When Did Each All-News Station Begin?

[Gregg.]

Audacy's KRLD Dallas has moved to an All-News format only heard in AM and PM drive, no longer all day on weekdays. So I wanted to look at how long the All-News stations have been in the format. I also included a few All-News stations of the past and looked at some NIS affiliates as well.


WINS New York ... 1965

WCBS New York ... 1967

KNX Los Angeles ... 1968

WBBM Chicago ... 1968

KCBS San Francisco ... 1968

WTOP Washington (originally on 1500 AM) ... 1969

WWJ Detroit ... 1971

KRLD Dallas ... 1978 (in June 2024, switched to AM and PM drive time only)

WBZ Boston ... 1991 (talk shows in evenings)

KSL Salt Lake City ... 1995? (AM and PM drive time only)

KOMO Seattle ... 2002 (with some longer-form news shows on weekends)


---Past All-News Stations---

KFAX San Francisco ... 1960 (ended in 1961)

XETRA Tijuana-Los Angeles ... 1961 (ended in 1968 when KFWB debuted)

KFWB Los Angeles ... 1968 (ended in 2009)

WEEI Boston (on 590 AM) ... 1974 (ended in 1990)

WINZ Miami ... 1975 (ended in the 1980s)

WAVA-AM-FM Washington ... 1970s

WCAU Philadelphia ... 1977 (ended in 1980)

WEMP New York ... 2011 (ended in 2012)

WWWN Chicago ... 2011 (ended in 2012)

KROI Houston ... 2011 (ended in 2014)

WNEW-FM Washington ... 2012 (ended in 2014)

WYAY Atlanta ... 2012 (switch to mostly talk by 2014)


---NBC's NIS Network---
A few dozen stations aired an all-news format beginning in 1975, using NBC's News and Information Service (NIS). They included WNWS-FM New York (now WQHT), WNIS-FM Chicago (now WKQX) and WBAL-FM Baltimore (now WIYY). Most of those stations left the All-News format when the NIS network shut down in 1977.

A handful had been successful with NIS and continued the All-News format on their own. KQV Pittsburgh lasted the longest, 1975 until 2017. But there were also WPOP Hartford, WBRE-AM-FM Wilkes-Barre and WCSH Portland which carried on with an all-news format for a few years, even after the demise of NIS.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Most of those stations left the All-News format when the NIS network shut down in 1977.

The NIS shutdown resulted in my becoming a PD in 1978. The AM had been running NIS, and during that period the owners got a CP for a new FM. With most of their resources tied up in the AM (it was still expensive to do all-News, even with NIS) they bought an automation system and signed up for a syndicated "contemporary music" format.

After NIS signed off, they started simulcasting the FM ... and discovered that it sounded awful. After several months of trying to work with the syndicator to fix it, they threw in the proverbial towel. I suddenly became available due to a downsizing at another station and -- based mostly on being in my 20s and a native of the market -- they hired me the next day.

We went from not showing in the book to #5 in 12+ six months after I put a true Adult Contemporary (in fact, this was a full year before that term started being used in the industry) on the air.

So I pretty much owe my existence as a programmer/consultant to NBC pulling the plug on NIS.

(I also know what NBC's biggest mistake was with NIS, but I'll save it for another thread.)

 

[semoochie]

In Portland, KYXI went to NIS in 1976 and maintained the format well into the '80s. At some point, their FM AOR was keeping them afloat but they dropped out in about 1983. Daytimer KLIQ was the first station to attempt an All News format in 1959 but they quickly realized that they could make more money with Talk.

 

[Mark Roberts]

The list omits Houston's KTRH, which went to all-news in September 1984, though it retained some talk shows (early morning gardening show, sports talk in late PM drive, Sunday evening talk, Larry King overnights). It was still all-news in 1996, but gradually transitioned back to news/talk, with the last news block not in AM drive was dropped in 2004.

This also points out a difficulty in determining what's all-news and what's not. Some all-news stations retained talk or talk-like programming in off hours. Would that disqualify them from being all-news?

 

[Mark Roberts]

---NBC's NIS Network---
A few dozen stations aired an all-news format beginning in 1975, using NBC's News and Information Service (NIS). They included WNWS-FM New York (now WQHT), WNIS-FM Chicago (now WKQX) and WBAL-FM Baltimore (now WIYY). Most of those stations left the All-News format when the NIS network shut down in 1977.

The former KUDL(AM) in Kansas City (technically, Fairway, a postage-stamp-sized suburb on the Kansas side of the metro) joined NIS in 1975. I remember hearing it in May 1976 when I was in Kansas City to take my FCC licensing exam. One oddity was that the top-of-hour always had to be a local broadcast because NIS shared the same network line as the parent NBC network, which aired network news at the top of the hour. According to a Kansas City Star article in November 1976 about the impending demise of NIS, KUDL was one of the first NIS affiliates. In that article, the GM of KUDL stated plans to start a locally-originated all-news format which eventually had some talk blocks. KUDL changed its calls to KCNW that December. That month, KCNW was advertising for an operations director in charge of news to supervise a staff of 15. Ultimately, there was a staff of 35, but the end times arrived in the form of a religious broadcaster who offered to buy the station late in 1977. The sale closed in April of the following year, and the format changed to "inspirational programming". However, the calls did not change, being repurposed to stand for "Kansas City's New Way", and the station has those calls today.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

IHeart 24/7 News now known as NBC News Radio started in 2013. The NBC brand was included in 2016 for Iheart.

NBC News Radio Now on iHeartRadio

Exciting news for all our current events fans out there, iHeartMedia's 24/7 News Network has joined forces with NBC News to bring iHeartRadio listeners "NBC News Radio", a source for national and international news whenever and wherever you are!

blog.iheart.com

 

[Weiserguy]

Audacy's KRLD Dallas has moved to an All-News format only heard in AM and PM drive, no longer all day on weekdays. So I wanted to look at how long the All-News stations have been in the format. I also included a few All-News stations of the past and looked at some NIS affiliates as well.


WINS New York ... 1965

WCBS New York ... 1967

KNX Los Angeles ... 1968 [...etc...]

Boychik, congrats, you are our undisputed king of the listicles.

In the time I've lived in the SFBA market, I can think of three stations that went up against KCBS at some point or other. One was KFYI-AM, the former KDIA/1310, which launched in 1984 but made it barely 4 months under the ownership of Adam Clayton Powell III, the son of the famous Congressman from Harlem. A second attempt happened at KPIX-FM/95.7, owned back then by Group W/Westinghouse; that launched in the mid-1990's and lasted a year, 18 months, some duration like that. Then there was KGO, under Cumulus, that tried the ill-fated "All News, Some of the Time" debacle. That made it three years (Dec 2011-Dec 2014), and was most notable for having their Ops Director be Kevin Metheny, the real life guy who was Howard Stern's PD at WNBC, the guy Stern nicknamed "Pig Vomit", and who died at his desk while at KGO.)

Also, in Seattle, there was an all-news predecessor to KOMO/1000 (which is, btw, now KNWN, as in "Northwest News"). That was KING/1090, with a terrible night signal. It launched around Sept 1994, and six months later was sold (by the heirs of the late Dorothy Bullitt) to Bonneville, which didn't retain the format.

 

[K.M. Richards]

In the time I've lived in the SFBA market, I can think of three stations that went up against KCBS at some point or other. One was KFYI-AM, the former KDIA/1310, which launched in 1984 but made it barely 4 months under the ownership of Adam Clayton Powell III, the son of the famous Congressman from Harlem. A second attempt happened at KPIX-FM/95.7, owned back then by Group W/Westinghouse; that launched in the mid-1990's and lasted a year, 18 months, some duration like that. Then there was KGO, under Cumulus, that tried the ill-fated "All News, Some of the Time" debacle. That made it three years (Dec 2011-Dec 2014), and was most notable for having their Ops Director be Kevin Metheny, the real life guy who was Howard Stern's PD at WNBC, the guy Stern nicknamed "Pig Vomit", and who died at his desk while at KGO.)

I am amazed, given that we drifted into a side conversation about the ill-fated News and Information Service, that you missed KNAI/99.7 , the former KNBR-FM that was flipped to NIS. On a vacation to S.F. during that period, I remember hearing a spot on the AM promoting it with the line "now there's an all-News station on FM!" and asking myself "why?" ...

 

[Gregg.]

Also, in Seattle, there was an all-news predecessor to KOMO/1000 (which is, btw, now KNWN, as in "Northwest News"). That was KING/1090, with a terrible night signal. It launched around Sept 1994, and six months later was sold (by the heirs of the late Dorothy Bullitt) to Bonneville, which didn't retain the format.

Actually, I could have also mentioned 710 KIRO Seattle, which had an All-News format in some dayparts for a while in the 1980s. I think they even did it for a while overnight as well as AM and PM drive.

 

[Kemosabe]

Missing from the OP's list is WMAQ, Chicago. On 1 March 1988, the Group W station became "All News 67" and sounded much like its New York sister, WINS. It even adopted the slogan, "you give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world."

 

[Weiserguy]

I am amazed, given that we drifted into a side conversation about the ill-fated News and Information Service, that you missed KNAI/99.7 , the former KNBR-FM that was flipped to NIS. On a vacation to S.F. during that period, I remember hearing a spot on the AM promoting it with the line "now there's an all-News station on FM!" and asking myself "why?" ...

Fair point, but the answer is in the first nine words of what I wrote (after tweaking Craig a bit): "In the time I've lived in the SFBA market..." I first moved here in 1982. I got to experience NIS while still in New York, on WNWS. I have high respect for what they achieved, but I think it launched just a few weeks after a 1975 vacation out here, so I never got to hear it on any West Coast station.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Also, in Seattle, there was an all-news predecessor to KOMO/1000 (which is, btw, now KNWN, as in "Northwest News"). That was KING/1090, with a terrible night signal. It launched around Sept 1994, and six months later was sold (by the heirs of the late Dorothy Bullitt) to Bonneville, which didn't retain the format.

KING went all-news before that, actually, in 1983 or 1984. I know because the ND who helped launch that format went to KTRH in Houston in the fall of 1984...and hired me in February of the following year.

 

[Mark Roberts]

St. Louis had two attempts at all-news.

There was WIL which started all-news on September 19, 1967. That lasted until July 1968, when it switched to country. For those of you conversant with St. Louis media, its country competition at the time was KSTL (!), WGNU, and KXEN (afternoons only, with "cowboy ballads").

Much later, and with much more complexity, there was KSD (now KTRS, also KUSA once upon a time). The Post-Dispatch traded KSD to Combined Communications, which later merged with Gannett, in 1979. Even before that change in ownership, KSD started carrying Larry King, added Mutual news to its schedule, and began a nightly sports-talk show. KSD was had an NBC radio affiliation. KSD gradually switched to news and talk, expelling all music from its schedule by September. The legendary Bob Hyland, VP of KMOX, started raiding KSD for talent. (Hyland was known to hire people simply to keep them off competing stations.) Ratings were poor. There were quality issues. The station tried to win the rights to broadcast Cardinals baseball but was outbid, substantially, by KMOX. There were frequent changes in executive leadership. By the end of February, 1980, KSD lost its entire sports department and had to rebuild that part of its schedule. The NBC network affiliation was lost to...KXOK. Ouch! On August 25, the talk-show hosts were fired and the station went to all-news. That didn't last even half a year. On February 1, 1981, the station went to country, but still kept Larry King in overnights! The GM of KSD at the time estimated to the Post-Dispatch that the station had been losing $2 million a year under the news/talk and all-news formats. KMOX was just too mighty to compete with.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Missing from the OP's list is WMAQ, Chicago. On 1 March 1988, the Group W station became "All News 67" and sounded much like its New York sister, WINS. It even adopted the slogan, "you give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world."

WMAQ later adopted a more flexible clock. By the time I lived in Chicago (late 1990s), it was on a half-hour news cycle and had some longer-form news programs in the evenings.

I wish I had recorded airchecks of it. It was a worthy competitor to WBBM.

 

[Mark Roberts]

A second attempt happened at KPIX-FM/95.7, owned back then by Group W/Westinghouse; that launched in the mid-1990's and lasted a year, 18 months, some duration like that.

Pretty forgettable, wasn't it? I wasn't living in the Bay Area at the time, but I heard it during a visit in 1995. It felt like they were saying "KPIX, The Express" every half-minutes. It was also simulcasting on the AM station at 1550, if I recall correctly.

95.7 has been a cursed Bay Area frequency for so long, though KGMZ seems to have gotten some traction.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I first moved here in 1982.

Had that been in the post I quoted, I certainly would have seen why you did not mention KNAI.

Now, with the realization that all of the attempts you referenced came after NIS, I still wonder why there was a perceived need for all-News on FM, especially given that it took a longer time for FM to catch on on that market than in most of the country, as has been well-documented in many other discussions.

Here is what I found strange about KNAI: They did a top-of-hour live newscast when they could have run the NBC network cast. I wonder if perhaps NBC was trying to keep its main branding off of NIS ...

 

[NoMoreLurking]

KPIX-FM 95.7 carried the OJ trial gavel-to-gavel, which was its claim to fame in the mid 90s. Then as a news/talk station without the sensational trial coverage, KPIX radio died a slow death, was sold/traded, and multiple formats followed.

I arrived in the Bay Area in 1988, and KCBS did have long news blocks but was not 100% news. There were a few midday/evening talk shows between the blocks. The jingle went "News and more on 74...." The "and more" stopped in late 1990, when KCBS officially went all news 24/7. The jingle melody lasts to this day, without the lyrics.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Here is what I found strange about KNAI: They did a top-of-hour live newscast when they could have run the NBC network cast. I wonder if perhaps NBC was trying to keep its main branding off of NIS ...

As I posted above about Kansas City's KUDL:

One oddity was that the top-of-hour always had to be a local broadcast because NIS shared the same network line as the parent NBC network, which aired network news at the top of the hour.

I would treat this as another data point, since I did not get the chance to hear any other NIS station.

Kansas City's traditional NBC affiliate for most of that time was KBEA (not WDAF as one might think).

 

[Mark Roberts]

And how could we forget Canada's CKO, which was mostly on FM?

 

[K.M. Richards]

As I posted above about Kansas City's KUDL:

One oddity was that the top-of-hour always had to be a local broadcast because NIS shared the same network line as the parent NBC network, which aired network news at the top of the hour.

I would treat this as another data point, since I did not get the chance to hear any other NIS station.

Well, I can pretty much prove that a local TOH newscast was not a requirement for NIS affiliates. That station that I sat in the PD chair at post-NIS was KAAP/1400 in Oxnard-Ventura CA. That happened to be the market I grew up in, so I know the history of the stations at that point in time.

KAAP (as KQIQ; the call letters changed in January 1974) had been an affiliate of the American Information Network before NIS launched, and they ran that network's newscast at the top of the hour through those years ... and we continued to do so in drive time under the simulcast with KAAP-FM/96.7 during my tenure there.