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KYW (AM)
Encyclopedia
KYW is a class A AM
radio station
on 1060 kHz licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, USA
. KYW is owned by the CBS Radio
unit of CBS Corporation
, and has broadcasted an all-news
format since 1965. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and it transmitters are located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
.
and Commonwealth Edison
. Westinghouse later bought out ComEd's share and became sole owner. In 1927 Westinghouse aligned its four radio stations (KYW, KDKA
in Pittsburgh
, WBZ
in Boston
, and WBZA in Springfield, Massachusetts
) with the NBC Blue Network
, which originated from former sister station WJZ (the present-day WABC
) in New York City
. Westinghouse had been a founding partner of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC
's original parent company.
and gave it to Pennsylvania
, resulting in Westinghouse moving KYW to Philadelphia. Upon arriving, KYW supplanted WFI and WLIT (which merged as WFIL
in 1935) as Philadelphia's Blue Network affiliate—an affiliation that lasted 20 years. (According to the June 14, 1940 edition of the Philadelphia Daily News
, KYW used the frequency of 1020 kHz at the time.)
In March 1941, KYW changed frequencies to 1060 kHz as part of a nationwide shift of radio frequencies mandated by the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
. KYW and the other Westinghouse radio stations remained with NBC after RCA was ordered by the FCC to break up its radio networks, aligning with the former Red Network (the predecessor of modern-day NBC) in 1942. In 1953, KYW acquired a television counterpart when Westinghouse bought WPTZ (channel 3) -- the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate -- in 1953.
, WNBK television
and WTAM-AM
-FM
. Westinghouse also received $
3 million in cash compensation. The main impetus for the trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated
TV station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to seek a waiver for the swap since KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship, WRCA (now sister station WFAN
) were both clear channel stations; at the time, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) normally did not allow common ownership of clear-channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage. After clearing final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on February 13, 1956. NBC took over the Philadelphia stations, rechristening 1060 AM as WRCV (for the RCA-Victor
record label), and Westinghouse moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland.
However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice
about NBC's coercion
and an lengthy investigation was launched. In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965 and subsequently restored the KYW call letters to the radio station (the television station became KYW-TV
at this point). To this day, the KYW stations insist that they "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965. However, the two stations' facilities remained the same.
From a programming standpoint, WRCV carried all of NBC's network programming, such as the weekend Monitor
, as per its responsibilities as an NBC-owned outlet. Philadelphia radio legend Hy Lit
worked briefly at WRCV during its first year, hosting a local rock-and-roll program and an adult standards
show for the NBC network. Prior to the reversal of the 1956 swap, WRCV was evolving into an adult-oriented middle-of-the-road (MOR) outlet.
stations in the country. Five months earlier Westinghouse Broadcasting
converted WINS
, KYW's New York sister station since 1962, from Top-40 to all-news. A similar move was made three years later at another Westinghouse-owned station, KFWB in Los Angeles
. KYW has been one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country since then and has been the market leader in Philadelphia for much of that time. The Westinghouse all-news trio, meanwhile, revolutionized and defined the all-news format. KYW's early format elements were shared with WINS, such as the distinctive teletype
sound effect
playing in the background (no longer done at KYW), and the slogans "All News, All the Time", "The Newswatch Never Stops", "Listen 2, 3, 4 times a day" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world".
KYW's present format is a 20-minute cycle. Regular segments include contains traffic and mass transit reports from Metro Traffic every ten minutes on the "twos" (six times an hour), sports updates every quarter-hour (twice an hour, at :15 and :45), weather reports from AccuWeather
as much as six times an hour (four regularly scheduled reports at :07, :14, :37 and :44 past every hour with breaking weather news plus special forecasts for the New Jersey Shore and the Poconos), and business news twice an hour (at :25 and :55). When breaking news warrants, KYW will break format to provide continuous coverage of any event.
Its television sister took advantage of this popularity by incorporating a version of KYW's musical sounder into its news themes from 1991 until 2003. In addition, a television program entitled KYW Newsradio 1060 This Morning aired from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on sister station WPSG
in the early 2000s, adapting KYW's "clock" to television. The show was popular among local cable programming in its daypart, and in late 2004 was usurped (due in part to a new affiliation to Traffic Pulse) by television staffers and assumed the name Wake UPNews.
Westinghouse Electric announced it was purchasing CBS in 1995, and upon its completion KYW became a sister station to its long-time rival, CBS-owned WGMP (1210 AM, now WPHT
). That station, under its original WCAU call letters, attempted to compete with KYW in all-news programming during the late 1970s but failed, dumping the format after only three years.
KYW is currently the easternmost station in the United States whose callsign begins with the letter K. It is also one of three such stations in Pennsylvania, the other ones being KQV and sister station KDKA, both in Pittsburgh.
The station has been broadcasting in the IBOC digital radio
mode, using the HD Radio
system from iBiquity
since September 2007 after an initial testing period. KYW is also re-broadcast by sister station WIP-FM
on its HD-2 digital sub-channel. From 1986 until 1998, KYW had been broadcasting using the C-QUAM
AM Stereo
system http://users.eastlink.ca/~amstereo/offenders.htm, but abandoned C-QUAM AM Stereo about the time of the CBS
-Westinghouse merger and went back to the standard AM
mode (in mono).
KYW's studios are currently located at 400 Market Street in downtown Philadelphia, on the 10th floor. The station moved into these studios in March, 2007. After anchor Steve Tawa signed off from Studio K at 5th and Market Streets at 1:59pm (EST) on March 9, 2007, broadcasts from the new studios began at 2:00 pm. The first broadcasts from the new location came from Studio K, with anchor Brandon Brooks. This took place after three years of planning.
Previously, the stations studios were located at 5th and Market Streets. They had been in that location for nearly 35 years.
The station's very first studios were on Walnut Street.
KYW receives news reports and sound-bites, plus continuous coverage of breaking news from ABC News Radio
and CNN Radio
as well as CBS News
.
, a weather forecasting American media company, provides local weather reports for the station's listenership. The current conditions at Independence Mall and the Philadelphia International Airport are read every few minutes. The five day regional forecast and discussion is given at :07, :14, :37, and :44 after every hour. At :29 after every hour the Poconos and Jersey Shore forecast are read. The Jersey Shore forecast is also given again at :59 after every hour. After a weather anchor gives an extended report, the main anchor will repeat the current conditions and the day's high and low.
"The Opening Bell" show airs at 9:18am each weekday morning focuses on the day's planned activities on Wall Street
. Vince Hill is the main Opening Bell anchor. The bond market report is presented by Pat Walsh of Merrill Lynch
.
Reports from Fred Sherman—whose trademark signoff was "Fred Sherrrrrrman" -- of Royal Bank
(formerly of Sovereign Bank
) were also given until his death on September 12, 2009 at age 85.
Market Closing Recap airs at 4:15pm weekdays, recapping the day's action on Wall Street
.
's weekly radio address is carried Saturdays at 10:07am.
in center city Philadelphia.
or other event. The system was originally created by the City of Philadelphia but was taken over by KYW when no other station volunteered to distribute the information.
At the top of every hour, a recording of Dick Covington (who died in 2004; all other station imaging is done by Sean Caldwell) is played announcing the following information:
"All news, all the time. From Independence Mall
, this is KYW Newsradio 1060, a CBS Radio station serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware."
At :02, :12, :22, :32, :42 and :52 after the hour, traffic & transit reports ("on the twos") are introduced with car horns sounding the first five notes of the KYW jingle.
At :30 past the hour, the recording is slightly different, with Convington announcing that "the newswatch never stops" (borrowed from sister station WINS), and that KYW is "the news authority in Philadelphia."
At :15 and :45 past the hour, after the song is played, there is no recording. As the song fades out, the following message is always read by the current anchor:
The anchor will then introduce him/her self and the editor-on-duty, and move directly into top story and sports. In addition, the current weather conditions on Independence Mall are announced.
In addition, at exactly the top of the hour and :30 past the hour a beep is played over anything else that is being broadcast, including commercials, as a time signal.
machines printing in the background. This sound plays constantly during times when the news is being read by a KYW reporter at the headquarters. During other times, particularly during commercials or taped news segments, including AccuWeather forecasts, it is not heard. It is intended to allow the listener to immediately know the station that they are listening to and saves them from checking.
The teletype sound, along with the slogans "All news, all the time", "The newswatch never stops", "Listen two, three, four times a day" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world", all originated with WINS. KFWB and WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois also used the branding until they changed formats; WMAQ was shut down by Viacom in 2000.
* Pat Winters, John Brown, Bob Kelly, and Rich Gunning
are also heard on 1210 WPHT
.
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
on 1060 kHz licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. KYW is owned by the CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
unit of CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
, and has broadcasted an all-news
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
format since 1965. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and it transmitters are located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania
Lafayette Hill is a small unincorporated community in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Lafayette Hill is located just west of Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood, and south of Plymouth Meeting...
.
Origins
KYW began in 1921 in Chicago. It was jointly owned by Westinghouse Electric CorporationWestinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
and Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area...
. Westinghouse later bought out ComEd's share and became sole owner. In 1927 Westinghouse aligned its four radio stations (KYW, KDKA
KDKA (AM)
KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, WBZ
WBZ (AM)
WBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ was the first commercial radio station in the United States...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and WBZA in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
) with the NBC Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
, which originated from former sister station WJZ (the present-day WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
) in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Westinghouse had been a founding partner of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's original parent company.
Move to Philadelphia
In 1934, the assignment of clear channels took a frequency away from IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and gave it to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, resulting in Westinghouse moving KYW to Philadelphia. Upon arriving, KYW supplanted WFI and WLIT (which merged as WFIL
WFIL
WFIL is a radio station and a former television station serving the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its transmitter is located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania....
in 1935) as Philadelphia's Blue Network affiliate—an affiliation that lasted 20 years. (According to the June 14, 1940 edition of the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
, KYW used the frequency of 1020 kHz at the time.)
In March 1941, KYW changed frequencies to 1060 kHz as part of a nationwide shift of radio frequencies mandated by the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty that took effect in March 1941 and set out the bandplan and interference rules for mediumwave AM broadcasting in North America. Although mostly replaced by other agreements in the 1980s, the basic bandplan...
. KYW and the other Westinghouse radio stations remained with NBC after RCA was ordered by the FCC to break up its radio networks, aligning with the former Red Network (the predecessor of modern-day NBC) in 1942. In 1953, KYW acquired a television counterpart when Westinghouse bought WPTZ (channel 3) -- the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate -- in 1953.
Owned by NBC
In June 1955, Westinghouse agreed to trade KYW and WPTZ to NBC in exchange for the network's properties in ClevelandCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, WNBK television
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
and WTAM-AM
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
-FM
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
. Westinghouse also received $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3 million in cash compensation. The main impetus for the trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
TV station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to seek a waiver for the swap since KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship, WRCA (now sister station WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
) were both clear channel stations; at the time, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) normally did not allow common ownership of clear-channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage. After clearing final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on February 13, 1956. NBC took over the Philadelphia stations, rechristening 1060 AM as WRCV (for the RCA-Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
record label), and Westinghouse moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland.
However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
about NBC's coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
and an lengthy investigation was launched. In August 1964 NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC—but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed. Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965 and subsequently restored the KYW call letters to the radio station (the television station became KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
at this point). To this day, the KYW stations insist that they "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965. However, the two stations' facilities remained the same.
From a programming standpoint, WRCV carried all of NBC's network programming, such as the weekend Monitor
Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...
, as per its responsibilities as an NBC-owned outlet. Philadelphia radio legend Hy Lit
Hy Lit
Hyman Aaron "Hy" Lit was an American DJ based in the Philadelphia area from the 1950s until 2005. In his 50 year career, Hy Lit broadcast from WIBG-AM, WDAS/WDAS-FM, WKBS-TV, WIFI, WSNI/WPGR, KPOL, WKXW, among many others. His last station was WOGL, where he broadcast from 1989 until his...
worked briefly at WRCV during its first year, hosting a local rock-and-roll program and an adult standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
show for the NBC network. Prior to the reversal of the 1956 swap, WRCV was evolving into an adult-oriented middle-of-the-road (MOR) outlet.
Going all-news
On September 21, 1965, shortly after Westinghouse regained control of 1060 AM, the newly-rechristened KYW once again dropped its NBC radio affiliation and converted the station into one of the first all-newsAll-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
stations in the country. Five months earlier Westinghouse Broadcasting
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
converted WINS
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
, KYW's New York sister station since 1962, from Top-40 to all-news. A similar move was made three years later at another Westinghouse-owned station, KFWB in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. KYW has been one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country since then and has been the market leader in Philadelphia for much of that time. The Westinghouse all-news trio, meanwhile, revolutionized and defined the all-news format. KYW's early format elements were shared with WINS, such as the distinctive teletype
Teleprinter
A teleprinter is a electromechanical typewriter that can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point and point to multipoint over a variety of communication channels that range from a simple electrical connection, such as a pair of wires, to the use of radio and microwave as the...
sound effect
Sound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
playing in the background (no longer done at KYW), and the slogans "All News, All the Time", "The Newswatch Never Stops", "Listen 2, 3, 4 times a day" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world".
KYW's present format is a 20-minute cycle. Regular segments include contains traffic and mass transit reports from Metro Traffic every ten minutes on the "twos" (six times an hour), sports updates every quarter-hour (twice an hour, at :15 and :45), weather reports from AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
as much as six times an hour (four regularly scheduled reports at :07, :14, :37 and :44 past every hour with breaking weather news plus special forecasts for the New Jersey Shore and the Poconos), and business news twice an hour (at :25 and :55). When breaking news warrants, KYW will break format to provide continuous coverage of any event.
Its television sister took advantage of this popularity by incorporating a version of KYW's musical sounder into its news themes from 1991 until 2003. In addition, a television program entitled KYW Newsradio 1060 This Morning aired from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on sister station WPSG
WPSG
WPSG, channel 57, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WPSG is owned by the CBS Corporation and is the east coast flagship station for the CW Television Network, which is owned jointly by CBS and Time Warner...
in the early 2000s, adapting KYW's "clock" to television. The show was popular among local cable programming in its daypart, and in late 2004 was usurped (due in part to a new affiliation to Traffic Pulse) by television staffers and assumed the name Wake UPNews.
Westinghouse Electric announced it was purchasing CBS in 1995, and upon its completion KYW became a sister station to its long-time rival, CBS-owned WGMP (1210 AM, now WPHT
WPHT
WPHT is a CBS Radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting on 1210 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it broadcasts in an omnidirectional pattern that allows it to cover most of the eastern half of North America at night. It uses the nickname "Talk Radio 1210 WPHT." The...
). That station, under its original WCAU call letters, attempted to compete with KYW in all-news programming during the late 1970s but failed, dumping the format after only three years.
KYW is currently the easternmost station in the United States whose callsign begins with the letter K. It is also one of three such stations in Pennsylvania, the other ones being KQV and sister station KDKA, both in Pittsburgh.
The station has been broadcasting in the IBOC digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
mode, using the HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
system from iBiquity
IBiquity
iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio, with the goal of creating an in-band on-channel digital radio system for the United States and around the world...
since September 2007 after an initial testing period. KYW is also re-broadcast by sister station WIP-FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
on its HD-2 digital sub-channel. From 1986 until 1998, KYW had been broadcasting using the C-QUAM
C-QUAM
C-QUAM is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by Norman Parker, Francis Hilbert, and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in an IEEE journal....
AM Stereo
AM stereo
AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for wireless radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers...
system http://users.eastlink.ca/~amstereo/offenders.htm, but abandoned C-QUAM AM Stereo about the time of the CBS
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
-Westinghouse merger and went back to the standard AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
mode (in mono).
Studios
Previously, the stations studios were located at 5th and Market Streets. They had been in that location for nearly 35 years.
The station's very first studios were on Walnut Street.
Format features
The assortment of local, national, and global headlines are read at the top and bottom of each hour, with news summaries at the quarter hours immediately before the sports report. Besides the main news stories, KYW also carries a variety of other features.KYW receives news reports and sound-bites, plus continuous coverage of breaking news from ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Cumulus Media Networks, newscasts on the hour to its more than 2,000 affiliates...
and CNN Radio
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
as well as CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
.
AccuWeather
AccuWeatherAccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
, a weather forecasting American media company, provides local weather reports for the station's listenership. The current conditions at Independence Mall and the Philadelphia International Airport are read every few minutes. The five day regional forecast and discussion is given at :07, :14, :37, and :44 after every hour. At :29 after every hour the Poconos and Jersey Shore forecast are read. The Jersey Shore forecast is also given again at :59 after every hour. After a weather anchor gives an extended report, the main anchor will repeat the current conditions and the day's high and low.
Business news
Regular business reports are issued at :25 and :55 after every hour."The Opening Bell" show airs at 9:18am each weekday morning focuses on the day's planned activities on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
. Vince Hill is the main Opening Bell anchor. The bond market report is presented by Pat Walsh of Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
.
Reports from Fred Sherman—whose trademark signoff was "Fred Sherrrrrrman" -- of Royal Bank
Royal Bank
The terms Royal Bank, Banque Royale, Banco Real can connote several different things,* Royal Bank * Royal Bank of Canada** Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, a subsidiary of RBC* Royal Bank of Scotland...
(formerly of Sovereign Bank
Sovereign Bank
Sovereign Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Grupo Santander. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the bank—whose principal market is in the Northeastern United States—has more than $77 billion in assets, operates 723 retail banking offices, over 2,300 ATMs and employs approximately 8,500...
) were also given until his death on September 12, 2009 at age 85.
Market Closing Recap airs at 4:15pm weekdays, recapping the day's action on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
.
Dateline KYW
Known to listeners as the Community Calendar, the anchor reads information regarding events open to the public that could be useful to the people of the Delaware Valley. Airs weekdays at 8:53pm, 9:53pm, 10:53pm, and 11:53pm, Saturdays at 1:53pm, 3:53pm, and 6:53pm, Sundays at 3:53pm, 4:53pm, and 6:53pm.Education report
Dr. Marciene Mattleman gives an education report Monday through Wednesday at 3:40pm and 11:10pm, and Sundays at 5:10, 6:10 and 7:10 in the morning.President's Weekly Radio Address
President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's weekly radio address is carried Saturdays at 10:07am.
Reporters' Roundup
This features a round table of reporters airing their stories live twice a day. It is hosted by Steve Nikazy and is aired from 12:30 - 1:00 PM and from 3:30 - 4:00 PM. An expanded edition, with a live audience, is held the first Friday of each month from 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM at The Shops at Liberty PlaceLiberty Place
Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The complex is composed of a 61-story skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, and the 14-story Westin...
in center city Philadelphia.
Rewind
A nostalgic look at what happened in entertainment history on that day's date, compiled by Brandon Brooks.Traffic and Transit on the Twos
Area traffic reports broadcast at :02, :12, :22, :32, :42:, and :52 after every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.School closures
KYW assigns schools in the metropolitan area a number which is then announced when they are closed for a snow daySnow Day
Snow Day is a 2000 American comedy film by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.-Plot:The film focuses on a group of elementary students in Syracuse, New York, led by Natalie Brandston , who get a snow day, and try to keep their school snowed-in and closed by stopping a snow plow driver known...
or other event. The system was originally created by the City of Philadelphia but was taken over by KYW when no other station volunteered to distribute the information.
KYW jingle
Every fifteen minutes, the station's famous jingle ("KYW, Newsradio--ten-sixty!") is played, and the top stories are recapped.At the top of every hour, a recording of Dick Covington (who died in 2004; all other station imaging is done by Sean Caldwell) is played announcing the following information:
"All news, all the time. From Independence Mall
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
, this is KYW Newsradio 1060, a CBS Radio station serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware."
At :02, :12, :22, :32, :42 and :52 after the hour, traffic & transit reports ("on the twos") are introduced with car horns sounding the first five notes of the KYW jingle.
At :30 past the hour, the recording is slightly different, with Convington announcing that "the newswatch never stops" (borrowed from sister station WINS), and that KYW is "the news authority in Philadelphia."
At :15 and :45 past the hour, after the song is played, there is no recording. As the song fades out, the following message is always read by the current anchor:
"You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world. This is KYW, the newscenter on your radio dial, and now heard Online at the new cbsphilly.com ."
The anchor will then introduce him/her self and the editor-on-duty, and move directly into top story and sports. In addition, the current weather conditions on Independence Mall are announced.
In addition, at exactly the top of the hour and :30 past the hour a beep is played over anything else that is being broadcast, including commercials, as a time signal.
Teletype
A noticeable 'trademark' of KYW is the constant sound of TeletypeTeletype Corporation
The Teletype Corporation, a part of American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Western Electric manufacturing arm since 1930, came into being in 1928 when the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company changed its name to the name of its trademark equipment...
machines printing in the background. This sound plays constantly during times when the news is being read by a KYW reporter at the headquarters. During other times, particularly during commercials or taped news segments, including AccuWeather forecasts, it is not heard. It is intended to allow the listener to immediately know the station that they are listening to and saves them from checking.
The teletype sound, along with the slogans "All news, all the time", "The newswatch never stops", "Listen two, three, four times a day" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world", all originated with WINS. KFWB and WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois also used the branding until they changed formats; WMAQ was shut down by Viacom in 2000.
Anchors, reporters and editors
- Ed Abrams
- Mark Abrams
- Lynne Adkins
- Bob Bicknell - Technology Reporter
- Brandon Brooks
- Ian Bush
- Jay Bushinsky - Mideast Bureau Chief
- Ron Corbin
- Robin Culverwell
- Molly Daly
- Stasia DeMarco
- Mike DeNardo
- Mike Dunn - City Hall Bureau Chief
- Mike Dougherty
- Michelle Durham
- Cheryl Elias
- Amy Feldman
- Ed Fischer
- Richard Forney
- Greg Glenn
- Kim Glovas
- Salil Gutt - "Family Finance"
- Tony Hanson
- Vince Hill
- Peter Jaroff
- Larry KaneLarry KaneLarry Kane is an American journalist best known as the only American reporter whom The Beatles let travel with them on their 1964 and 1965 North American tours. Kane authored a book about his experiences on the tour, called Ticket To Ride, and Lennon Revealed, a New York Times and Los Angeles...
- special reports - Rasa Kaye - "Philly Fun Guide"
- Wally Kennedy
- Paul Kurtz
- Hadas Kuznits
- Matt Leon
- Lauren Lipton
- Jay Lloyd
- Pat Loeb
- Gina Longo-Pompilio
- Carol MacKenzie
- David Madden
- Tom Maloney
- Bob Manning
- Marciene Mattleman - Education Reports
- John McDevitt
- Dr. Brian McDonough-Medical Editor
- Jim Melwert
- Suzanne Monaghan
- Steve Nikazy - Midday Anchor
- Al Novack - Morning Drive Reporter
- Greg Orlandini
- John Ostapkovich
- Dee Patel
- Karin Phillips - Community Affairs Reporter(deceased)
- Tony RomeoTony Romeo (reporter)Tony Romeo is a prominent journalist in Pennsylvania, working for KYW , where he is the Harrisburg bureau chief.He attended Penn State Harrisburg. While a college student, he covered the Three Mile Island accident for WSBA in York, Pennsylvania...
- Harrisburg Bureau Chief - Kevin Scholla
- Brad Segall - Suburban Bureau Chief
- Fred ShermanFred ShermanFred Sherman was an American economist, businessman and business commentator based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sherman broadcast as a business commentator on KYW News Radio for more than 25 years until his retirement in January 2009 due to budget cuts at the station...
- Business commentator for twenty-five years until his segment was eliminated in January 2009 due to financial cutbacks at the station. - Phran Novelli - "Garden Reports"
- Steve Tawa
- Pat Toddy
- Bill Wine - Movie Critic
Sports
- Kevin Scholla
- Jeff Asch
- Ed Benkin
- Bill Campbell
- Ron Corbin
- Harry Donahue
- Matt Leon
- Jack O'Rourke(Deceased)
Weekdays
- Sam Clover - Mornings
- Pat Winters - Mid-days/Afternoons
- John Brown/Bob Kelly - Afternoons
- Rich GunningRich GunningRich Gunning is an American voice actor. He is also a traffic reporter, weeknights on CBS-owned KYW-AM News Radio 1060 in Philadelphia, USA.Since 1998, Gunning has voiced hundreds of radio and television commercials...
- Nights - Mike Lankford - Overnights
Rich Gunning
Rich Gunning is an American voice actor. He is also a traffic reporter, weeknights on CBS-owned KYW-AM News Radio 1060 in Philadelphia, USA.Since 1998, Gunning has voiced hundreds of radio and television commercials...
are also heard on 1210 WPHT
WPHT
WPHT is a CBS Radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting on 1210 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it broadcasts in an omnidirectional pattern that allows it to cover most of the eastern half of North America at night. It uses the nickname "Talk Radio 1210 WPHT." The...
.
Weather
- Elliot Abrams
- Dr. Joe SobelJoe SobelDr. Joe Sobel , a meteorologist, is a native of New York City, New York, USA, and a graduate of George W. Hewlett High School on Long Island. He received his B.S. in meteorology from the University of Michigan in 1967 and an M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in...
- Bob Larson
- Eric Willhelm