WCBS-AM Celebrates 45 years of All-News

[recto101]

Wayne Cabot has brought in Charles Osgood to celebrate the 45th anniversary of WCBS-AM 88 in the news era

 

[DanStrassberg]

Wayne Cabot has brought in Charles Osgood to celebrate the 45th anniversary of WCBS-AM 88 in the news era

IIRC, the start of all-news at WCBS was marred by the crash of a small private plane into the shared WCBS/WFAN tower near City Island. (I believe the tower is ON and island known as High Island.) Had the two stations been transmitting from the tower before the plane accident, or was it the plan for WCBS to go on the air from the new site at the same time that the all-news format debuted? Also, IIRC, there was no auxiliary tower on High Island at the time of the crash. I believe that one of the two stations (not sure which one) obtained the use of WABC's auxiliary tower in Lodi until either a short aux tower was constructed on High Island or the tall main tower could be rebuilt. I have no idea what the station that did not use the WABC aux tower did for an antenna until the main High Island tower could be rebuilt. The main tower was subsequently modified. It was originally top-loaded only at 660 but the frequency-selective top load did not work satisfactorily and both stations now use the entire tower. It's 207 degrees at 880 but only 155 degrees at 660. WFAN apparently uses a salt-water ground to compensate for the tower height, which is slightly shorter than normal for a Class A AM at 660.

 

[recto101]

True and also WINS was all news 2 years earlier in 1965.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Had the two stations been transmitting from the tower before the plane accident, or was it the plan for WCBS to go on the air from the new site at the same time that the all-news format debuted?

They were both on the air from that tower at the time of the crash. The all-news format debuted on schedule, but on WCBS-FM.

 

[fybush]

Had the two stations been transmitting from the tower before the plane accident, or was it the plan for WCBS to go on the air from the new site at the same time that the all-news format debuted? Also, IIRC, there was no auxiliary tower on High Island at the time of the crash. I believe that one of the two stations (not sure which one) obtained the use of WABC's auxiliary tower in Lodi until either a short aux tower was constructed on High Island or the tall main tower could be rebuilt. I have no idea what the station that did not use the WABC aux tower did for an antenna until the main High Island tower could be rebuilt.

I wrote about this pretty extensively some years back:

http://www.fybush.com/site-030424.html

WNBC used the backup WABC tower at Lodi; WCBS went to Astoria, Queens, using one of the WLIB towers along the East River that had just been vacated when 1190 moved to New Jersey.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Wayne Cabot and Charles Osgood represent two of the most listenable radio voices ever.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I wrote about this pretty extensively some years back: http://www.fybush.com/site-030424.html
WNBC used the backup WABC tower at Lodi; WCBS went to Astoria, Queens, using one of the WLIB towers along the East River that had just been vacated when 1190 moved to New Jersey.

Did WLIB really have multiple towers when it broadcast from the Queens site? It was 1 kW ND L-WOWO at that time, but it could have been using a long-wire, and would therefore have had two towers. I remember seeing the WLIB Queens site from--I believe--the Tri-Borough Bridge back in the '40s but I can't recall how many towers there were. At that time, WNYC (AM) was on 830 with 1-kW ND L-WCCO and had an STA to remain on until 9PM EST. The STA enabled WNYC to stay on until 10PM EDT in the summer months. WNYC's site was in Queens or Brooklyn not far from the East River (opposite 32nd St in Manhattan, I believe). It had two towers, which might mean that the towers had originally hosted a long-wire but were later converted to vertical radiators, one of which was used by day and both of which were used as a DA to protect WCCO during the hours when WNYC's STA was in effect. I lived in the northwest Bronx, east of Riverdale and south of Yonkers. When they transmitted from Queens/Brooklyn, both WLIB and WNYC--during all hours when they operated--had absolutely horrendous signals (unlistenable for all practical purposes) in the northwest Bronx. The moves to the Meadowlands (WLIB) and S Kearney (WNYC) dramatically improved the stations' signals in the northwest Bronx.

Oh, and in the '40s WWRL transmitted from a single tower in the back yard of what looked like an ordinary residence in the Woodside section of Queens. WWRL was running 250W-U. I believe it was a relatively rare Class IV on a Class III channel. Despite WWRL's higher frequency, lower power, and site farther from salt water, I don't recall WWRL's signal in the Bronx on 1600 being noticeably worse than WLIB's or WNYC's.

 

[fybush]

Did WLIB really have multiple towers when it broadcast from the Queens site? It was 1 kW ND L-WOWO at that time, but it could have been using a long-wire, and would therefore have had two towers. I remember seeing the WLIB Queens site from--I believe--the Tri-Borough Bridge back in the '40s but I can't recall how many towers there were.

I think, now that you mention it, that the WLIB site was just one tower at that point. I checked out the remains of the site a few years ago. The transmitter building is long gone, but the pier where the tower sat was still sitting there, just a concrete platform with some debris where the tower base would once have been.

Oh, and in the '40s WWRL transmitted from a single tower in the back yard of what looked like an ordinary residence in the Woodside section of Queens. WWRL was running 250W-U. I believe it was a relatively rare Class IV on a Class III channel. Despite WWRL's higher frequency, lower power, and site farther from salt water, I don't recall WWRL's signal in the Bronx on 1600 being noticeably worse than WLIB's or WNYC's.

WWRL was uniquely affected by the NARBA shifts. Before 1941, WWRL and WCNW were sharing time on 1500, which was a Class IV channel. Under the "table method" that shifted most everything from 1070 kHz and above upward by 30 kHz, that "graveyard" 1500 channel would have become 1530, but the class III channels back then ended at 1450, with 1460-1470-1480-1490 occupied by higher-class signals. Instead of continuing that pattern, which would have made 1490-1500-1510-1520 into clear channels and moved the 1500 "graveyarders" to 1530, NARBA moved the 1500 stations to 1490 and created a new contiguous block of clear channels from 1500-1530. (1540, 1550, 1570 and 1580 were foreign clears, 1560 was a US clear and 1590 and 1600 became class III regional channels as part of the expansion of the AM band upward.)

But in New York City, that created a problem: WHOM was a class III regional on 1450 that moved by table to 1480, and so WWRL/WCNW couldn't go to 1490 with the rest of their 1500 brothers and sisters. What to do? The FCC relocated WCNW and WWRL to the top of the dial, 1600. WCNW didn't stay long - it applied to become a daytimer on 1190, a frequency that opened up when WGBS/WINS relocated from 1180 to 1010, and after a month or so of sharing time on 1600 with WWRL, WCNW moved down to 1190 and soon changed calls to WLIB.

 

[DanStrassberg]

WWRL was uniquely affected by the NARBA shifts. Before 1941,

Well, if you go back to the '40s and if you consider Asbury Park to be part of the New York metro, you find another Class IV station on a Class III channel. At the time, its calls were WCAP and it had been part of a three-way time share among Asbury Park, Camden, and Trenton. I believe that WCAP, WCAM (Camden), and WTNJ (Trenton) shared time on 1310--and before NARBA, on 1280. I think each station ran 500W ND day and night. I've never heard how the broadcast week was allocated among them.

Sometime after NARBA (could have been as late as the '50s), the FCC decided to break up the three-way time-share and made WCAP and WCAM into 250W full-time Class IVs (graveyarders) on the Class III 1310 channel. WTNJ became a 250W daytimer on the Class III 1300 channel. (At the time, the minimum power for Class III AMs was 500W, but in crowded New Jersey, 500W wouldn't fit on 1300 in Trenton unless a directional antenna was used. Apparently WTNJ did not have the wherewithal to build one just then.

WCAP on 1310 and WTNJ on 1300 eventually made lemonade out of the lemons the FCC had handed them. With the aid of DAs, both became Class Bs and run power higher than 500W (at least by day). AFAIK. only what used to be WCAM down in the Philadelphia market remains a Class C (graveyarder) on a Class B channel (1310) running one of the old sets of Class C powers (1 kW-D/250 W-N ND-U). If its antenna efficiency meets Class B minimums, WCAM could now be reclassified as a Class B; however, I don't know whether that change was ever made

 

[disney fanatic]

In celebration of its successful occasion, I will resent to you the launch of WCBS-AM from 45 years ago this week. This is courtesy of Don Swaim's website, and it's in 2 parts.

http://donswaim.com/wcbs.debut.1.mp3
http://donswaim.com/wcbs.debut.2.mp3

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Wayne Cabot has brought in Charles Osgood to celebrate the 45th anniversary of WCBS-AM 88 in the news era

IIRC, the start of all-news at WCBS was marred by the crash of a small private plane into the shared WCBS/WFAN tower (?) near City Island.

I'm confused-- WFAN started operations some 20+ years after WCBS innaugurated NYC's 2nd all-news format to WINS. FAN's first AM frequency was 1050 kc, the former home of WHN. In 1987, Current FOX NEWS commentator Allan Colmes aired the final hours of the old WNBC AM, segueing to WFAN at their new home, 660.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Around the 30 minute part of the first clip is an obvious plug for the CBS-developed EVR (which never became a mass-market item either for the educational, consumer, or business markets), although anchor Steve Porter did disclose that EVR was a CBS development.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Since the all-news format wasn't going to be an AM/FM simulcast, I wonder if WCBS gave any thought to deferring the start of "Newsradio 88" until 880 was able to go back on the air.

 

[deepstblu]

AFAIK. only what used to be WCAM down in the Philadelphia market remains a Class C (graveyarder) on a Class B channel (1310) running one of the old sets of Class C powers (1 kW-D/250 W-N ND-U). If its antenna efficiency meets Class B minimums, WCAM could now be reclassified as a Class B; however, I don't know whether that change was ever made

The ex-WCAM (now WEMG) is on the FCC books as a Class B.

 

[recto101]

Around the 30 minute part of the first clip is an obvious plug for the CBS-developed EVR (which never became a mass-market item either for the educational, consumer, or business markets), although anchor Steve Porter did disclose that EVR was a CBS development.

What happened to Steve Porter of WCBS-FM/AM after News 880 was born. I know Osgood is still around.

 

[reelyreal]

Since the all-news format wasn't going to be an AM/FM simulcast, I wonder if WCBS gave any thought to deferring the start of "Newsradio 88" until 880 was able to go back on the air.

There was a lot of money and resources invested in the new format, and with only hours to spare and the FM ready for a format change itself, I bet it made more sense to launch on FM than hold it back.