WFAN (AM)
| Logo for WFAN Sportsradio 66] | |
| Broadcast area | New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 660 (kHz) |
| Branding | Sportsradio 66 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports/Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | CBS Radio |
| History | |
First air date | March 2, 1922 |
Call sign meaning | The FAN |
| Technical information | |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| Links | |
| Website | wfan.com |
"Sportsradio 66" WFAN AM 660 kHz, often referred to as "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station is on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio. [1] Its transmitter is located on High Island in The Bronx, New York.
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.
The New York 660 frequency had a long history as WNBC prior to this format, which was the flagship station of the historic NBC Radio Network, and later was a local station with a tumultuous programming history.
NBC network radio
In 1922 AT&T Western Electric began broadcasting as WEAF (supposedly the call letters stood for Western Electric AT&T Fone). It was acquired in 1926 by NBC as the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network (later the NBC Red Network), and moved to 660 kHz in 1928. The station's call letters were changed to WNBC in 1946, then to WRCA in 1954, and back to WNBC in 1960.
See NBC Radio Network for network programming during this time.
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.
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 Fifth Dimension, Peggy Lee, and Dionne Warwick. By 1971, music from such acts as Sinatra and Cole would disappear.
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.
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.
By 1973 WNBC was an Adult Contemporary radio station featuring The Carpenters, Carole King, Elvis Presley, The Stylistics, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, 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 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 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 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 Gibb, 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 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 Sarzynski among others. Also in 1979, Imus returned from his two-year exile in Cleveland to 660 AM, where he has been ever since.
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.
WNBC's slogan in the early-80s was "The Next One", meaning that it would be the #1 ranked station in New York City. When an Arbitron report was released that WNBC believed confirmed that it was in fact the most popular radio station in New York City, the slogan was changed to "The New One".
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 to much fanfare, über-shock jock Howard Stern was brought in to New York from Washington, D.C. and DC-101 to do afternoon drive. Initially Stern played music (about 10 to 12 songs an hour) much to his dismay. Ratings were high and remained 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.
Throughout his three years at WNBC, Stern had continuous battles with station management and other jocks at the station, specifically Don Imus. Much of these conflicts were dramatized in Stern's film and book Private Parts which included an amusing scene where he is instructed by program director Kevin Methany on the preferred "W-ehhNNN-B-C" pronunciation of the station's call letters.
By early 1985, WNBC had evolved to 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 reasonably well.
On September 30, 1985, Howard Stern was terminated abruptly after a series of outrageous bits and listener complaints. In "Private Parts", Stern detailed how WNBC management expected that his last day would be Thursday September 26th, and that Stern would not go in to work on September 27th due to Hurricane Gloria. However, Stern went in, and because there was no station management on hand, Stern did his show as normal.
After Stern's dismissal, ratings plummeted 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 on a syndicated show before his untimely death.
By the fall of 1986, WNBC was in crisis 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.
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 awkwardly tried to figure out what had happened by saying "Uh I think we're going to play some music now." 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, 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.
The beginning of WFAN and the end of WNBC: 1987-1988
Across town WFAN, then on 1050 kHz AM, was launched at 3PM on July 1, 1987, replacing WHN, and billing itself as the world's first twenty-four-hour-per-day sports talk station. The first voice heard on WFAN was that of Suzyn Waldman on a sports update, followed by the first show, which was Jim Lampley's drive-time show. ... Waldman would report for the station, covering the Yankees and Knicks, for 14 years. Other personalities that hosted shows besides Lampley in the 1050 AM years included Bill Mazer, Pete Franklin, and Ed Coleman. WFAN also inherited broadcast rights to the defending World Series champion New York Mets from WHN, who had held the rights for several years.
When NBC eliminated their radio division in 1988, the WNBC license was sold to Emmis Communications who had 1050 WFAN and 103.5 WQHT. On October 7, 1988 at 5:30p.m., WFAN moved down the radio dial to replace it at 660 kHz (which has a much stronger signal) while 1050 kHz was sold off. The last voice heard on WNBC was Alan Colmes, who counted down the seconds to WNBC's demise with the legendary NBC chimes (the notes G-E-C) playing in the background. After 66 years, the long history of NBC radio in New York had come to an end.
In the complicated switch that saw WFAN move to the 660 frequency, the 1050 frequency that was formerly the home of WFAN became the home of a new Spanish station. Over on the FM side, Emmis's Hot 103.5 WQHT moved to 97.1 FM (which was NBC's then Country WYNY). Emmis sold 1050 to SBS and 103.5 to Westwood One. Westwood One moved the intellectual WYNY country unit to 103.5. However, SBS had an AM station already on 620, and in those days, radio station owners could own only one AM station in a market. As a result, SBS received a temporary waiver to run 1050 as a non-commercial spanish music station while selling 1050 for 97.9 from a Jewish group. The group, which went by the name of Forward Communications, then took 97.9 WEVD's programming and moved it to 1050. SBS would then begin to program 97.9 FM as a Spanish-music station.
WFAN
Early history
One of the keys to WFAN's early success was acquiring Don Imus to do the morning show. At the time of the switch, sports talk radio was still an untested format with questionable prospects, and the idea of bringing on board a host that appealed to a broader audience would get more people to try the station out. WFAN also benefitted from the inertia from Imus's fans who were used to tuning in to 660 AM on weekday mornings to listen.
It quickly became apparent that WFAN's gambit of bringing Imus on board worked. Ratings for the morning show were strong, and it was successful to a point in driving ratings for the rest of WFAN's programming day. This model of using a general-interest morning host for a sports talk radio station (especially at launch) has been used at other sports radio stations across the country.
WFAN was also the first station in the country to roll out sports updates every 20 minutes. These updates, called "20-20 Sports" on the Fan, are now considered an industry standard. Additionally, in a nod to the former WNBC, update anchors often end their updates with the catchphrase "And that's what's happening...", which is how WNBC on-air news readers had ended their updates.
Other programming that WFAN had at launch included a midmorning show with Ed Coleman and Mike Francesa, and a drive time show with talk radio icon Pete Franklin, who in Cleveland had become one of the first polarizing, outrageous talk show hosts. During his stay in New York, Franklin would probably become best known for an incident where he used a four-letter expletive on air, in error, when trying to say "All you folks" (he was not disciplined for the incident.)
Running a close second was a 30-second Franklin diatribe on whether he had been offensive -- "Do I offfend anyone? I'm not here to offend you, dammit!" -- that has been replayed ever since, especially on the July 1 WFAN anniversaries.)
In a further drive to boost ratings, Imus instigated a feud with Franklin, much as he had with Howard Stern at WNBC in the mid-80's. Both Imus and Franklin would take shots at each other during their shows, Franklin calling Imus "Minus" and Imus recording parodies of radio commercials where he would bash Franklin as a "dinousaur", among other things.
Franklin would leave WFAN in August 1989. On September 5, 1989, a jointly hosted afternoon drive show with Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo - who had been a weekend/fill-in host to that time - would premiere. The Mike and the Mad Dog show would become the defining show of WFAN, one of the most consistently popular radio shows in New York, and one of the most influential sports talk radio shows in the country.
Recent history
Over the years WFAN has continued to have a broad-based sports talk and play-by-play format. WFAN ratings gradually rose and in fact at some points it has been the top-billing station in New York and the country. In 1992 Emmis sold WFAN to Infinity, which would merge with CBS in 1997.
In addition to those mentioned above, some hosts that have come and gone include Greg Gumbel, Russ Salzberg, Dave Sims, and Jody McDonald.
As of 2005, the WFAN broadcast day begins at 5:30 am (Eastern) with Imus in the Morning, hosted by Don Imus. Over the years Imus's show has evolved from a straight comedy talk show spiced with occasional political discussion, to primarily a political show spiked with sharp humor. It is syndicated to over 90 stations across the United States with an audience in excess of 10 million, according to the WFAN website. It has become a regular stop on the circuit for Washington insiders, both conservatives and liberals in the media elite, best-selling authors and the occasional presidential candidate. MSNBC began a simulcast of the show in September of 1996.
The rest of the day is devoted to the world of sports. The 10:00 am to 1:00 pm timeslot is hosted by Joe Beningo, followed by the Mike and the Mad Dog show, which runs for five-and-a-half hours from 1:00 pm to 6:30 pm. As MSNBC does for Imus in the Morning, the YES Network has been simulcasting Mike and The Mad Dog since March of 2002.
Steve Somers, other WFAN personalities including longtime New York radio fixture Richard Neer, or live sporting events are broadcast during the evening hours. Roberto Clemente Jr., son of the Baseball Hall-of-Famer, hosts shows during baseball season. Yankees radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling also hosts from time-to-time. Occasionally, events originate from Westwood One's NFL, NHL and NCAA radio broadcasts.
But WFAN's sports-talk shows are currently local in origin, not syndicated.
Tony Paige works the majority of the overnight shifts, as he is on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, as well as on late Saturday nights. The overnight host before Paige, Chris Carlin, became the sports reporter for Imus in the Morning after the previous sports reporter, Sid Rosenberg, was removed for inappropriate comments made about Kylie Minogue's battle with breast cancer. Additionally, Rosenberg, who had also co-hosted the midday show at the station for four years, resigned from the station on September 12, 2005 after being given an ultimatum by station management for not showing up to host the New York Giants' pregame show the day before. It is unclear whether Benigno will land a co-host, but time has shown that the midday show typically ends up with two personalities.
Over the years WFAN has established a tight bond with its listeners, to the point where one of them (Beningo) eventually landed a plum mid-morning show. Beningo was a frequent caller to "The Fan" (especially the Mike and the Mad Dog show) as "Joe from Saddle River". His calls were typically interesting and insightful. He was chosen to host a one-hour show during a promotion where listeners were invited to host a show. The show went well, and he parlayed this into a regular overnight show, which was parlayed into a mid-morning show.
WFAN also features the "20-20 Flash", a one to two minute update on sports scores and news, which occurs every 20 minutes (on the hour, twenty after and forty after). The update team consists of Rich Ackerman, Harris Allen, Erica Herskowitz, Bob Heussler, Janice Kerkel, Marc Malusis, John Minko, Jerry Recco, and Joe Tolleson. The station also employs beat reporters to cover the Mets (Ed Coleman), Yankees (Sweeny Murti), Jets (Kevin Burkhardt) and football Giants (Recco).
Currently, WFAN has broadcasting rights for New York Mets baseball, New York Giants football, New Jersey Nets basketball, Notre Dame Fighting Irish College Football and New Jersey Devils hockey. WFAN is also a promotional partner of the New York Yankees, as fellow CBS-owned WCBS-AM has carried virtually every game since 2002. WFAN aired Yankees coverage while WCBS-AM was airing coverage of the 2003 blackout that greatly affected New York City and surrounding areas.
WFAN has marketed itself in recent years as "The Flagship Station for New York Sports," but its close partnerships with the Mets and Yankees could easily render it "New York's Baseball Station." Willie Randolph and Joe Torre, managers of the Mets and Yankees, respectively, make exclusive appearances on WFAN.
The station was also the longtime radio home for the New York Jets, New York Rangers and New York Knicks as well as St. John's University basketball for several years.
Currently WFAN's primary competition is WEPN, the New York ESPN Radio affiliate, ironically located at WFAN's old 1050 kHz frequency. WEPN carries many of the teams that WFAN previously did, notably the Jets, Knicks, Rangers, and St. John's, plus national ESPN Radio programming, which WFAN also once carried.
Influence of sports format
WFAN's success - especially after the 1988 frequency switch - proved that sports-talk radio could in fact be a steadily profitable and popular format. This in turn fueled the explosive growth of sports-talk radio in the 1990's and 2000's. Once a novelty, every major market (and many smaller markets) now has at least one sports radio station, and often more. ESPN, Fox Sports and The Sporting News have all launched 24-hour national sports talk radio networks. There are also nationally syndicated radio shows, such as Jim Rome's show and 2 Live Stews. Additionally there are dedicated sports radio streams on satellite radio, such as NASCAR Radio and NFL Radio on Sirius and MLB Home Plate on XM Satellite Radio. With the migration of music station to FM and other carriers all but complete, sports talk radio are considered to have been critical in saving the AM band as a viable broadcast medium.
It is worth noting that, for all the success and influence that WFAN has had, its signature Mike and the Mad Dog show has never been syndicated outside of New York State (WROW in Albany is the only syndicate), although this is primarily due to a desire by the hosts to keep their show New York-centric.
WFAN once produced some of FOX Sports Radio's programming, notably Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's Saturday show, but the relationship did not last even one year for the same reason that "Mike and the Mad Dog" is syndicated nationally only through the YES Network. Callers from as far as California do watch and call-in.
Callers
The vast majority of WFAN programming that originates in studio makes listeners' calls an important facet of the broadcast. As a testament to this, Joe Benigno - a former caller himself - ends all of his shows with "I want to thank all the callers, great job as always; I couldn't do it without you." There are a number of callers who have earned a reputation over the years and become as familiar to listeners as the hosts themselves.
Bill from Brentwood
Arugably the most popular and knowledgeable caller to WFAN is Bill from Brentwood, more popularly known as "Bill the Baker," who has an encyclopæedic knowledge of baseball, along with an unmatched ability to recall not only specific baseball moments in the past 50+ years, but the exact dates that those games were played. Although Bill calls the FAN (particularly Steve Somers, who jokes that he is his co-host) on an almost daily basis, Steve - along with his listeners - is so constantly in awe and impressed with Bill's baseball intellect that he often jokes that Bill "has to be looking at a book."
Jerome from Manhattan
Another cherished caller is Jerome Mittelman, widely known as "Jerome from Manhattan." A die-hard Yankees and Knickerbockers fan, Jerome is famous for his on-air take-no-prisoners blistering rants and raves, as well as his unique take on the English language. One of his favorite exclamatory phrases is "frickin' frack!" He refers to the bullpen as the "ballpen," and once shouted that the Yankees are "....done! D-O-E-N [sic], DONE!" The 50-something Jerome lives in the same Manhattan building as his mother, and his relationship status is intriguing enough for Steve Somers to once give Jerome $60 to take a lady out on a date, only for Jerome to keep the money and not go out on the date. Former host Sid Rosenberg once asked Jerome if he was upset that he was not taking his eagerly anticipated trip "....to Colorado?", and Jerome replied, "No, [it was] to Denver." He does "....not like jets. They make [him] seasick." Unfortunately, Mr. Mittelman's health problems have kept him from the WFAN airwaves on his usual daily basis since late 2004, although he did call on 31 March 2005 to appease his fans; he is under doctor's orders to refrain from calling because his unsubdued demeanor while on-air may further complicate his health problems.
Doris from Rego Park
Doris Bauer [c.1945-2003], more affectionately known as "Doris from Rego Park," was a die-hard fan of the New York Metropolitans, and was beloved by WFAN listeners. Her knowledge of the Mets and baseball as a whole approached that of of Bill the Baker, and she called the station almost daily since its first night on-air. Doris suffered from neurofibromatosis, and at least three different cancers; nevertheless, she kept the Mets and WFAN close to her heart until her premature passing at age 58.
Eli from Westchester
"Eli from Westchester" was another famous repeat caller. Prone to finding racism as the underlying factor behind any number of sports happenings, he was occasionally banned from calling for periods of time. One of the most famous times he was banned was by former mid-day hostRuss Salzberg.
Jerry from Queesn
"Jerry from Queens," aka Jerry Seinfeld, has called the station at many times over the years. An avid Mets and Steve Somers fan, Seinfeld has even appeared in-studio along with the Schmoozer.
Tommy from Brooklyn
Tommy was a frequent caller to WFAN in the early 1990s. He was known for his passion for Hockey. He was a caller to Christopher Russo and would frequently assist Russo with Hockey issues. Tommy is best known for his passion for not wanting Russian players to play in the NHL.
Vinny from Queens
Vinny was a frequent caller to WFAN in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Vinny was a passionate Yankee fan and a popular caller among the hosts. Vinny passed away several years ago.
Reception of WFAN
WFAN's signal can be heard clearly on much of the East Coast of the United States and Eastern Canada after sunset.
During the day, WFAN's groundwave signal can be heard faintly as far south as Washington, D.C. and as far north as the I-90 corridor (the New York State Thruway and Massachusetts Turnpike), about 150 miles north of New York City's geographic lattitude. Signal strength varies depending on factors such as weather and elevation. Still, a good car radio can pick up WFAN cleanly in Connecticut, as well as parts of the Boston, Albany, and Syracuse markets. Callers from these locations are not uncommon, especially as some of the on-air staffers have backgrounds in those regions or attended Syracuse University's famed Newhouse Communications School.
Personalities
Current hosts
- Joe Benigno
- Kevin Burkhardt
- Chris Carlin
- Roberto Clemente, Jr.
- Ed Coleman (Mets Beat Reporter)
- Tanyette Colon
- Ian Eagle
- Mike Francesca
- Don Imus
- Ann Ligouri
- Marc Malusis
- Sweeny Murti (Yankees Beat Reporter)
- Richard Neer
- Tony Paige
- Ed Randall
- Evan Roberts
- Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo
- Adam Schein
- Steve Somers
- Rick Wolff
Current 20-20 Flash Updaters
- Rich Ackerman
- Harris Allen
- Kevin Burkhardt
- Erica Herskowitz
- Bob Heussler
- Mike McCann
- John Minko
- Jerry Recco
- Joey Wahler
Past hosts
- Len Berman
- Mike Breen
- Linda Cohn
- Howard David
- Scott Ferrall
- Steve Fredericks
- Greg Gumbel
- Jim Lampley
- Steve Levy
- Mike Lupica
- Bill Mazer
- Jody McDonald
- Howie Rose (former host, but still broadcasts Mets games)
- Sid Rosenberg
- Russ Salzberg
- Dave Sims
- Suzyn Waldman
- Warner Wolf