

Related Topics:
Top 40 - WABC - Wolfman Jack - Bruce Morrow

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By 1973 WNBC was an Adult Contemporary 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.

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Ted Brown would leave in the very early 70's and return to 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.

Related Topics:
Ted Brown - WNEW - Norm N. Nite - WCBS-FM - Joe McCoy

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By 1975 WNBC was playing an Adult Top 40 format and competying with WXLO 99X. They featured hits from 1964 to what was then current product. Most of the decisions were mediocre at best.

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In 1977 Bob Pittman took over WNBC and laid the entire airstaff off. He hired younger staff 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.

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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 WNBC 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.

Related Topics:
MTV - Frank Reed - Johnny Dark - Michael Sarzinski

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1980s

In 1981 when WABC added evening talk and evolved musically to adult contemporary, WNBC followed suit musically moving to a similar AC format to fraternal twin sister station 97.1 WYNY. In the early part of 1982 WNBC was playing music from 1964 through 1982.

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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.

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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-ehhNNN-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 Z-100's debut on 100.3, WNBC began to lose some ratings but still held their own. In 1984 Stern cut down to 4 songs an 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.

Related Topics:
Howard Stern - Private Parts - WPLJ - Z-100 - Soupy Sales

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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, emphasizing 60's oldies while still playing current product in moderation; they 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.

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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.

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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. They also added sports talk in the evenings, as well as bringing back Wolfman Jack on overnights.

Related Topics:
Joey Reynolds - Bill Grundfest - Alan Colmes

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By the fall of 1986, WNBC 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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On the afternoon of October 22, 1986, the station's "N-Copter" traffic helicopter crashed into the Hudson River killing traffic reporter Jane Dornacker and severely injuring pilot Bill Pate. As millions of WNBC listeners heard Dornacker giving her traffic report she suddenly paused, a grinding noise could be heard in the background and Dornacker screaming in terror "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!", then the radio transmission was cut off and a very shaken radio host Joey Reynolds ackwardly tried to figure out what had happened by saying "Ugh I think we're going to play some music now."

Related Topics:
October 22 - 1986 - Traffic - Helicopter - Crash - Hudson River - Jane Dornacker - Bill Pate - Radio transmission - Joey Reynolds

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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.

Related Topics:
Hackensack River - New Jersey - Third Watch

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In the summer of 1987, WNBC 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 WNBC 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 effect. This "Time Machine" was also heard all day and night on weekends. So for all intents and purposes WNBC was an oldies/talk station by then.

Related Topics:
Ray D'Ariano - Jay Sorenson

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