WABC (770 AM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed to New York, New York, carrying a

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

format known as "Talkradio 77". Owned by

John Catsimatidis John A. Catsimatidis (born September 7, 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, a grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estat ...

' Red Apple Media, the station's studios are located in Red Apple Media headquarters on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and its transmitter is in

Lodi, New Jersey Lodi (; ) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 24,136,watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

non-directional clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is the primary entry point for the

Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...

in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. WABC simulcasts on

WLIR-FM WLIR-FM (107.1 FM, ''Talkradio 107.1'') is a radio station licensed to Hampton Bays, New York, and serving eastern Long Island. The station's studios and offices are located on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, with additional offices on ...

Hampton Bays, New York Hampton Bays is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Southampton in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. It is considered as part of the region of Long Island known as The Hamptons. The population was 13,603 at the ...

, on eastern Long Island. Owned and operated by the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

for much of its history, it is one of the country's oldest radio stations. WABC began broadcasting in early October 1921, originally as WJZ in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.flagship for the original ABC Radio Network (and its direct predecessor, the Blue Network) and ABC's radio news service. While WABC has been a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

station since 1982, the station broadcast a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

music format from 1960 to 1982. Starting in the 1960s to 1978, WABC was not only the dominant contemporary music station in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, but was also among the most-listened-to radio stations in North America, serving as a template for many other Top 40 stations around the country.

History

WJZ Newark (1921–1923)

In November 1920 the

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

had established its first broadcasting station, KDKA, located in its plant at

East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania East Pittsburgh is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, about southeast of the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers at Pittsburgh. The population in 1900 stood at 2,883, and in 1910, at 5,615. As of the 2020 census, t ...

, in order to promote the sale of radio receivers. This initial station proved successful, so the next year the company developed plans to set up additional stations in major population centers, including, in addition to the New York City area, WBZ, originally in Springfield, Massachusetts, and KYW, originally in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. On September 30, 1921, Westinghouse was issued a broadcasting authorization for a station with the randomly assigned call letters WJZ, located at the company's meter factory at Orange and Plane streets in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.1921 World Series The 1921 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1921 season. The 18th edition of the World Series, it matched the National League champion New York Giants and the American League champion New York Yankees. T ...

baseball games. Announcer Thomas H. Cowan in Newark simply relayed the description phoned in from the Polo Grounds baseball field by ''

Newark Sunday Call Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Sandy Hunt. (At first station announcers were identified only by initials; in Cowan's case as "ACN", for "Announcer-Cowan-Newark".) 1922 Man in the Moon bedtime story poster

1922 Man in the Moon bedtime story poster

The station soon expanded to feature a wide variety of live programming. A popular early feature was the "Man in the Moon" bedtime stories, written by

Josephine Lawrence Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978) was an American novelist and journalist. Her works chronicled the lives of common people, with stories often filled with a large cast of bustling characters, emphasizing the everyday lives of children and the elder ...

and read over the air by Bill McNeary (both were ''Newark Sunday Call'' employees). Beginning on November 27, 1921, a weekly 90-minute show presented by the

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

band was aired. When it began its broadcast service, WJZ was the only station in the

New York City area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan are ...

transmitting on 360 meters. In mid-December 1921 station

WDY WDY was an AM radio station located in Roselle Park, New Jersey, that was licensed to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) from September 19, 1921 to February 20, 1923, although its broadcasting career only spanned the period from December 15, 19 ...

, operated by the

Radio Corporation of America The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Com ...

(RCA) from Roselle Park, New Jersey, began sharing the wavelength, with WJZ now broadcasting on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and WDY operating on the other three nights. This soon ended when WDY ceased operations in mid-February 1922 and was merged with WJZ, with RCA now assuming half of WJZ's expenses. However, within a few months a large number of additional broadcasting stations began operating on 360 meters, and WJZ was stubborn about having to share "its" wavelength. In May 1922 a proposed time-sharing agreement among 15 local stations assigned more than half of the available airtime to WJZ, but the station did not feel this was sufficient, which in turn led the Radio Broadcasting Society of America to petition that WJZ's license be canceled for being uncooperative. There were no formal standards in the United States defining broadcasting stations until December 1, 1921, when the Department of Commerce—which regulated radio at this time-issued a regulation specifying that stations making broadcasts intended for the general public now had to hold a Limited Commercial license that authorized operation on 360 or 485 meters. WJZ was one of a small number of stations that already met this standard at the time of its adoption. It was also the second-oldest of the two licenses previously issued for the state of New Jersey, preceded by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

's WDY grant. However, WJZ was the first to go on the air, as WDY did not begin operations until 2 months after WJZ's debut. WJZ had difficulty convincing New York City performers – who were not paid – to make the trek to Newark, so on February 5, 1922, a more convenient remote studio was opened at the

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

, located on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The

American Telephone & Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

(AT&T) was unwilling to provide a telephone line to connect the Waldorf-Astoria studio to the Newark transmitter, so the link was instead made using specially prepared

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

wires provided by

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

. However, this expedient only provided marginal audio quality, and "the line was so noisy that when Newcomb Carleton, the president of Western Union, broadcast over it, his voice was completely drowned out". On March 15, 1922, WJZ broadcast a studio performance of Mozart's Impresario, probably the first full-length opera broadcast in the New York City area. In October 1922, the station aired its second

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, this time also feeding it to WGY in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. Shortly after midnight on December 9, 1922, WJZ became the first broadcasting station confirmed to have been heard in Europe, consisting of a short program featuring greetings from the British consul in New York to British listeners and Vaughn De Leath singing her "Oliver Twist" song.

WJZ New York City (1923–1953)

Takeover by RCA

May 15, 1923, saw a number of simultaneous major changes. Most notably, on this day the station moved from Newark to New York City, and the ownership was changed from joint Westinghouse-RCA responsibility to full control by RCA. WJZ moved to studios on the sixth floor of the building where the Aeolian Hall was located, and station publicity heralded the upgrade: "Located in the heart of the city's musical and theatrical district, where entertainment of the highest order is ever available, this station will offer to the American public the most elaborate radio programs yet attempted and with a degree of faithfulness in reproduction that marks the beginning of a new era in radio broadcasting." This was also the day that the Department of Commerce implemented an expansion of the broadcast band, which now consisted of a range of transmitting frequencies from 550 to 1350, with WJZ assigned the sole use of 660. Finally, a sister station with the call letters of WJY operating on 740, was established, which shared the "Broadcast Central" Aeolian Hall studios, with WJZ providing more serious programming, and WJY's offerings considered more informal. Program logs from May 15 to December 31, 1923, show WJZ aired 3,426 programs, including 723 talks, 67 church services, 205 bedtime stories and 21 sports events. Many of the broadcasts were musical and ranged from Carnegie Hall and Aeolian Hall recitals to harmonica and banjo solos. As part of the move to Aeolian Hall, WJZ's transmitting antenna was constructed atop the building, but the location in the middle of New York City proved to be a poor choice. At the end of 1925, the station began operations from a new transmitter site located at Bound Brook, New Jersey. WJZ did not operate regularly at 50,000 watts until 1935.

Initial network operations

Westinghouse and RCA's original financing plan envisioned that profits from receiver sales would provide the funds for broadcast station operations, but this revenue soon became insufficient. In 1922, AT&T adopted a more practical approach, of selling airtime, which it called "toll broadcasting", in addition to connecting stations together using telephone lines to form a radio network that could broadcast programs simultaneously to multiple sites. This first radio network was called the "WEAF chain", named after the flagship AT&T station (later

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

), located in New York City. RCA, along with its "radio group" allies of Westinghouse and General Electric, responded by creating a small network of its own, centered on WJZ. Due to AT&T's interpretation of a patent-rights cross-licensing agreement, the telephone company claimed the sole right to sell airtime, so WJZ was not able to charge for advertising, and again there were technical limitations, since the network had to use inferior telegraph lines to interconnect its stations.

NBC-Blue network flagship years

In the summer of 1926, AT&T decided to withdraw from the broadcasting field, and sold its stations and network operations to RCA. Included with this sale was the right to sell advertising time, and access to telephone lines for radio network connections. The earlier network operations were reorganized as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), with the primary network, now known as the

NBC Red Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

, originating from WEAF. A second network, known as the

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Comp ...

, with WJZ as the originating station, debuted on January 1, 1927. (The WJY sister station was quietly discontinued at this time.) In October 1927, WJZ moved into NBC studios still under construction at 711 Fifth Avenue. A month later, WEAF joined WJZ, and both were together under one roof. On November 11, 1928, as part of a general station reassignment produced by the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...

General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...

, WJZ moved to 760 kHz. On March 24, 1932, WJZ claimed to be the first radio station to broadcast a program from aboard a moving train; the station aired a variety show produced aboard a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger train travelling through Maryland. In November 1933, WJZ, WEAF plus the NBC and RCA corporate headquarters moved to

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

. In March 1941, under the provisions of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, stations assigned to 760 kHz were shifted to 770 kHz, with WJZ designated as a Class I-A clear-channel station, thus the only station allowed to operate at night on this frequency. However, the following November the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) moved

KOB The kob (''Kobus kob'') is an antelope found across Central Africa and parts of West Africa and East Africa. Together with the closely related reedbucks, waterbucks, lechwe, Nile lechwe, and puku, it forms the Reduncinae tribe. Found along ...

in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which prior to the 1941 reassignment had also been a clear channel station, from 1030 kHz to 770 kHz, after it was found that there was too much nighttime interference between it and WBZ in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on their shared frequency. WJZ soon complained about the interference KOB was causing to its distant nighttime coverage, starting a dispute that would last for 38 years. In 1958 the FCC attempted to rectify the matter by designating the now-WABC and KOB as co-equal occupants of 770 kHz, with both stations required to protect each other's coverage as "Class I-B" stations. WABC appealed this decision, and through a series of legal battles was ultimately successful in maintaining its status as an unrestricted Class I-A station. In 1976 the FCC designated KOB as a Class II-A, station, requiring it to operate with a directional antenna at night to protect WABC's coverage. KOB unsuccessful appealed this on the grounds that it should have been assigned the frequency's Class I-A assignment, and the case was finally settled in 1980, with the courts siding with the FCC decision. However, that same year as part of a general review of clear channel operations, the FCC also reduced nighttime protected coverage for clear channel stations from unlimited to 750 miles (1,207 km) from their transmitters, opening up the band to nighttime operation by additional distant stations. WJZ and the Blue Network presented many of America's most popular programs, such as '' Lowell Thomas and the News'', ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...

'', '' Little Orphan Annie'', '' America's Town Meeting of the Air'', and ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

''. Each midday, ''

The National Farm and Home Hour ''The National Farm and Home Hour'' is a variety show that was broadcast in various formats from 1928 to 1958. Aimed at listeners in rural America, it was known as "the farmer's bulletin board" and was produced by the United States Department of A ...

'' brought news and entertainment to rural listeners.

Ted Malone Ted Malone (May 18, 1908 - October 20, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 180-181. (born Frank Alden Russell, the son of a ...

read poetry and

Milton Cross Milton John Cross (April 16, 1897 – January 3, 1975) was an American radio announcer famous for his work on the NBC and ABC radio networks. He was best known as the voice of the Metropolitan Opera, hosting its Saturday afternoon radio broadca ...

conveyed children "Coast To Coast on a Bus", as well as bringing opera lovers the Saturday matinée Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. Cross would continue to host the Met on NBC, ABC, CBS and NPR until his passing at the beginning of 1975. Occasionally, a show would premiere on NBC Blue, which had a weaker lineup of stations nationwide, and be shifted to the Red Network if it grew in popularity. ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

'' is one example. When the FCC limited broadcast stations to 50 kW, a 500 kW transmitter built by RCA for WJZ was no longer allowed. The transmitter was sold by RCA to Britain and used for wartime

Black Propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propagan ...

; broadcasting as '' Soldatensender Calais'' a purported German military station.

Birth of ABC

In 1942, the FCC ruled that no broadcaster could own more than one AM, one FM and one television station in a single market. On January 23, 1942, the FCC approved the transfer of WJZ's operating license from Radio Corporation of America to the Blue Network, Inc. A year later, on October 12, 1943, WJZ and the NBC Blue Network were sold to Edward J. Noble, then the owner of

WMCA WMCA may refer to: *WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City * West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom *Wikimedia Canada The Wikimedia Foundation, ...

. Technically, this spun off network was simply called "The Blue Network" for little over a year. WJZ now WABC advertisement (1953)

On June 15, 1945, "The Blue Network" was officially rechristened the

, when negotiations were completed with George B. Storer, who had owned the defunct American Broadcasting System and still owned the name. In November 1948, WJZ and the ABC network finally got a home of their own when studios were moved to a renovated building at 7 West 66th Street. On March 1, 1953, WJZ changed its call letters to WABC, after the FCC approved ABC's merger with

United Paramount Theatres American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (originally United Paramount Theatres, later the American Broadcasting Companies and ABC Television) was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Thea ...

, the movie theater chain owned by Paramount Pictures which, like the Blue Network, was divested under government order. The WABC call letters were previously used on CBS Radio's New York City AM and FM outlets, reflecting an earlier owner, the Atlantic Broadcasting Company. On November 1, 1946, WABC (AM) changed its call sign to WCBS, and the FM station became

WCBS-FM WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Man ...

. In 1957, several years after WJZ's callsign change to WABC, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired WAAM-TV in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and applied to change the calls to

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is Owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and ma ...

, in honor of its former pioneer radio station. The FCC waived existing rules and granted this request to restore a three-letter callsign years after being retired on an unrelated station in a different market, albeit with a "-TV" suffix (perhaps because Westinghouse was highly regarded as a licensee by both the industry and the FCC at that time), and the Baltimore TV station, now owned and operated by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, retains the call letters to this day. CBS later applied the call sign to Baltimore-area radio stations

WJZ (AM) WJZ (1300 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts a sports betting radio format, carrying the BetQL network during the day and evening, with CBS Sports Radio heard nights an ...

and

WJZ-FM WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio for ...

, which are now owned by

Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national um ...

WABC's first era (1953–1960)

Although WABC continued to air ABC programming during this time, ABC Radio – like the other major radio networks of that era – began to drop significant amounts of long-form comedy and dramatic programming, many of which migrated over to television. In response, WABC began using deejays playing recorded music in greater frequency. Some programs featured

middle of the road music Middle of the road (also known by its acronym MOR) is a commercial radio format and popular music genre. Music associated with this term is strongly melodic and uses techniques of vocal harmony and light orchestral arrangements. The format was even ...

, including Broadway and Hollywood showtunes and popular music, while other portions of the schedule included ABC Radio's remaining long-form newscasts and dramatic program lineup, in tandem with CBS Radio's WCBS and NBC Radio's

. (This would continue until 1960, as the Musicradio 77 era formally began, but WABC was still required to carry several of ABC Radio's non-music and entertainment shows, including the long-running ''

Don McNeill's Breakfast Club ''Don McNeill's Breakfast Club'' was a long-running morning variety show on NBC Blue Network/ ABC radio (and briefly on television) originating in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill, the radio program ran from June 23, 1933, through Decembe ...

'' during the 10:00 am hour, and a long-form news block in the afternoon-drive period. While this was not an issue prior to 1960, such commitments created a programming clash with the Top 40 format up until the network was dissected into four sub-networks in 1968.) In 1958–1959, legendary rock'n'roll disk jockey

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

hosted a daily evening show on WABC, which was similar in format and musical policy to the early rock shows he had gained fame with on WJW in Cleveland, and later WINS in New York. Freed's time at WABC ended when he was caught up in the investigation of the "

payola Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...

" scandals of the era; he was terminated in November 1959. Although payola was not illegal at the time, the termination occurred because Freed had refused to sign a statement admitting that he had accepted bribes. At different times in the pre-top-40 era, famed comedian

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years aft ...

and dean of early disc jockeys

Martin Block Martin Block (February 3, 1903 – September 18, 1967) was an American disc jockey. It is said that Walter Winchell invented the term "disc jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work. Career Early years A native of Los Angeles, Blo ...

were heard on the station.

The Musicradio 77 era (1960–1982)

Early years

When Harold L. Neal, Jr. was named General Manager of WABC, he was charged with making WABC successful in terms of both audience and profits. Neal had been at WXYZ in Detroit. By 1960, WABC was committed to a nearly full-time schedule of

top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

songs played by upbeat personalities. Still, WABC played popular non-rock and roll songs as well, provided they scored well on the Top 40 charts. WABC's early days as a

station were humble ones. WINS was the No. 1 hit music station and

, which did a similar rock leaning top 40 format, was also a formidable competitor, while WABC barely ranked in the Top Ten. Fortunately for WABC, the other Top 40 outlets could not be heard as well in more distant New York and

suburbs, since WINS, WMGM, and WMCA were all directional stations. WABC, with its 50,000-watt non-directional signal, had the advantage of being heard in places west, south, and northwest of New York City, a huge chunk of the growing suburban population and this is where the station began to draw ratings. Early in 1962, WMGM, owned by Loew's, which then owned

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, was sold to

Storer Broadcasting Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the Northeastern United States. It was incorporated in Ohio 1927, and was broken up in 1986. History 1920s–1940s In 1927, George B. Storer ...

. Upon its sale, WMGM reverted to its original WHN call letters and switched to a middle of the road music format playing mostly non-rock artists such as Frank Sinatra,

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and Andy Williams. Sam Holman was the first WABC program director of this era. Under Holman, WABC achieved No. 1 ratings during much of 1962, after WMGM reverted to WHN. By the summer of 1963, WMCA led the pack among contemporary stations, with WABC at No. 2 and WINS slipping to third place. It has been said, but is difficult to verify, that WMCA dominated in the city proper, while WABC owned the suburbs. This would be consistent with WMCA's 5,000-watt directional signal.

Dominant years

Hal Neal hired Rick Sklar as WABC's program director. He would go on to become a member of the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

and be credited as one of the pioneering architects of the Top 40 format. Under Sklar, the station went to the shortest playlist of any contemporary music station in history. The number one song was heard about every hour during the day and every 75 minutes or so at night. The other top 5 songs were heard nearly as often. Other current songs averaged once to twice per airshift. The station played about 9 current hits per hour and several non-current songs. The non-currents were no more than 5 years old and the station played about 70 of them in total. In his book ''Rockin' America'', Sklar said he was sensitive to

concerns and advanced airplay. Through the years, WABC was known by various slogans, "Channel 77 WABC" and later "Musicradio 77 WABC". Due to the high number of commercials each hour, WABC played no more than two songs in a row and there was frequent DJ talk and personality between every song. The station averaged 6 commercial breaks per hour but they were no more than 3 ads in a row. Often the air personalities delivered live commercials in their own humorous style, so that listeners would consider the spot part of the entertainment. In addition, between songs, disc jockeys were required to provide so-called program matter. Program matter could include a time check, a weather report or simply some disc jockey banter, which enabled the disc jockeys to inject their personalities and humor into their shows. Early 1960s disc jockeys included

Dan Ingram Daniel Trombley Ingram (September 7, 1934 – June 24, 2018) was an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a 50-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York City. Career "Big Dan" started broadcasting at WHCH Hofstra Col ...

, Herb Oscar Anderson, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Chuck Dunaway, Jack Carney, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow and Bob "Bobaloo" Lewis. But some of the best known WABC DJs are the ones that followed them in the mid-1960s and 1970s: Harry Harrison,

Ron Lundy Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

, Chuck Leonard (one of the earliest African-American DJs to be on the staff of a major mainstream radio station), Johnny Donovan, Bob Cruz (a Dan Ingram sound alike), Frank Kingston Smith,

Roby Yonge Roby Yonge (July 25, 1943 – July 18, 1997) was an American radio DJ, most notable in the 1960s. He was best known for being fired from New York City station WABC in 1969, after he reported over the air that the singer Paul McCartney might have ...

, George Michael, Jim Nettleton,

Jim Perry James Perry may refer to: * James Perry (journalist) (1756–1821), journalist * James Franklin Perry (1790–1853), early Texas settler (with wife Emily Austin Perry) * Jimmy Perry (1923–2016), English actor and scriptwriter * James E. C. Perr ...

and Steve O'Brien. Meanwhile, "Radio Hall of Fame" member Dan Ingram, perhaps WABC's best known DJ, was held over from the early staff, being heard in the afternoon for much of WABC's Top 40 history. Noted sportscaster

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

did a brief weekday evening sportscast on WABC, as well as hosting a late Sunday night interview show called "Speaking of Everything." Especially in the afternoons and evenings, WABC was the station that

teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

could be heard listening to on

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947—which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient ...

s all over the

. Due to its strong signal, the station could be heard easily over 100 miles away, including the Catskill and

Pocono Mountains The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos , are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, ...

, and through much of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. After sunset, when AM radio waves travel farther, WABC's signal could be picked up around much of the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Bruce Morrow often spoke about how he felt an almost psychic bond to his young listeners. An

aircheck In the radio industry, an aircheck is generally a demonstration recording, often intended to show off the talent of an announcer or programmer to a prospective employer, but mainly intended for legal archiving purposes. A ''scoped'' (short for "te ...

of WABC from August 1964, features some of the DJs speaking from a window of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' hotel room at the Hotel Delmonico during their second visit to New York City, while Dan Ingram, back in the studio, played WABC

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s to thousands of teenagers in the streets below, who enthusiastically sang along with them. Ingram later noted that this was actually illegal under FCC rules, but said that they did not know it at the time. In the wake of the success of "W-A-Beatle-C" (as it was briefly called around the time of the Beatles' U.S. visit), competitor WINS finally dropped out of the Top 40 battle in 1965, adopting an all-news format. The ABC television network also called itself "A-Beatles-C" whenever it promoted airings of Beatles-related films. Just before the famous

Northeast blackout of 1965 The northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on Tuesday, November 9, 1965, affecting parts of Ontario in Canada and Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York ...

, Dan Ingram noted that the studio's electric power was fluctuating and he began having fun with the slowed-down music. After playing " Everyone's Gone to the Moon" by

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

, he quipped it was played "in the key of R". Ingram then proceeded to run some recorded commercials and a portion of Si Zentner's "Up a Lazy River", backtimed to the news, while commenting on how everything seemed to be running slower than normal. During the 6 pm newscast, WABC left the air as the outage settled in for real. Ingram later drove out to the transmitter site in Lodi, New Jersey, with a box of records, and continued his show from the backup studio housed there. In the 1970s, WABC was either No. 1 or No. 2 consistently, often trading places with WOR. Once in a while, a station attracting an older audience (like WOR or WPAT) would move into the top spot. These stations were not truly WABC's direct competitors because they targeted a much older audience. Chief competitor

began running evening talk by 1968 and stopped playing top 40 music altogether in the fall of 1970. Then in 1971, Country Music station WJRZ abruptly flipped to a Top 40 format and became known as

WWDJ WWDJ (1150 AM) is a Catholic radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Relevant Radio, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston. WWDJ does not broadcast any local programming, functioning as a repeater for the Relevant Radio net ...

. That lasted until April 1974. WOR-FM evolved from progressive rock to Adult Top 40 playing the hits of 1955 to current product by 1968. They dropped most pre-1964 oldies in 1972 and became known as WXLO 99X. That station evolved into more on an Adult Contemporary format in 1979 and a Rhythmic Top 40 format in 1980. Other FM competitors like oldies station

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

station

WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister station ...

, and

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

stations like

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmi ...

and

WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary formatted radio station, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Ma ...

all did well in the ratings, but none rivalled WABC's success. AM competitor

also never came close to WABC's audience during this period. WNBC then had a format similar to 99X playing Adult Top 40. In 1977, WNBC tried sounding younger and moved its format musically closer to WABC. Then by 1979 they tried sounding older and somewhere in-between. Until 1978, WABC remained dominant. WABC's ratings strength came from its cumulative audience, what the radio industry calls "cume". Most listeners did not stay with WABC for long periods of time, as the station had some of the shortest "time spent listening" (or TSL) spans in the history of music radio—an average listener spent about 10 minutes listening to WABC. It was the price paid for a short playlist, and numerous commercials between songs (the large number of

ads" \n\nads.txt (Authorized Digital Sellers) is an initiative from IAB Technology Laboratory. It specifies a text file that companies can host on their web servers, listing the other companies authorized to sell their products or services. This is des ...

being due to WABC's large audience), but what WABC lacked in TSL it more than made up for with its sheer number of listeners. By 1975, WABC tried becoming more music-intensive, reducing commercial breaks to three per hour. It began playing 3 to 5 songs in a row, still mixed with talk and personality, but done in a tighter manner. Fed up with the short playlist, Cousin Brucie left in August 1974 to defect to rival WNBC. Rick Sklar was promoted in 1976 to vice president of programming for ABC Radio, and his assistant program director Glenn Morgan became WABC's program director. The station's influence could be found in odd places: Philip Glass' 1976 opera, ''

Einstein on the Beach ''Einstein on the Beach'' is an opera in four acts composed by Philip Glass and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson, who also collaborated with Glass on the work's libretto. The opera eschews traditional narrative in favor of a formali ...

'', has as part of the background a recitation of WABC's DJ schedule in the 1960s.

"Disco" era

The end of the 1970s found FM radio beginning to overtake AM music stations in most markets. In June 1975, an FM station on 92.3, owned by the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Racing Association flipped to Soft Rock and became known as Mellow 92 WKTU. That station had very low ratings and had no effect on WABC. But on July 24, 1978, at 6 PM, WKTU abruptly dropped its Soft Rock format in favor of a disco-based top 40 format known as "Disco 92". By December of that year, WABC was unseated, as WKTU became the No. 1 station in New York City. The first "disco" ratings saw WKTU with 11 percent of the listening audience—a huge number anywhere, let alone in a market the size of New York City—and WABC dropping from 4.1 million listeners to 3 million, losing 25 percent of its audience practically overnight. After this initial ratings tumble, WABC panicked and began mixing in several extended disco mixes per hour and sometimes played two back-to-back. Some of the disco songs ran in excess of eight minutes. What regular listeners heard was a major change in sound. While the station continued playing non-disco and rock songs about a third of the time, the station's familiar format had seemed to disappear and as a result, WABC began to lose its identity. In late spring 1979, '' Billboard'' magazine reported that Rick Sklar had demoted program director Glenn Morgan to "moving carts" instead of making programming decisions. WABC's numbers dropped for four consecutive ratings periods. On August 2, 1979, the Donna Summer disco hit "

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated City of Los Angeles H ...

" was playing during

's afternoon drive program. During the song, DJ George Michael (who also was a sports reporter) interrupted to break the news that

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

catcher and team captain

Thurman Munson Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Mun ...

had died in a plane crash. In late summer, WABC moved, temporarily, back to its tight playlists. That fall, Al Brady took over as programming director of WABC. He had come from WHDH

, where he evolved that station from MOR to more of an

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format. At WABC, he added a huge amount of music and went as far back as 1964. He added

, Motown 1960s hits, 1970s rock hits, a few album rock cuts, and basically deepened WABC's music. The same amount of current hits still got played but less often and about 40%. That November, he let Harry Harrison, George Michael, and Chuck Leonard go. He made a couple shifts longer, moved

to mornings, moved Bob Cruz from overnights to afternoons, and hired Howard Hoffman for evenings. For overnights he hired Sturgis Griffin and eliminated the late night shift merging that with evenings and overnights. In the first six months of 1980, ratings were slightly up and stable. Also, Brady made a deal for WABC to air

baseball beginning the next year in 1981, though the station carried a few Yankee games from 1010 WINS during Republican Convention week in 1980. It was the first sign of the beginning of the end for the music format of WABC.

"77 WABC, New York's Radio Station" and the transition to talk

Brady left WABC in July 1980 and soon became general manager of WYNY, which by then had a similar format to its sister station WNBC, as well as WABC. That fall, Jay Clark took over as program director at WABC, and Jeff Mazzei arrived as assistant program director from WNEW (which was moving from adult contemporary to big bands and standards). Under Clark, the station played current music leaning toward a more Adult Contemporary sound, trying to appeal to a slightly older audience, as most younger listeners were listening to FM stations. Part of the reason was the top 40 chart was leaning that way at that point as well. WABC still played rock and soul crossovers in moderation, but began to move away from album cuts and more toward 1960s and 1970s oldies. In September 1980, they also dropped the "Musicradio WABC" slogan and became "77 WABC, New York's Radio Station" (though they called themselves New York's radio station at times as Musicradio), the apparent implication being that the station was more than just music. By early 1981, WABC's cumulative audience was down to 2.5 million—rival WNBC, a perennial also-ran, was by this time beating them with 3 million. Fewer people were tuning into WABC, listeners who had switched to FM were not coming back, and, while still moderately successful, the ship was sinking. Like Brady, Clark tried to improve the time-spent-listening. In March 1981, Cruz departed, Ingram went back to afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cl ...

, and the team of Ross Brittain and Brian Wilson from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

moved into morning drive. ''Ross and Wilson'', as the show was known, was very information-oriented, playing exactly four songs in an hour except on Saturdays when they played the usual 12 or so songs an hour. A week later, the station also began airing a weeknight sports-talk show with

Art Rust, Jr. Arthur George Rust Jr. (October 13, 1927 – January 12, 2010) was a successful sports broadcaster for half a century. He was also a sports historian and author. He was considered by many to have been the godfather of sports talk radio.Hinckl ...

from 7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. WABC's ratings by this point were mediocre and they were still going down. Also, that March, WABC became the full-time flagship radio outlet for Yankees baseball games, a distinction the station carried through the end of the 2001 season. This would be the longest continuous relationship the team would have with any flagship station (to date). Clark reasoned that Yankee baseball would bring back some listeners to the station and that they would recycle back into the music format, but not even the "Bronx Bombers" could save music on WABC. In the fall of 1981, WABC dropped the remaining heavy-rock cuts and non-crossover urban hits, and began playing more oldies, as well as songs from the adult contemporary chart, and added an "advice" talk show with Dr. Judy Kuriansky from 9:00p.m. to midnight on weeknights. Hoffman and Griffin exited at this point. By then, WABC was almost unrecognizable as a Top 40 station, the ratings were languishing, and rumors, which began as far back as 1979 were rampant that the station would be changing its format to talk and news sooner or later. By early 1982 it looked sooner than later. The management at ABC denied the rumors but did state that plans were to modify WABC into a full service AC format with music by day and talk evenings and overnights like KDKA

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

was doing. Once a week beginning in February, WABC was auditioning prospective talk shows for the Midnight to 2:00a.m. time slot. In February 1982, WABC officially confirmed it would be going to an all-talk format that May. and stated that there would be ample notice before the switch happened. At that point the once a week overnight auditions for talk shows ended and WABC continued playing music overnights until the switch. The airstaff began saying goodbye with a comment here and there. Finally, on April 30, it was announced that the switch to all-talk would occur on May 10 at noon. From May 7 to 9, the departing air-staffers said their goodbyes one last time. The official music format ended 10:45 p.m. May 9, 1982. The station aired a Yankee game that day at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. From 2:00a.m. to 5:30 a.m. they ran the normal Sunday evening public affairs programs preempted due to the Yankee game. Ross & Wilson played their usual 4 songs. Staffers that departed included Lundy, Ingram, Marc Sommers and Peter Bush. Mazzei left for a similar position at WCBS-FM where he would stay for well over 25 years. Sommers also went to WCBS-FM and eventually Lundy and Ingram would join him there. Donovan and Mike McKay remained at WABC as staff announcers and producers. McKay left WABC in 1984 for

RKO Radio Network The RKO Radio Network, a subsidiary of RKO General, was the first commercial radio network to distribute programming entirely by satellite. When it began operations on October 1, 1979, the initial RKO network was the first new full-service Ameri ...

and Donovan stayed at WABC until his retirement in 2015. Monday, May 10, 1982, the day WABC stopped playing music, is sometimes called "The Day the Music Died". WABC ended its 22-year run as a music station with a 9:00a.m.–noon farewell show hosted by Ingram and Lundy. The last song played on WABC before the format change was "

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

" by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, followed by the familiar WABC "Chime Time" jingle, then a few seconds of silence followed by a minute jingle for talk radio before the debut of the new talk format.

The NewsTalkRadio 77 era (1982–present)

Early years and success

Gary Ackerman with Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby

Initially after the format change, the station ran satellite talk shows from corporate ABC's "Talk Radio" network. Initially, WABC's lineup consisted of Ross and Wilson until 10 am, Owen Spann from Satellite until noon, Art Athens and News until 1 pm, Money Management talk until 2 pm,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

(a talk show host and not the late pop star) from satellite until 4 pm, another advice show with Dr. Toni Grant from satellite until 6 pm, and ending with a half-hour of news at 6. Sports Talk began at 6:30 pm and remained on until 9 pm. Doctor Judy remained in her time slot. Overnights were hosted by

Alan Colmes Alan Samuel Colmes (September 24, 1950 – February 23, 2017) was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He was the host of ''The Alan Colmes Show'', a nationally syndica ...

, who played some music initially, but stopped doing so by mid-1983. At that time, Colmes was less politically based and more entertainment-based. Weekends had Child Psychology advice shows (Dr. Lawrance Balter), Home and Garden shows, talk about religion (''Religion on the Line''), and of course, the Yankees. Ross and Wilson stayed on and continued to play 4 songs per hour (mostly 1960s and 1970s hits but also some currents) throughout 1982. In 1983, they stopped playing music as well. Ross and Wilson split up in 1983 when Ross went over to

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial top 40/CHR station licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the flagship station for '' Elvis Duran and the Morning Show''. The WHTZ studios ...

. While the station's final ratings as a music station were mediocre, its talk ratings initially were even lower. Jay Clark was terminated and replaced with then assistant program director, Mark Mason. Still, the station stuck with the new format. After Brian Wilson left in 1984, Alan Colmes moved to mornings. Mark Mason left for a similar post at All-News WINS. He was replaced by John Mainelli and at that point they dropped satellite programming. They added more issues-oriented talk shows, with an increasing number of conservative talk show hosts, although several liberals, including Colmes and Lynn Samuels, also hosted shows. The ratings grew and by the late 1980s, they were a very successful talk station. From 1984 to 1996 WABC broadcast the popular Bob Grant, a controversial, early "right-wing" talk radio host. After years of what many considered inflammatory remarks, he was fired in 1996 for a controversial comment regarding the death of United States Secretary of Commerce

Ron Brown Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Co ...

. After a number of years at competitor station WOR, Grant returned as a host as of July 2007, was removed again in December 2008, and returned again as a weekend host in September 2009. Alan Colmes would leave in 1985 and by 1987 he emerged at WNBC on overnights, where he played moderate amounts of music. He would move to afternoons on WNBC and eventually drop music there as well. He was on the air at WNBC's sign off in 1988. Colmes eventually returned to WABC. Within its first years, the revamped WABC brought in

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

, who would go on to be the anchor program of the local station for two decades, and soon after the giant of talk syndication, the model for countless other conservative radio shows to follow. In the early 1990s

Phil Boyce Phil Boyce is an American program director for Salem Communications. He had previously served in the same capacity for NewsTalkRadio WABC (AM) in New York City, as well Vice President of news/talk programming for ABC Radio and program director f ...

took over as program director. Starting in 1997,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

attorney

Ron Kuby Ronald L. Kuby (born July 31, 1956) is an American criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host and television commentator. He has also hosted radio programs on WABC Radio in New York and Air America radio. Kuby currently ...

and

Guardian Angels A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in ...

' founder

Curtis Sliwa Curtis Sliwa (; born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit organization for unarmed crime prevention. Sliwa was the Republican nominee for the ...

co-hosted a WABC radio show on Monday through Friday from 6 to 7 p.m, and on Saturdays from 6 to 10 a.m. On Saturday, September 8, 2001, John Batchelor presented a four-hour program on the attack on the USS ''Cole'', identifying Osama bin Laden as the probable perpetrator. On September 12, Batchelor was invited to broadcast on WABC “until bin Laden is captured.” The day bin Laden was caught, Batchelor and his executive producer were in Cracow; they continued on air and, with a hiatus in 2006, have been on air ever since, covering national and international security. In 2004, the station earned the distinction of being a news/talk radio station even longer than it had been a Top 40 station, by marking 22 years in its present format.

Under Citadel and Cumulus

On February 6, 2006, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would sell WABC and other radio properties not affiliated with either Radio Disney or ESPN Radio, along with ABC Radio's News & Talk and FM networks, to

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

for $2.7 billion. The transaction became final on June 12, 2007. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. In December 2007, Don Imus moved his program ''

Imus in the Morning ''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octobe ...

'' to WABC after 19 years at WFAN. Imus was fired from WFAN in April for controversial comments about

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

's women's basketball team. Connell McShane (who had replaced

Charles McCord Charles McCord (born c. 1942 in Joplin, Missouri) is an American former news anchor and radio personality most notable for his association with ''Imus in the Morning'' for over three decades. Career In his early career, McCord worked as a copy writ ...

following his retirement on May 5, 2011) served as sidekick and newscaster for the program, which was also simulcast on the

Fox Business network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenu ...

. The Imus show aired for the final time on March 29, 2018. In February 2010, WABC added Rabbi

Shmuley Boteach Jacob Shmuel Boteach ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, and television host. Boteach is the author of 31 books, including the best seller ''Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy'', and '' Kosher Jes ...

and ''The Shmuley Show'' as a weekend program. It aired on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. Geraldo Rivera became host of WABC's 10 a.m. to noon slot beginning January 3, 2012, replacing Joe Crummey. He was replaced with Fox News Radio's

Brian Kilmeade Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts the morning show, '' Fox & Friends'', and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade S ...

in 2019. On January 1, 2013, the traffic reports on WABC switched from Clear Channel's Total Traffic to Radiate Media's Right Now Traffic. Limbaugh and Hannity departed WABC at the end of 2013. To fill Limbaugh's spot, WABC revived ''Curtis and Kuby''.

had been hosting the morning show at

WNYM WNYM (970 AM) – branded "AM 970 The Answer" – is a commercial radio station licensed to Hackensack, New Jersey, and serving the New York metropolitan area. The station is owned by Salem Media Group and programs a conservative talk radio ...

since his departure from WABC, while Ron Kuby had for the most part been a commentator on various news shows since his show on

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left wing alternative to counter ...

was cancelled. Kuby was laid off in 2017; Sliwa would subsequently be paired on-air with

Rita Cosby Rita Cosby (born November 18, 1964) is a television news anchor and correspondent, radio host, and best selling author. She is currently a special correspondent for the CBS syndicated program ''Inside Edition'', specializing in interviewing new ...

, followed by current co-host Juliet Huddy.

Acquisition by Red Apple Media

On June 27, 2019, Red Apple Media, which is owned by

, bought WABC from Cumulus Media for $12.5 million in cash. The sale closed on March 2, 2020. On July 1, 2020, Red Apple Media took over

in Long Island under a local marketing agreement, and converted it to a simulcast of WABC. As it is already cleared by

WRCN-FM WRCN-FM (103.9 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a Talk radio, News/Talk radio format, city of license, licensed to Riverhead (CDP), New York, Riverhead, New York and serving East End (Long Island), eastern Long Island. The station is o ...

's program is substituted by a local program hosted by Frank Morano. Morano was also added to WABC's main lineup on Sunday nights beginning July 12, and began hosting an overnight show, ''The Other Side of Midnight'', in October 2020 (replacing ''

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...

'').

Previous programs

WABC was where the nationally syndicated programs hosted by

and

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...

got their start, although those programs are now heard on WABC's talk radio rival in New York, WOR. Limbaugh's show was produced at WABC from 1988 until the early 2000s, when he started doing the program from

Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...

and a studio in his home in South Florida (even then, until WABC dropped the program, substitute hosts for Limbaugh still used the WABC studios, and Limbaugh on occasion had hosted from WABC).. The station also served as the flagship for ''

'' with

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, '' Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various sta ...

from 2007 to 2018. Imus' producer, Bernard McGuirk, co-hosted the WABC morning show following Imus's retirement until his own death in October 2022. Although the station had good ratings, it underperformed in terms of total revenue, an example being WABC billing $21.3 million in 2008, not even close to industry giant

KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...

in Los Angeles at $54.4 million. Phil Boyce departed as program director in October 2008, eventually replaced in February 2009 by former

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its se ...

programmer Laurie Cantillo. Laurie Cantillo resigned on October 31, 2011. Chuck Armstrong was named interim program director in November 2011. Craig Schwalb was named Program Director in January 2014.

Current programming

Weekdays

The station features a lineup of

shows, including WABC personalities

Sid Rosenberg Sidney Ferris Rosenberg (born April 19, 1967) is an American radio personality. He is currently the host of ''Sid and Friends in the Morning'' and "Sid Sports Sunday" plus sports reporter on 77 WABC in New York City. Career Rosenberg is known f ...

, Rudy Giuliani, Bo Snerdley, Juliet Huddy and station owner John Catsimatidis. The station also airs

, Charlie Kirk,

Greg Kelly Gregory Raymond Kelly (born December 17, 1968) is an American conservative television anchor, television host, and retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He is the host of ''Greg Kelly Reports'', on Newsmax TV. He ...

, Bill O'Reilly and ''

The Mark Levin Show ''The Mark Levin Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. The program is broadcast nationwide on Westwood One and reaches an estimated seven million weekly listeners, according to an estimate from ''Talkers Magazine''. The ...

''.

Sports programming

WABC currently does not carry any sports programming. The station's most recent sports contract, with the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

for

Army football The Army Black Knights football team, previously known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. Army is a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member of the NCAA. The Black Knights play home g ...

games, expired at the end of the 2015 season. In addition to the aforementioned Yankees coverage, the station served two separate stints as the flagship for the New York Jets and was also the home of the New Jersey Devils beginning in 1988. WABC also previously carried

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

men's basketball. Early in its Top 40 incarnation, WABC served as the original radio flagship of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

upon their establishment in 1962. A notable aspect of WABC's Mets coverage was

and former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher

Ralph Branca Ralph Theodore Joseph "Hawk" Branca (January 6, 1926 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944� ...

handling the pre- and post-game shows. The station lost those rights to WHN following the 1963 season. The Jets first called WABC home in the 1980s, but left toward the end of the decade for WCBS. The team would return to the station in 2000 after spending the previous seven seasons on

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

. After then-sister station WEPN became the Jets' flagship, WABC began simulcasting the games over its airwaves due to its stronger signal. The arrangement ended in 2008 as WEPN began simulcasting all its programming on two other stations. In December 2001, broadcast rights to the Yankees were lost after 21 years to WCBS. WABC also lost the radio rights to the Devils in 2005, as New Jersey's hockey team moved to WFAN to substitute for the station's loss of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

to WEPN. WABC served as an overflow station for the Rangers from 2005 through 2009, and also served the same purpose for the New York Knicks when their games moved from WFAN to WEPN, but those rights moved to

in 2009. The loss of evening sports programming has forced WABC to attempt to solidify its evening talk lineup.

Music programming

WABC announced on August 11, 2020, that it would be breaking with its all-talk format with an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

music program, ''Cousin Brucie’s Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party'', beginning September 5, 2020. The weekly program features music from the 1950s—1960's with a splash from the 1970s, and is hosted by

Bruce Morrow Bruce Morrow (born Bruce Meyerowitz on October 13, 1935 or October 13, 1937) (sources differ) is an American radio performer, known for professional purposes as Cousin Brucie or Cousin Bruce Morrow. In an October 2020 interview, Morrow said he ...

aka "Cousin Brucie", who was a WABC disc jockey from 1961 to 1974. In late October 2020, the station announced that it would add an additional two hours of pop/jazz/soul music after Morrow's program, hosted by TV personality and singer

Tony Orlando Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

. In December 2020, an additional music block was added on Sunday nights, this one featuring adult standards;

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

hosts ''Sundays with

Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

''. In early July 2021, WABC announced the addition of ''The Constantine Maroulis Show'' to appeal to younger listeners. The show is hosted by actor and rock singer

Constantine Maroulis Constantine James Maroulis (; born September 17, 1975) is an American actor and rock singer. He was the sixth-place finalist on the fourth season of the reality television series ''American Idol'', and received a nomination for the Tony Award f ...

, and features a wide selection of music ranging from the 1970s through 1990s. In mid-July 2021, WABC announced the expansion of the Sunday night adult standards theme, with ''Dean and Deana Martin’s Sunday Nightcap''. The show is hosted by Deana Martin, daughter of singer Dean Martin, and is focused on the music of Dean Martin, with the exception of a few similar-genre artists.

References

External links

* * (covering 1927–1981)
Musicradio 77 WABC (1960 to 1982) tribute site

WABC News Historical Profile & Interviews (1978)

WABC Tribute Slideshow Movie

* ttps://archive.today/20130201051544/http://www.radio-history.com/nj2/piratejim/nycamhistory2.html Radio-History.com information on WJZ-AM
Norman Sweetser papers
at the University of Maryland libraries. Sweetser was a WJZ announcer starting in 1927. The collection contains sketches and photographs of announcers and crew members done by Sweetser while working at WJZ. {{Authority control Radio stations in New York City, ABC Radio stations established in 1921 Westinghouse Broadcasting News and talk radio stations in the United States 1921 establishments in New York (state) Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company Clear-channel radio stations Conservative talk radio Radio stations licensed before 1923 and still broadcasting