WQCD
Encyclopedia
WEMP known on-air as FM News 101.9, is an all-news
radio station
located in New York City
. WEMP is owned by Merlin Media LLC, and has studios located in New York's West Village neighborhood. WEMP's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building
. The station also broadcasts a smooth jazz
format on its HD Radio
subchannel (101.9-2), named Smooth 101.9 HD2.
WEMP was acquired by Merlin Media from former owner Emmis Communications
on June 21, 2011; the transaction was approved by the Federal Communications Commission
and closed on September 1, 2011. Most recently known as alternative rock
-formatted WRXP, the station changed to its present call sign on July 21, and adopted its present news format on August 12.
based in Ithaca, New York
, which owned a group of upstate stations that would later associate with WQXR
. In 1955, its then-owner, Muzak
, changed the call letters to WBFM.
After the station was purchased by the New York Daily News
in late 1963, WBFM adopted the WPIX-FM call letters on October 11, 1964, as the station was now co-owned
with television station WPIX
. Originally an easy listening
station, WPIX-FM was famous for not being able to settle on a format for any real length of time, and was derisively nicknamed "the format of the month station" by many in the New York City radio industry, as it went through 11 different formats during this period:
Notable air personalities during the WPIX-FM period included Mark Simone
, Dennis Quinn, Jim Kerr
, Alan Colmes
, Meg Griffin
, Les Marshak, Gus Gossert, Alfredo
, Jane Hamburger, and Dan Neer. Another of its disc jockeys, Jerry Carroll (a.k.a. "Dr. Jerry"), would gain fame as commercial
spokesperson for the Crazy Eddie
retail chain
. Ted David
would later go on to be a news anchor at ABC Radio, and then a business news anchor at CNBC
.
The station gave up quickly on both the Disco and Punk/New Wave formats to see both genre
s of music become popular several years later.
WPIX-FM then stayed as an adult contemporary station for a few years, as its ratings during this period were pretty good. By 1985, the station began mixing a number of eclectic songs into its adult contemporary format, and was known as "the ballads and the beat of New York."
Also in 1985, the station was running a nighttime show called "The PIX Penthouse", which played R&B
and soul
songs. It was also used through the 1960s as the station's tagline for an easy-listening format. ("The PIX Penthouse Party" had been originally used as a program title during WPIX-FM's Punk/New Wave era and was notable for playing 1960s music that influenced Punk and New Wave Rock.)
From 1966 to 1988, WPIX-FM simulcast the background holiday music played during WPIX Television's annual Yule Log
program on Christmas Eve
.
) became country music
station WKHK following an ownership change two years earlier.
WQCD's early music blend featured contemporary jazz mixed with soft rock
and urban adult contemporary
, and some new age music
, with an equal balance between vocal and instrumental music. At night the station played strictly contemporary jazz music, with a majority of it instrumental. As time went on, WQCD phased-out soft-rock cuts and became a full-time contemporary jazz station. The playlist continued to feature large amounts of instrumental jazz and new age, and several urban adult contemporary songs. This formula would largely be unchanged for over 15 years.
Even after the Daily News changed ownership in 1991, WQCD was retained by the Newss former corporate parent, the Tribune Company
. In 1997 Tribune sold WQCD to Emmis Communications
, and the combination of WQCD with Emmis's two existing New York stations, WQHT (97.1 FM) and WRKS (98.7 FM), gave the Indianapolis
-based company an FM triopoly
in the New York market.
During its time under Tribune ownership, WQCD had been headquartered with WPIX at the (now-landmarked) Daily News Building
in Midtown Manhattan. In 1998, Emmis moved WQCD, WQHT and WRKS into a newly-constructed common facility at 395 Hudson Street
, at the meeting point of Manhattan's West Village and SoHo
neighborhoods. The multi-station complex was the first of its kind in American radio, which was now becoming increasingly consolidated.
WQCD also ran an experiment from November 22, 2004 until August 2005, when the station's playlist included chill music, a form of relaxing music based on the music found in the beaches of Ibiza
. Their ratings were not satisfactory, and the experiment ended. The station retained the tagline, "CD101.9, Your Chill-Out Station" during its successful transition back to the standard smooth jazz format.
WQCD's on-air staff remained unusually stable in the generally volatile radio climate, led by morning host Dennis Quinn. Midday host Deborah Rath had been with parent company Emmis since 1988, as a veteran of both WRKS and WQHT's original incarnation "Hot 103.5". Afternoon drive host Paul Cavalconte was a veteran of New York jazz, classical and rock stations, including WQCD's generational predecessor WNEW
. Evening host Sharon Davis called WQCD home for nearly a decade as well, but on February 5, 2008, CD101.9 and Smooth Jazz all came to an end.
On February 5, 2008 at 4:00 p.m., Emmis Communications announced a change to a rock format under the WRXP call letters and the tagline 101.9 RXP: The New York Rock Experience. The last songs played were "Shining Star" and an instrumental rendition of "Street Life" by jazz artist U-Nam. The entire WQCD airstaff was released including Dennis Quinn, who had survived every other format change at 101.9 since joining the station as WPIX-FM in 1971. Only program director
Blake Lawrence was retained from the previous format for WRXP. Emmis cited a declining audience for smooth jazz, the format which moved to the station's HD2
subcarrier.
WRXP was the first alternative rock
station in New York City since WXRK's format flip to mainstream rock
in April 2005
. Even though classified as alternative rock (with a slight adult album alternative
lean), Nielsen BDS and Mediabase
reported WRXP as an AAA, with suburban station WXPK
recognized as the main AAA station in the New York City market. By 2011
, WRXP was classified as an alternative rock station by both Nielsen BDS and Mediabase.
WRXP's first on-air personality was Brian Schock, who, until leaving the station for personal reasons in January 2009, was also the station's assistant program director and music director
. Station management promised to hire a New York rock-savvy airstaff for the rest of the station's dayparts, and started with the hiring of former MTV
personality Matt Pinfield
as the morning drive host. Other additions to WRXP's on-air team included Steve Craig as midday host along with Brian Phillips as evening host. The weekend air staff includes Dave Greek, Greg Russ, Jennifer Kajzer and Paul Calvaconte, who was the only personality rehired from the WQCD smooth jazz format. In March 2009, WRXP announced through their morning program that Nik Carter, formerly of WXRK, was to join as the anchor from 3 to 7 PM on weekdays.
On June 16, 2008, Leslie Fram
, formerly of WNNX
in Atlanta
, was appointed Program Director. In addition to her duties as program director, Fram was also co-host of the WRXP morning drive (and later midday) show with Pinfield.
, in a sale announced on June 21, 2011. The Chicago
-based company became majority owners of two Emmis stations there, WLUP
and WKQX (now WWWN), through the same deal.
At 5:00 PM on July 15, 2011, after playing "Long Live Rock
" by The Who
, WRXP switched to a stunt
of Adult Contemporary music with the brand "101.9 FM New." At 6:00 AM on July 18, WRXP began a live morning show hosted by veteran New York City radio personality Paul Cavalconte (who has been with 101.9 since 1998), with Jeff McKay (formerly of Shadow Traffic
and WINS
) providing weather and traffic updates. The station's call letters were changed to WEMP on July 21. On July 25, 2011, the first ever newscast premiered at 3PM with Dave Packer and Mike Barker. On August 12, the station ended its Adult Contemporary stunt for "FM News 101.9," an all-news format.
After the terrestrial radio change, WRXP maintains their website at http://www.1019rxp.com/ and continues to offer their music format in streaming audio.
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...
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...
located 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...
. WEMP is owned by Merlin Media LLC, and has studios located in New York's West Village neighborhood. WEMP's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
. The station also broadcasts a 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 on its 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...
subchannel (101.9-2), named Smooth 101.9 HD2.
WEMP was acquired by Merlin Media from former owner Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
on June 21, 2011; the transaction was approved by 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...
and closed on September 1, 2011. Most recently known as alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
-formatted WRXP, the station changed to its present call sign on July 21, and adopted its present news format on August 12.
Early years
The station first went on the air in 1945 as WGHF, named after its original owner, William G.H. Finch, and moved to the 101.9 frequency in 1947. In late 1948, it became the New York City affiliate of the farm-oriented Rural Radio NetworkRural Radio Network
The Rural Radio Network was an interconnected group of six commercial FM radio stations spread across upstate New York and operated from Ithaca, NY -- the first all-radio, no-wireline network in the world...
based in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, which owned a group of upstate stations that would later associate with WQXR
WQEW
WQEW is a Radio Disney affiliate licensed to New York City. Its transmitter is located in Maspeth, Queens. WQEW has a transmitter power of 50,000 watts and is listed as a Clear-channel station...
. In 1955, its then-owner, Muzak
Muzak
Muzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
, changed the call letters to WBFM.
The WPIX-FM era
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
in late 1963, WBFM adopted the WPIX-FM call letters on October 11, 1964, as the station was now co-owned
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
with television station WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
. Originally an easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
station, WPIX-FM was famous for not being able to settle on a format for any real length of time, and was derisively nicknamed "the format of the month station" by many in the New York City radio industry, as it went through 11 different formats during this period:
- 1971-1975; 1976-1977: Adult Top 40 - a Top 40 format at the time that played new songs less often than WABCWABC (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...
; while still focused on current music, it mixed in rock and roll oldies from about 1964 to what was then recent. - 1975: Disco. The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported, "Characterized by a strong bass, a simple melody, and terse repetitive lyrics...'Disco,' as this music is called...is becoming increasingly popular on AM and FM radio stations. WPIX-FM recently switched several hours of its nightly programming over to 'disco'" and leaned disco the rest of the day. The nightly show "Disco 102" was first hosted by Dr. Jerry Carroll, then by Howard Hoffman when Carroll moved to afternoons. By the summer of 1976 the station was back to a gold leaning Top 40 format which was popular on FM stations back then. - Mark SimoneMark SimoneMark Simone is an American radio personality. Currently heard on WABC in New York, he also fills-in for ABC Radio hosts such as Don Imus, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity.Simone occasionally appears on CNN, MSNBC and PBS....
launches "The Simone Phone", a pioneering FM comedy talk show featuring then producer/writer Tom LeykisTom LeykisThomas Joseph Leykis is an American radio personality. He currently hosts The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis, a weekly lifestyle program dealing with fine food and drink, airing weekends mainly in West Coast markets...
that contained many popular features like "Dial-A-Date", which were later borrowed by other radio shows. - 1977-1978: Top 40/rockRock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. - 1978-1980: PunkPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/New WaveNew Wave musicNew Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
Rock—At a time when other rock stations in New York were sticking with traditional AORAlbum-oriented rockAlbum-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
formats (WPLJWPLJWPLJ is a radio station in New York City owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media. WPLJ shares studio facilities with sister station WABC inside 2 Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building. The station currently plays a Hot Adult...
, WNEW-FM), Adult Top 40 (WXLO) or oldiesOldiesOldies 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....
(WCBS-FMWCBS-FMWCBS-FM is a CBS-owned radio station in New York City. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the Empire State Building....
), WPIX staked out a groundbreaking format focused on new wave and punk but included older rock and roll as well, hence its advertising slogan: "From Elvis to Elvis." It helped break in New York and nationally early records by Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, the PoliceThe PoliceThe Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, Nick LoweNick LoweNicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, the ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, the CarsThe CarsThe Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, Squeeze, DevoDevoDevo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, the KingsThe KingsThe Kings are a Canadian band formed in the 1970s, best known for their 1980 North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide".-Recording history:The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s...
, Iggy PopIggy PopIggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, the Buzzcocks, Cheap TrickCheap TrickCheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
, Talking HeadsTalking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, David JohansenDavid JohansenDavid Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
, Tom VerlaineTom VerlaineTom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
and Richard Lloyd, to name just a few. The station was even featured in lyrics from the Squeeze song, 'I Think I'm Go Go' (P I X and rock and roll). - March 1980-1981: Rock-based top 40--According to The New York Times, a station spokesperson said the station was "modifying the format to improve the product to make it more mass acceptable."
- 1981-1982: Album-oriented rockAlbum-oriented rockAlbum-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
. - January–March 1982: CHRContemporary hit radioContemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
(Top 40)--basically a transitional format to Adult Contemporary. - March 1982: adult contemporary--began positioning itself as "Nothing But Love Songs" in 1983. Had good ratings from 1983 to 1985.
- 1985: hot adult contemporary "The Ballads and Beat of New York."
- August 16, 1986: adult contemporary/standardsAdult standardsAdult 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...
/eclectic rockEclecticism in musicEclecticism is used to describe a composer's conscious use of styles alien to his nature, or from one or more historical styles. The term is also used pejoratively to describe music whose composer, thought to be lacking originality, appears to have freely drawn on other models .-Sources:* Kennedy,...
"The Bright and Lively Sound of New York." - 1987: Hot Adult Contemporary during the day and urban adult contemporaryUrban Adult ContemporaryUrban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
evenings. - 1987-1988: Hot Adult Contemporary during the day and overnights using "Easy Rock" as a slogan. Smooth jazzSmooth jazzSmooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
in the evenings.
Notable air personalities during the WPIX-FM period included Mark Simone
Mark Simone
Mark Simone is an American radio personality. Currently heard on WABC in New York, he also fills-in for ABC Radio hosts such as Don Imus, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity.Simone occasionally appears on CNN, MSNBC and PBS....
, Dennis Quinn, Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
, Alan Colmes
Alan Colmes
Alan Samuel Colmes is an American radio/television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He is the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that also airs throughout the United States on Fox News Talk...
, Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin (radio personality)
Meg Griffin is an American DJ, currently heard on the Sirius XM Satellite Radio channels The Loft, Classic Rewind, and Deep Tracks....
, Les Marshak, Gus Gossert, Alfredo
Alfredo
Alfredo is a cognate of the Germanic name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name that may refer to:People*Alfredo Alonso, Cuban-born media executive with Clear Channel Radio...
, Jane Hamburger, and Dan Neer. Another of its disc jockeys, Jerry Carroll (a.k.a. "Dr. Jerry"), would gain fame as commercial
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
spokesperson for the Crazy Eddie
Crazy Eddie
Crazy Eddie is the name of a consumer electronics retailer conducting business through the internet and by telephone. The venture is the most recent to be doing business under the Crazy Eddie name, with the most well known being a chain of retail stores that operated throughout New York, New...
retail chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
. Ted David
Ted David
Ted David, an American financial journalist, recently has been heard as a free-lance anchor on New York's all news station 1010 WINS. He continues to be seen as a freelance anchor on Cablevision's News12 Long Island...
would later go on to be a news anchor at ABC Radio, and then a business news anchor at CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
.
The station gave up quickly on both the Disco and Punk/New Wave formats to see both genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s of music become popular several years later.
WPIX-FM then stayed as an adult contemporary station for a few years, as its ratings during this period were pretty good. By 1985, the station began mixing a number of eclectic songs into its adult contemporary format, and was known as "the ballads and the beat of New York."
Also in 1985, the station was running a nighttime show called "The PIX Penthouse", which played R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
songs. It was also used through the 1960s as the station's tagline for an easy-listening format. ("The PIX Penthouse Party" had been originally used as a program title during WPIX-FM's Punk/New Wave era and was notable for playing 1960s music that influenced Punk and New Wave Rock.)
From 1966 to 1988, WPIX-FM simulcast the background holiday music played during WPIX Television's annual Yule Log
Yule Log (TV program)
The Yule Log is a television program which is broadcast traditionally on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning , originally by New York City television station WPIX but now by many other Tribune Company-owned television stations, including WGN America, and by Antenna TV starting in 2011...
program on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
.
As WQCD, "CD101.9"
By 1987, the station started to play contemporary jazz at night, as its ratings were on the decline. Then, on August 10, 1988 the station adopted a jazz-based adult contemporary format during the day and retained all jazz at night. Later that month, on August 22, the station modified into a full-time contemporary jazz (now known as smooth jazz) format, with the new call letters WQCD and the new branding, "CD 101.9". The smooth jazz format proved successful and long-lasting for a station that had not been used to stability in its programming. New York City had not had a full-time commercial jazz station since 1980, when WRVR (106.7 FM, now WLTWWLTW
WLTW is a radio station with an Adult Contemporary format in New York City.The station is often number one or close to it in Arbitron ratings for New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the station generated more revenue than any other radio station in the New York market...
) became country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
station WKHK following an ownership change two years earlier.
WQCD's early music blend featured contemporary jazz mixed with soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
and urban adult contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
, and some new age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
, with an equal balance between vocal and instrumental music. At night the station played strictly contemporary jazz music, with a majority of it instrumental. As time went on, WQCD phased-out soft-rock cuts and became a full-time contemporary jazz station. The playlist continued to feature large amounts of instrumental jazz and new age, and several urban adult contemporary songs. This formula would largely be unchanged for over 15 years.
Even after the Daily News changed ownership in 1991, WQCD was retained by the Newss former corporate parent, the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
. In 1997 Tribune sold WQCD to Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
, and the combination of WQCD with Emmis's two existing New York stations, WQHT (97.1 FM) and WRKS (98.7 FM), gave the Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
-based company an FM triopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
in the New York market.
During its time under Tribune ownership, WQCD had been headquartered with WPIX at the (now-landmarked) Daily News Building
Daily News Building
The Daily News Building, also known as The News Building, is a Art-Deco skyscraper located at 220 East 42nd Street in Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1929, it was headquarters for the New York Daily News until the mid-1990s...
in Midtown Manhattan. In 1998, Emmis moved WQCD, WQHT and WRKS into a newly-constructed common facility at 395 Hudson Street
Hudson Street (Manhattan)
Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...
, at the meeting point of Manhattan's West Village and SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
neighborhoods. The multi-station complex was the first of its kind in American radio, which was now becoming increasingly consolidated.
WQCD goes "New York Chill"
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
. Their ratings were not satisfactory, and the experiment ended. The station retained the tagline, "CD101.9, Your Chill-Out Station" during its successful transition back to the standard smooth jazz format.
Final years of CD101.9
WBBR
WBBR is a radio station broadcasting at 1130 AM in New York City. It airs Bloomberg Radio, a service of Bloomberg L.P. WBBR's format is general and financial news, offering local, national and international news reports along with financial market updates and interviews with corporate executives,...
. Evening host Sharon Davis called WQCD home for nearly a decade as well, but on February 5, 2008, CD101.9 and Smooth Jazz all came to an end.
As WRXP "101.9 RXP"
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
Blake Lawrence was retained from the previous format for WRXP. Emmis cited a declining audience for smooth jazz, the format which moved to the station's HD2
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...
subcarrier.
WRXP was the first alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
station in New York City since WXRK's format flip 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:...
in April 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...
. Even though classified as alternative rock (with a slight adult album alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
lean), Nielsen BDS and Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
reported WRXP as an AAA, with suburban station WXPK
WXPK
WXPK, , is an adult album alternative rock radio station in White Plains, New York. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and transmits from a tower in the Westchester County Correctional Facility with an ERP of 1.9 KW.-History:...
recognized as the main AAA station in the New York City market. By 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
, WRXP was classified as an alternative rock station by both Nielsen BDS and Mediabase.
WRXP's first on-air personality was Brian Schock, who, until leaving the station for personal reasons in January 2009, was also the station's assistant program director and music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
. Station management promised to hire a New York rock-savvy airstaff for the rest of the station's dayparts, and started with the hiring of former MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
personality Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield
Matt Pinfield is a music personality and TV host, best known for being a video deejay on MTV and VH1. He currently lives in Harrison, New Jersey having previously resided in East Brunswick Township...
as the morning drive host. Other additions to WRXP's on-air team included Steve Craig as midday host along with Brian Phillips as evening host. The weekend air staff includes Dave Greek, Greg Russ, Jennifer Kajzer and Paul Calvaconte, who was the only personality rehired from the WQCD smooth jazz format. In March 2009, WRXP announced through their morning program that Nik Carter, formerly of WXRK, was to join as the anchor from 3 to 7 PM on weekdays.
On June 16, 2008, Leslie Fram
Leslie Fram
Leslie Fram is an American radio personality on commercial radio.Her first professional job was at WABF in Fairhope, Alabama. One of the weekend shows she hosted was called "Platter Ladder"...
, formerly of WNNX
WNNX (99X)
W255CJ FM 98.9 is a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, airing a modern rock radio format branded as 99X, which originally began on full-power station WNNX FM 99.7 in 1992. Its city of license was previously Tallapoosa , which is now far beyond its current broadcast range, nearly in Alabama...
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, was appointed Program Director. In addition to her duties as program director, Fram was also co-host of the WRXP morning drive (and later midday) show with Pinfield.
Transition to Merlin Media and FM News 101.9
Majority ownership of WRXP was acquired by Merlin Media LLC, a new entity headed by veteran radio executive Randy MichaelsRandy Michaels
Randy Michaels is an American broadcasting executive and a member of the National Association of Broadcasters TV Board.Randy Michaels has been involved in large market radio broadcasting since the early 1970s, first in front of the mike as evening personality at adult contemporary WGR in Buffalo...
, in a sale announced on June 21, 2011. The Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based company became majority owners of two Emmis stations there, WLUP
WLUP
WLUP-FM is a commercial classic rock radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned and operated by Merlin Media, LLC, WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts...
and WKQX (now WWWN), through the same deal.
At 5:00 PM on July 15, 2011, after playing "Long Live Rock
Long Live Rock
"Long Live Rock" is a single by The Who, written by Pete Townshend during the Lifehouse period. It was not included in the Who's Next album, as it wasn't recorded until 1972. It was later performed by Billy Fury's character in the film That'll Be the Day featuring Keith Moon...
" by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, WRXP switched to a stunt
Stunting (broadcasting)
In radio broadcasting, stunting occurs when a station abruptly airs programming that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what they normally play...
of Adult Contemporary music with the brand "101.9 FM New." At 6:00 AM on July 18, WRXP began a live morning show hosted by veteran New York City radio personality Paul Cavalconte (who has been with 101.9 since 1998), with Jeff McKay (formerly of Shadow Traffic
Shadow Traffic
Shadow Broadcast Services is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Rutherford, New Jersey. It is a subsidiary of Clear Channel...
and 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...
) providing weather and traffic updates. The station's call letters were changed to WEMP on July 21. On July 25, 2011, the first ever newscast premiered at 3PM with Dave Packer and Mike Barker. On August 12, the station ended its Adult Contemporary stunt for "FM News 101.9," an all-news format.
After the terrestrial radio change, WRXP maintains their website at http://www.1019rxp.com/ and continues to offer their music format in streaming audio.
External links
- FM News 101.9 website
- FM News 101.9's Facebook Account
- Audio clip of WRXP ending
- Smooth Jazz New York — info on smooth jazz happenings in the New York area
- Smooth Jazz Favorites — Internet-only radio station for baby boomers and other WQCD fans