Post by musicradio77 on Jun 4, 2005 13:12:46 GMT -5
Here are a bunch of articles taken from the Daily News about the day CBS-FM died:
Oldies suddenly a thing of past in WCBS shift
BY RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Oldies radio is dead in New York City.
After more than three decades as the top oldies station in the country, WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) abruptly scrapped its format yesterday for a concept called Jack.
As Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" trailed off at 5 p.m., a voice intoned: "Why don't we play what we want? There's a whole world of songs out there."
The first song under the new format was the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right." Soon after, CBS played Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)."
The station had been home to some of the most famous names of New York radio, including Cousin Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy, many of whom shifted from WABC-AM when it went from music to talk.
"I've expected something like this," Morrow said yesterday. "They have every right to try what they want to try. My audience won't be without me for long."
The move stunned longtime listeners.
"I came home and I turned the radio on and it was not there," said Pamela Hall, who lives in the Bronx. "I thought I was going to faint . . . I really am sick. Part of my family is gone."
"This is the largest, the biggest abandonment of a loyal market segment in the history of New York radio," said listener Howard Bailen, of Manhasset, L.I. "I tuned in and heard a song you'd never hear on CBS. It's the last thing New York needs."
But officials at Infinity Broadcasting, which owns the station, said the new format was right for New York. "We did a lot of market research and found a hole in the market that wasn't being served by any other station," said Chad Brown, CBS' vice president and general manager.
No personalities will be heard on the station at the start. Oldies fans will be left to satellite or Internet radio; www.wcbsfm.com still will offer oldies programming.
The Jack format blends hits from the past four decades, creating what the company claims is the "most expansive" playlist heard on radio.
Oldies suddenly a thing of past in WCBS shift
BY RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Oldies radio is dead in New York City.
After more than three decades as the top oldies station in the country, WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) abruptly scrapped its format yesterday for a concept called Jack.
As Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" trailed off at 5 p.m., a voice intoned: "Why don't we play what we want? There's a whole world of songs out there."
The first song under the new format was the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right." Soon after, CBS played Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)."
The station had been home to some of the most famous names of New York radio, including Cousin Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy, many of whom shifted from WABC-AM when it went from music to talk.
"I've expected something like this," Morrow said yesterday. "They have every right to try what they want to try. My audience won't be without me for long."
The move stunned longtime listeners.
"I came home and I turned the radio on and it was not there," said Pamela Hall, who lives in the Bronx. "I thought I was going to faint . . . I really am sick. Part of my family is gone."
"This is the largest, the biggest abandonment of a loyal market segment in the history of New York radio," said listener Howard Bailen, of Manhasset, L.I. "I tuned in and heard a song you'd never hear on CBS. It's the last thing New York needs."
But officials at Infinity Broadcasting, which owns the station, said the new format was right for New York. "We did a lot of market research and found a hole in the market that wasn't being served by any other station," said Chad Brown, CBS' vice president and general manager.
No personalities will be heard on the station at the start. Oldies fans will be left to satellite or Internet radio; www.wcbsfm.com still will offer oldies programming.
The Jack format blends hits from the past four decades, creating what the company claims is the "most expansive" playlist heard on radio.
