A
AspiringRadioManFromNJ
Guest
This afternoon at 5PM E.D.T., CBS Radio will officially change formats on their 92.3FM radio property in New York City to a CHR Format to be known as "Now 92.3" This will present direct competition to ClearChannel's WHTZ "Z100" on 100.3FM for the first time in over a decade. It will also bring to an end the second incarnation of "K-Rock" and the WXRK call letters which both took a brief "vacation" (to Cleveland Heights, Ohio) after the departure of Howard Stern a few years back.
Of course, with the impending format change, it is all but certain that the WXRK call letters will be changed once again. As I write this, only several people who work for CBS Radio know what the new calls will be. I, however, suspect that the format change may bring some legendary New York City call letters back to the #1 market. A recent promo for "Now 92.3" suggests the new station will be, "something new, something now"
The WNEW call letters were once used for an AM radio station, an FM radio station, and TV channel 5, when all three New York stations were owned by Metromedia. Channel 5 was sold in the mid eighties and became Fox affiliated WNYW. The legendary AM station at 1130AM which boasted an adult contemporary and eventually a standards format was sold to Bloomberg in 1992 and became WBBR. Finally, the legendary FM station at 102.7FM was "where rock lives" and was a free-form AOR rock station since the late 1960s, but started catastrophically dropping in both billing and ratings throughout the 1990s. What once was a legendary rock format but became a mere shadow of its former self was mercifully discontinued in the late 90s, and WNEW-FM saw a series of format changes before settling on the very successful female-leaning adult contemporary "Fresh 102.7". WNEW were the only calls 102.7FM in New York ever knew, but in 2007 the station would experience its first call letter change, and became WWFS. The WNEW calls were "parked" on 106.3FM in Jupiter, Florida, which ironically has had better ratings than WNEW-FM did in New York in its final years.
But as CBS Radio proved with WXRK on 92.3FM, and other radio companies have proved before - calls can be recycled. The WNOW calls are currently unavailable, and WNEW just may fit a "something new, something now" radio station.
Of course, with the impending format change, it is all but certain that the WXRK call letters will be changed once again. As I write this, only several people who work for CBS Radio know what the new calls will be. I, however, suspect that the format change may bring some legendary New York City call letters back to the #1 market. A recent promo for "Now 92.3" suggests the new station will be, "something new, something now"
The WNEW call letters were once used for an AM radio station, an FM radio station, and TV channel 5, when all three New York stations were owned by Metromedia. Channel 5 was sold in the mid eighties and became Fox affiliated WNYW. The legendary AM station at 1130AM which boasted an adult contemporary and eventually a standards format was sold to Bloomberg in 1992 and became WBBR. Finally, the legendary FM station at 102.7FM was "where rock lives" and was a free-form AOR rock station since the late 1960s, but started catastrophically dropping in both billing and ratings throughout the 1990s. What once was a legendary rock format but became a mere shadow of its former self was mercifully discontinued in the late 90s, and WNEW-FM saw a series of format changes before settling on the very successful female-leaning adult contemporary "Fresh 102.7". WNEW were the only calls 102.7FM in New York ever knew, but in 2007 the station would experience its first call letter change, and became WWFS. The WNEW calls were "parked" on 106.3FM in Jupiter, Florida, which ironically has had better ratings than WNEW-FM did in New York in its final years.
But as CBS Radio proved with WXRK on 92.3FM, and other radio companies have proved before - calls can be recycled. The WNOW calls are currently unavailable, and WNEW just may fit a "something new, something now" radio station.
