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New York and Two CHR Stations

A

AM-FM-DXer

Historical question. I know that Z100 and 92.3 Now/Amp overlapped in the 2010s, but was there ever an earlier time - especially in the late '80s or early '90s - that NYC had two CHR/Pop stations? I am not including rhythmic stations in this. Z100 went in an alternative direction circa 1992-1995. My only guess is that WPLJ and Z100 might have had a brief period in which both were CHR.

Thanks in advance!
 
WPLJ was CHR from June 1983 to February 1992. As for the "brief period", maybe you're thinking of when they switched their call letters to WWPR in 1987-1988 to match their slogan "Power 95".
 
kevtronics said:
WPLJ was CHR from June 1983 to February 1992. As for the "brief period", maybe you're thinking of when they switched their call letters to WWPR in 1987-1988 to match their slogan "Power 95".
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Thank you. So basically, from 1983 to 1992, both WPLJ and Z100 were CHR/Pop stations? I was thinking of the Power days, but did not remember that WPLJ was actually CHR before it became "Power."
 
kevtronics said:
WABC itself was no longer CHR by the time they stopped playing music in 1982.
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Though they still reported to R&R's CHR panel, you can see they were definitely adult-leaning at the time... eg. "I Love Rock & Roll" and "Freeze Frame" were both top ten hits in April 1982, and WABC was playing neither.
1749577782426.png
 
WYNY was full AC - remember, during the early 80s CHR doldrums, the music on the Pop charts was very soft overall, there was a lot of overlap and CHRs could sound AC, and vice versa.
1749586827704.png1749587060636.png1749587093071.png
 
WPLJ
kevtronics said:
WPLJ was CHR from June 1983 to February 1992. As for the "brief period", maybe you're thinking of when they switched their call letters to WWPR in 1987-1988 to match their slogan "Power 95".
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When WPLJ first switched to CHR, before becoming "WPLJ -Power 95 they were "Hit Radio 95 - WPLJ". They also ran a lot of the late era "Music Radio WABC" style jingles.

84-85 was a great time for CHR in NY. In addition, heading out east onto Long Island, there was (and still is) an additional CHR - WBLI 106.1.
 
luperm said:
If I recall correctly, WYNY was a sorta hot-leaning A/C... almost bordering on a low-key CHR at the time.
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Some people remember it as "CHR" because NYC had no Top 40 stations at that time. WYNY's format had it playing a contemporary song twice an hour and a recent hit twice an hour. It also played a 1960s hit a few times an hour. The rest of the time it was all 1970s gold. It rarely played something too rocking or R&B. But it also rarely played a soft AC song.

The format was very popular, as you can see from that ratings report where it was #4 in NYC. And #1 in those key demographics of 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. But when WPLJ and Z100 went true Top 40, that meant WYNY's decline.
 
I stopped listening to WYNY when Dan Daniel was replaced as the morning DJ by the team of Harris and Harris. I also thought Lite-FM took listeners away from WYNY.
 
Gregg. said:
Some people remember it as "CHR" because NYC had no Top 40 stations at that time. WYNY's format had it playing a contemporary song twice an hour and a recent hit twice an hour. It also played a 1960s hit a few times an hour. The rest of the time it was all 1970s gold. It rarely played something too rocking or R&B. But it also rarely played a soft AC song.

The format was very popular, as you can see from that ratings report where it was #4 in NYC. And #1 in those key demographics of 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. But when WPLJ and Z100 went true Top 40, that meant WYNY's decline.
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Wasn't WNBC CHR?
 
BruceNYC said:
I stopped listening to WYNY when Dan Daniel was replaced as the morning DJ by the team of Harris and Harris. I also thought Lite-FM took listeners away from WYNY.
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One of the Harris' is Paul Harris who later went on to a 40 year career as a talk show host in St. Louis.
 


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