WCBS
Broadcast areaNew York metropolitan area
Frequency880 kHz
BrandingWCBS Newsradio 880
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatAll-news radio
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
September 20, 1924 (1924-09-20)
Former call signs
  • WAHG (1924–1926)
  • WABC (1926–1928)
  • WABC-WBOQ (1928–1940)
  • WABC (1940–1946)
Former frequencies
  • 920 kHz (1924–1925)
  • 950 kHz (1925–1927)
  • 920 kHz (1927)
  • 970 kHz (1927–1928)
  • 860 kHz (1928–1941)
Call sign meaning
Columbia Broadcasting System, former owner's former legal name CBS
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID9636
ClassA (Clear channel)
Power50,000 watts (unlimited)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via Audacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/wcbs880

WCBS (880 AM, "WCBS Newsradio 880") is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. WCBS's studios are located in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan and its transmitter site is located on High Island in the Bronx. Its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the eastern United States and Canada.

History

The station's history traces back to September 20, 1924, when it was issued its first license, as WAHG on 920 AM, to Alfred H. Grebe & Company.[2] WAHG was a pioneering station in New York, and was one of the first commercial radio stations to broadcast from remote locations including horse races and yachting events. In early 1925, WAHG moved to 950 kHz.[3]

In 1926, Grebe arranged a change to the station's call sign to WABC, reflecting the Atlantic Broadcasting Company, after concluding a business arrangement with the Ashland Battery Company in Asheville, North Carolina, which had been assigned WABC in 1925 for its station. Grebe then moved the studios to West 57th Street, which would not be the last time it would operate from 57th Street. On March 26, 1925, a second station, WBOQ, standing for "Borough of Queens", was licensed to A. H. Grebe & Company on 1270 kHz.[4] Grebe's Atlantic Broadcasting Company eventually was licensed for four New York City-area stations: WABC, WBOQ, plus portable stations WGMU and WRMU.

The two portable stations were deleted on July 31, 1928, after the recently formed Federal Radio Commission (FRC) decided that movable stations were too difficult to regulate.[5] On November 11, 1928, WABC and WBOQ were formally consolidated as WABC-WBOQ, and the FRC's General Order 40 moved the combined operation to a "clear channel" frequency of 860 kHz.[6] WABC-WBOQ became a part-time affiliate of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), which was looking for a full-time radio presence in New York City (CBS's first flagship was WOR). After a short time broadcasting CBS programming three days a week, CBS president William S. Paley purchased WABC-WBOQ and it became a subsidiary of CBS.

The station increased its transmitting power from 5,000 to its present 50,000 watts. Studios also moved into the CBS headquarters at 485 Madison Avenue, on the corner of 52nd Street. The station featured a mix of local interest programming, ethnic content and music programs from CBS's national feed. As time went by, WABC turned more and more to the national programming provided by CBS and its affiliates, and its broadcast day was influenced by CBS's growing interest in news programming. In 1939, the broadcasting operations were moved across 52nd Street from the headquarters to the new CBS Studio Building.

On November 2, 1946, the call sign was changed from WABC to WCBS, in order to differentiate the station from the recently formed American Broadcasting Company, and more closely identify it as Columbia Broadcasting System's primary outlet.[7]

On June 15, 1940, the generally unused WBOQ call sign was eliminated from the station's dual call letters, and it became just WABC.[8] In 1941, due to the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, WABC moved to the frequency it currently occupies, 880 kHz.

On September 8, 1946, the call sign of a station in Springfield, Massachusetts was changed from WCBS to WCVS. This allowed WABC in New York to change to WCBS on November 2, 1946, to identify more closely with its parent network, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and avoid possible confusion with the rival network of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which began operation under that name in 1945.[9] Control of the WABC call sign was retained by renaming a relay station from WEHG to WABC.[10] Longtime, and unrelated, ABC radio flagship station on 770 kHz in New York was assigned the WABC call letters in 1953, after operating since its beginning in 1921 as WJZ.

Over the next 20 years WCBS developed a series of radio soap operas, afternoon talk shows and an all night easy listening music show, Music 'til Dawn hosted by Bob Hall and sponsored by American Airlines. During this time WCBS featured well-known personalities including Arthur Godfrey, future CBS News President Bill Leonard, author Emily Kimbrough and folk singer Oscar Brand.

Fear on Trial controversy

In the 1950s, one of the stations daytime hosts, John Henry Faulk, was part of an anti-blacklisting wing (including CBS newsman Charles Collingwood) that assumed leadership of the flagship New York chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) broadcasters' union.

After Faulk and WCBS came under pressure from anti-Communist group Aware, Inc., Faulk and attorney Louis Nizer sued Aware, Inc. for libel, a case often considered one of the key turning points in the battle against McCarthyism. Faulk was supported by fellow CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who was tipped off to Faulk's plight by Carl Sandburg. According to Murrow biographer Joe Persico, Murrow gave Faulk the money he needed to retain Nizer as his lawyer.[11] Faulk finally won the case in 1963, in the meantime becoming a popular radio personality in his native Texas, and later, a national television personality as a regular in the cast of the country music/humor variety show Hee Haw.

WCBS fired Faulk because of declining ratings while he waited for the case to come to trial,[12] but Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson's book The Murrow Boys asserted that WCBS executive Arthur Hull Hayes admitted on the stand the station's overall ratings, not Faulk's specifically, had slipped.

The controversy became the subject of the 1975 CBS television movie Fear on Trial, based in part on Faulk's autobiography of the same name.

Adoption of News format

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, WCBS evolved into a middle of the road (MOR) music and personality format, which included limited talk programming. Personalities included morning host Jack Sterling, Bill Randle and Lee Jordan. Like many MOR stations at the time, WCBS did mix in softer songs by rock-and-roll artists. Its ratings at the time were ordinary compared to the higher ratings at WOR and WNEW, both of which also had MOR formats and more distinct identities. Through it all, the variety show Arthur Godfrey Time remained a weekday mid-morning staple. Eventually, WCBS gained a foothold in local news coverage (WOR and WNEW's strengths) bolstered by its standing as CBS's flagship radio station.

During the 1960s, CBS chairman William S. Paley, concerned about the station's low ratings, started a process that led to the creation of a news radio format that would become known as "Newsradio 88". Paley hired Clark B. George, then vice-president and general manager of WCBS-TV, to create the new format and turn the station's low ratings around.[13] The format debuted on August 28, 1967 – although on WCBS-FM, because a small airplane had crashed into and destroyed WCBS's AM antenna tower just a few hours earlier.[14] Its original roster of anchors included Charles Osgood, Ed Bradley, Robert Vaughn[15] and Pat Summerall. Later anchors included veteran newscaster Lou Adler, Jim Donnelly,[16] Harvey Hauptman,[17] Bill Lynch[18] and Gary Maurer.[19]

Initially, the station only ran news during drive time periods, and maintained an MOR format during midday and overnight hours. Within a couple of years, it expanded all-news programming to much of the broadcast day, still excepting overnights. "Newsradio 88" began its transformation into an all-news format[20] in 1970, when the overnight American Airlines-sponsored Music Till Dawn ended in January of that year, and completed the process in 1972, when Godfrey's weekday morning variety show came to an end. The station built a reputation as an all-news powerhouse[21] during the 1970s, and has continued with an all-news format to this day.

Although WINS has usually received the higher Arbitron ratings of the two all-news stations, WCBS has had the better ratings in the suburbs because of its stronger, non-directional signal, unlike WINS' directional pattern. Its traffic reports and news coverage includes more of Long Island and Westchester County than WINS, and it occasionally allows room for longer interviews and analysis pieces than does WINS. The station is less tightly formatted than WINS, and formats at a half-hour cycle instead of a 20-minute cycle.[22] Also unlike WINS, WCBS does not change anchors every thirty minutes during its daily schedule. Instead, each solo anchor or anchor team on weekdays has a set shift from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m., with two anchors switching every one or two hours after that. On weekends, anchors also alternate every hour.

In October 2000, WCBS made another move, from CBS corporate headquarters building at 51 West 52nd Street known as "Black Rock" to the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th Street. Around this time, the station began referring to itself as "Newsradio 880". On December 2, 2011, the station moved operations to 345 Hudson Street, known as the Hudson Square Broadcast Center, sharing space with CBS Radio's other New York stations.

Ownership transfer to Entercom

On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio with Entercom, currently the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States; the sale was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust so that it would be tax-free. While CBS shareholders retained a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom was the surviving entity, separating WCBS radio (both 880 and FM 101.1) from WCBS-TV.[23][24] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.[25][26] As part of the agreement with CBS, Entercom was given the rights to use the brand and trademarks for WCBS along with sister stations WCBS-FM, KCBS (AM) in San Francisco and KCBS-FM in Los Angeles for a 20 year period after which Entercom (or succeeding entity) will be required to relinquish using those call-letters.[27]

On October 10, 2022, after Audacy had reached a new deal with SAG-AFTRA, it was announced that the separate staffs and newsrooms of WCBS and WINS would be combined (concurrently also announcing the flip of sister station WNYL (92.3 FM) into an FM simulcast of WINS).[28]

WCBS's switch to all-news was directly spurred by the switch of WINS to a similar format in April 1965. It was also the first move in CBS Radio's long-term plans to convert its group of AM stations – along with WCBS, the group was then composed of KNX in Los Angeles; WBBM in Chicago; WCAU in Philadelphia; KMOX in St. Louis; WEEI in Boston; and KCBS in San Francisco – to some form of news programming. Once WCBS had been established in the format, CBS began to work on the rest of its AM outlets. KCBS, KNX and WBBM all transitioned in 1968. WEEI adopted an all-news format in 1974, and WCAU made the switch a year later. The programming shift was a gradual one just as it had been at WCBS, with the stations running all-news most of the day while some local and network non-news programming remained at first. KMOX, which had been programming a talk radio format for several years was left unaffected, though it would later evolve into a news/talk station.

In Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, CBS-owned stations had a monopoly on the all-news format. But in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, CBS had to compete with Westinghouse-owned stations (WINS, KFWB and KYW, respectively) which had adopted all-news programming before the CBS stations did. While the Los Angeles stations made the switch within days of each other, WCAU in Philadelphia did not switch to the format until 1975, giving KYW a ten-year head start with the audience. Many blame this as the primary reason WCAU did not succeed in competing with KYW; the all-news format on WCAU lasted only three years. In contrast, the other CBS all-news stations experienced success and stability with the format. In 1995, Westinghouse merged with CBS, making WCBS a sister station to its longtime archrival WINS.

Before the merger with Entercom, CBS Radio operated eight of the country's largest all-news radio stations: WCBS, WINS, KNX, WBBM, KYW, WBZ in Boston, WWJ in Detroit and KRLD in Dallas. (As part of the Entercom transaction, and to gain regulatory approval of it, WBZ, along with several other Entercom stations, were sold to iHeartMedia effective December 19, 2017.)

Programming

Time announcement

Since 1924, WCBS has been known for announcing the time every three minutes. This is because during the early 20th century, not all listeners had reliable time pieces. They relied on synchronising their clocks up with the radio almost every day. On the hour, WCBS plays the iconic and distinctive CBS network "bong" indicating that the time is on the hour, although the station now broadcasts with a 10-second delay. The time is distinctly introduced with "WCBS news time: _:__". This standard practice, with slight variations, is also used at other CBS-affiliated news radio stations nationwide.

"Traffic and Weather Together"

For many years, WCBS has promoted its pairing of traffic and weather reports every ten minutes "on the eights", and has used the tagline "Traffic and Weather Together". The station's chief meteorologist, Craig Allen, and its rush hour traffic reporter Tom Kaminski, have both been with WCBS for over three decades and recorded a series of commercials together to that effect. WCBS part-time meteorologist Todd Glickman, who fills in for Craig, has been with the station since 1979.

WCBS's promotional work was the inspiration for the title of the Fountains of Wayne album Traffic and Weather, according to an interview the New Jersey-based band gave to the station.

Sports

In 2019, WCBS became the new flagship station for Major League Baseball's New York Mets, succeeding WOR.[29] For several years prior, WCBS had served as the primary overflow outlet for sister station WFAN (AM) and WFAN-FM's coverage of the NFL's New York Giants, the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets, and the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils. When the Mets moved to WCBS, Entercom allowed WFAN to split its AM and FM feeds to accommodate such conflicts—WFAN also broadcasts New York Yankees baseball, which it acquired from WCBS in 2014. The station continues continuous news coverage on its web feed when sports events cannot be streamed due to NFL and NBA restrictions. (MLB allowed its local radio partners to stream games once again in 2019 after several years of exclusivity via MLB.com. There are no NHL radio blackouts.) In 2022, the WCBS Audacy stream began to carry Mets broadcasts within the team's broadcast territory.[30] Later that year, the station became the flagship for Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball, replacing longtime home WOR.[31]

WCBS has served three stints as the radio flagship of the Yankees, with the most recent running from 2002 until 2013. The station had previously carried the Yankees from 1939 to 1940 (when the outlet was known as WABC); and from 1960 to 1966, a period that included a time in which the team was owned by CBS Inc., which purchased a majority interest in the Yankees in 1964. The broadcaster sold the club to a group led by George Steinbrenner in 1973.

Until WFAN began broadcasting its all-sports format in 1987, WCBS was the primary outlet for CBS Radio Network coverage of professional sports events, including Major League Baseball and the National Football League. It also served as the flagship commercial station for St. John's University basketball games during the Johnnies' renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s. WCBS also served two tenures as the flagship station of the New York Jets.[32] In its pre-all-news days, WCBS also carried the baseball Giants (as part of the 1930s-40s Giants-Yankees home game package), the football Giants, and the NBA's New York Knicks. In 2016, the New York Islanders moved their flagship station to WCBS for that year's playoffs, with WFAN airing select games when available; the Islanders had up to that point resorted to airing on noncommercial WNYE, which had limited the team's ability to earn money from the broadcasts.[33]

WCBS served as a springboard to athletes-turned-broadcasters in its pre-all-news period. Most notably, former football Giants Pat Summerall and Frank Gifford were employed in various capacities by WCBS and the CBS Radio Network late in their playing days. Sports announcer Marty Glickman served as sports director during a time in the 1960s.

Mel Allen was originally renowned as an all-purpose broadcaster on WCBS and the CBS Radio Network before and during his tenure as the Yankees' lead broadcaster. Decades later, Ed Ingles established a 25-year career as sports director and morning sports anchor at WCBS, reporter for the Jets and St. John's broadcasts, and mentor to several veteran local and national broadcasters such as Barry Landers, Bill Schweizer, Spencer Ross and Bill Daughtry.[34]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WCBS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, October 1, 1924, page 3.
  3. ↑ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 2, 1925, page 8.
  4. ↑ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1925, page 4.
  5. ↑ "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, July 31, 1928, page 18.
  6. ↑ "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928, page 203.
  7. ↑ "WCBS" (advertisement), Broadcasting, October 21, 1946, page 67.
  8. ↑ "C. LIST OF BROADCASTING STATIONS": (3) Changes to List", Radio Service Bulletin, June 15, 1940, page 15.
  9. ↑ "WABC, WCBS Call Letter Switch O.K.'d", The Billboard. September 7, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  10. ↑ "WABC Becomes WCBS; Shifting FM, Video Calls", Broadcasting, September 2, 1946, page 94.
  11. ↑ "Notable New Yorkers". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Articles about John Henry Faulk - latimes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Clark B. George, 88; Former Executive With CBS and Viacom". Los Angeles Times. April 8, 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  14. ↑ "2 Killed as Plane Hits Radio Tower In Rainstorm Here". The New York Times. August 28, 1967. p. 1. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  15. ↑ Kumar, Divya (September 19, 2017). "Epilogue: Bob Vaughn, national news anchor who worked in St. Petersburg, remembered for voice". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  16. ↑ Hinckley, David (August 28, 2007). "Old pals return to toast WCBS' 40 years of news". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Former WCBS-A/New York News Anchor Harvey Hauptman Dies At 87". allaccess.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Reporters Honored Here By Firefighters Association". The New York Times. March 17, 1975. p. 26. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Back Stories: Former WCBS Reporter & Anchor Gary Maurer". newyork.cbslocal.com. July 20, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  20. ↑ "WCBS Schedules & Guides, Circa 1978". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  21. ↑ Hardee, Martin. "WCBS - Historical Profile - 1978". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Stations a Study in Contrast". donswaim.com. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  23. ↑ "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  24. ↑ "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations". Fortune. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  26. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  27. ↑ "WCBS and KCBS Calls Will Stay Put at Entercom". insideradio.com. February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Audacy To Launch 92.3 WINS-FM New York". RadioInsight. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  29. ↑ "WCBS 880 to become new radio home of the Mets". September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  30. ↑ Venta, Lance (March 31, 2022). "Audacy App To Carry New York Mets Broadcasts". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Rutgers Sports Moves To WFAN/WCBS". RadioInsight. May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  32. ↑ List of New York Jets broadcasters#cite note-9
  33. ↑ "WFAN And WCBS Newsradio 880 To Broadcast Islanders Playoff Games". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  34. ↑ Williams, Jeff (March 8, 2020). "Radio broadcaster Ed Ingles dies at 87; spent years as a mentor at Hofstra". Newsday. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
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