The End of WNBC - 35 Years Ago Today

[MTNProductions]

It was on this date, 10/7/88, WNBC signed off the air for good. WNBC has been an institution for 66 years, and it was the home of Don Imus, Howard Stern and many others to the station. I found all of the airchecks from the last day of WNBC through the courtesy of Ellis Feaster. It starts with Don Imus and then, Dale Parsons hosted "The First 66 Years" where they looked back at WNBC from the last 66 years as a great radio station that brought classic Old Time Radio, music and many others to the station. They had some great clips from classic OTR and a few others throughout the special. After that, Alan Colmes does his final show on WNBC where Bruce Morrow and Joe McCoy has stopped by and saying their final words and their goodbye until the final moments of WNBC has faded away. The station becomes WFAN at 5:30 PM after it signed off. WFAN has been on 660 for 35 years, along with its FM simulcast on 101.9 which has been on for almost a year. I will give you the airchecks from the last day of WNBC. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixT5_oy484
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is4PTV1eryg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awIAy8kNv1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_VILFJnekU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VNPQBCdw3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixo7pIxM6iA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=safCjYwOr98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHoJemadTRw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70sZ2xN5Pp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3HuRXmnDJs

 

[FredLeonard]

It wasn't WNBC for 66 years.

WEAF 1922-1946
WNBC 1946=1954
WRCA 1954-1960
WNBC 1960-1988

More importantly, "Neutron" Jack Welch took NBC out of the radio business and killed the NBC Radio Network (as well as The Radio Corporation of America). It was the beginning of the end of radio. There's a theater across the street from 30 Rock that still carries the name "Radio City" but that's about the last vestige of radio in Rockefeller Center. Despite the occasional creative brilliance of people like Pat Weaver, what killed radio is the arrogant incompetence of people like David Sarnoff (and, of course, Pig Virus).

 

[wjf82]

It's 25 years, not 35.

 

[CTListener]

It wasn't WNBC for 66 years.

It's 25 years, not 35.

And it wasn't a great radio station by any standard in its final years. Remember the all-request afternoon show?

 

[FredLeonard]

It was a midday show and not in the final years. It was replaced by Soupy Sales, giving WNBC a line-up of Imus, Soupy and Howard Stern with NBC claiming they could not make money in radio.

Another great period at WNNNNNNNBC was the talk format during the 60s with Big Wilson, Al Metzer, Ed McMahon, Brad Crandall (among others).

 

[davideduardo]

It was a midday show and not in the final years. It was replaced by Soupy Sales, giving WNBC a line-up of Imus, Soupy and Howard Stern with NBC claiming they could not make money in radio..

Some of use believe that NBC's real inability to survive in radio had to do with the historical prejudice against FM based on the Sarnoff / Armstrong feud going back to the late 30's.

That's why, by 1985, NBC was down to 3 AMs and 5 FMs, including such things as WJIB, a declining station in a dying format. As far back as 1975, NBC only had 7 radio properties, half those allowed under regulations. It simply had abandoned radio, mentally, when it fell in love with the Peacock.

 

[MTNProductions]

It's 25 years, not 35.

Thanks for the correction. Sorry for my mistake! WNBC ended 25 years ago this week.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Some of use believe that NBC's real inability to survive in radio had to do with the historical prejudice against FM based on the Sarnoff / Armstrong feud going back to the late 30's. .

Sarnoff tried to strangle FM in the cradle much the same way the Hollywood movie industry tried to kill the VCR in the early 1980's. Fortunately neither succeeded. Stupid and short sided, playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

In many ways Sarnoff was a brilliant businessman, but he was also an unscrupulous snake. His screwing of Armstrong was beyond disgusting. Unfortunately such behavior was not uncommon among industry moguls of that era.

 

[TheBigA]

Some of use believe that NBC's real inability to survive in radio had to do with the historical prejudice against FM based on the Sarnoff / Armstrong feud going back to the late 30's.

My view is that he lost interest in radio once TV came along. He suffered from short attention span. The bigger problem was that Sarnoff's ego was unable to create a line of succession when he died. He died in 1971, just as FM was gaining popularity. His son Robert was not the leader RCA needed in the 1970s. By the 80s, the company was very weak, and ripe for takeover. GE bought it in 1986, and started selling assets. Radio was just one of many. One might say the best thing that happened to 660 AM was when Emmis bought it and flipped it to WFAN.

The one-two punch of the sale of RCA followed by CBS set the stage for the merger-mania that would hit the industry in the 90s.

 

[rjrodrig]

Does anyone have the full set of weekly top 30 charts from WNBC in the 70s and 80s? I still have recordings of some of these, mostly from 1978-1981.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

ARSA only has 14 WNBC Surveys. That's low for a market the size of NYC.

 

[cawasinnj]

More importantly, "Neutron" Jack Welch took NBC out of the radio business and killed the NBC Radio Network (as well as The Radio Corporation of America)

I remember reading that Welch said when he retired that his biggest regret was selling NBC Radio. It was definitely a mistake.

 

[FredLeonard]

I remember reading that Welch said when he retired that his biggest regret was selling NBC Radio. It was definitely a mistake.

Read it where? I seriously doubt he ever said that. By the principles under which he operated throughout his career, it was a sound business decision. NBC's radio division was performing poorly then and radio was already in decline.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

I believe Welch said it in his autobiography, "Straight From the Gut", which he wrote after he left GE.