WBIG-FM
Encyclopedia
WBIG-FM, or "Big 100.3," is a classic rock
radio station
serving the Washington, D.C.
, United States
area. It formerly went by the slogan "Big 100", and before that, "Oldies 100." It is owned by Clear Channel Communications
. It plays music from the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
station as WOOK-FM "OK100", and then as WDJY "DJ100". For several years in the early 1990s it featured an eclectic smooth jazz
format as WJZE "Jazzy 100". The station was acquired by Chancellor Media and adopted the oldies format in June 1993. WBIG was then sold to Clear Channel in 2000 and changed its branding to "Big 100".
WBIG was "evolved" from an oldies
format to classic hits
(1970s and early 1980s) on April 3, 2006. This was accompanied with a slight branding change to "Big 100.3". The changeover was not announced, and the new format followed Jack FM
's lead by removing several announcers. Jeff "Goldy" Gold, who spent 12 years at WBIG, was the morning host at Oldies 106.9 WFVL in Fayetteville, N.C.
from September 2005 to February 2009. Kathy Whiteside now does mid-days at Lite FM in Baltimore, Johnny Dark works at WTTR AM in Westminster Maryland playing the greatest hits of all time, and Ira Melman worked for a while at WTOP-FM
in DC, and now works for VOA, the Voice of America, in Washington, DC.
WBIG was the first station in the U.S. to work directly with a Beatle
. Ringo Starr
hosted and voiced the commercials for the "BIG Ringo Starr Art Show" in March 2007. It was the first time that artwork from all four Beatles appeared in the same exhibition. Proceeds from the sales of art benefited Ringo's charity The Lotus Foundations. The station converted their website from idigbig.com to idigringo.com and changed the graphics to reflect Ringo's participation, including home videos provided by Ringo.
After the spring 2009 format change of rival classic rock station WTGB (now WIAD) to adult contemporary, WBIG-FM tried to appease listeners of WTGB by shifting to a musical position in between light classic hits
and slightly heavier classic rock
but still not becoming a full-fledged classic rock station. Four months later, oldies
outlet WJZW (now WMAL-FM) flipped to mainstream rock
(mostly heavy classic rock with a few newer songs). Throughout 2010, WVRX slowly siphoned listeners from WBIG, especially in WVRX's target demographic of men 25-54. By the third week of August, 2010, WBIG had plummeted to 14th in the overall Arbitron
radio ratings; it had been hovering around 8th place since the demise of WTGB. Accordingly, on August 30, 2010, the station fired its last on-air morning show staff: morning man Jon Ballard and news anchor Bill Stabler. After being fired, Ballard called into Elliot in the Morning
(based at sister station DC101 WWDC
, where Ballard worked afternoons until 2006) and began to discuss the incident with Elliot Segal
. Reportedly, although Ballard did not criticize WBIG-FM or Clear Channel, WWDC management cut off the conversation by ending the show early and "dumping" to music, a process normally used to avoid content that would garner FCC
fines. After Ballard's firing, the station shifted its playlist completely to classic rock, and began promoting the fact that it was now DJ-less. In October, the DJ's returned; with Lisa Berrigan doing middays, Doc Reno doing afternoon drive, and Big Rig doing nights. On November 20th, Tommy Griffiths would take the station's morning shift.
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
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...
serving the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
area. It formerly went by the slogan "Big 100", and before that, "Oldies 100." It is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
. It plays music from the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
History
Prior to becoming WBIG, it was Washington's first FM Spanish-language station as WFAN, later Washington's first FM urban contemporaryUrban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
station as WOOK-FM "OK100", and then as WDJY "DJ100". For several years in the early 1990s it featured an eclectic smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
format as WJZE "Jazzy 100". The station was acquired by Chancellor Media and adopted the oldies format in June 1993. WBIG was then sold to Clear Channel in 2000 and changed its branding to "Big 100".
WBIG was "evolved" from an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
format to classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
(1970s and early 1980s) on April 3, 2006. This was accompanied with a slight branding change to "Big 100.3". The changeover was not announced, and the new format followed Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
's lead by removing several announcers. Jeff "Goldy" Gold, who spent 12 years at WBIG, was the morning host at Oldies 106.9 WFVL in Fayetteville, N.C.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
from September 2005 to February 2009. Kathy Whiteside now does mid-days at Lite FM in Baltimore, Johnny Dark works at WTTR AM in Westminster Maryland playing the greatest hits of all time, and Ira Melman worked for a while at WTOP-FM
WTOP-FM
WTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
in DC, and now works for VOA, the Voice of America, in Washington, DC.
WBIG was the first station in the U.S. to work directly with a Beatle
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
hosted and voiced the commercials for the "BIG Ringo Starr Art Show" in March 2007. It was the first time that artwork from all four Beatles appeared in the same exhibition. Proceeds from the sales of art benefited Ringo's charity The Lotus Foundations. The station converted their website from idigbig.com to idigringo.com and changed the graphics to reflect Ringo's participation, including home videos provided by Ringo.
After the spring 2009 format change of rival classic rock station WTGB (now WIAD) to adult contemporary, WBIG-FM tried to appease listeners of WTGB by shifting to a musical position in between light classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
and slightly heavier classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
but still not becoming a full-fledged classic rock station. Four months later, oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
outlet WJZW (now WMAL-FM) flipped to mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
(mostly heavy classic rock with a few newer songs). Throughout 2010, WVRX slowly siphoned listeners from WBIG, especially in WVRX's target demographic of men 25-54. By the third week of August, 2010, WBIG had plummeted to 14th in the overall Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
radio ratings; it had been hovering around 8th place since the demise of WTGB. Accordingly, on August 30, 2010, the station fired its last on-air morning show staff: morning man Jon Ballard and news anchor Bill Stabler. After being fired, Ballard called into Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning
Elliot in the Morning is a morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal. It airs weekdays from "5:48 until 10-something" on WWDC-FM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia...
(based at sister station DC101 WWDC
WWDC (FM)
WWDC is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C., broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.-History:WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music station...
, where Ballard worked afternoons until 2006) and began to discuss the incident with Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal
Elliot Segal is an American talk radio host. His Elliot in the Morning show is broadcast on WWDC in Washington, D.C. and WRXL in Richmond, Virginia.-Personal:...
. Reportedly, although Ballard did not criticize WBIG-FM or Clear Channel, WWDC management cut off the conversation by ending the show early and "dumping" to music, a process normally used to avoid content that would garner FCC
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...
fines. After Ballard's firing, the station shifted its playlist completely to classic rock, and began promoting the fact that it was now DJ-less. In October, the DJ's returned; with Lisa Berrigan doing middays, Doc Reno doing afternoon drive, and Big Rig doing nights. On November 20th, Tommy Griffiths would take the station's morning shift.