WFNY-FM
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| WFNY-FM | |
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| Broadcast area | New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Branding | 92.3 Free FM |
| First air date | December 25, 1948 |
| Frequency | 92.3 (MHz)  |
| Format | WFNY-FM: Talk/Rock WFNY-HD2: Modern Rock |
| ERP | 6,000 watts |
| Class | Class B FM Station |
| Callsign meaning | W Free FM New York |
| Owner | CBS Radio |
| Website | www.923freefm.com |
WFNY-FM, known on-air as "92-3 Free FM", is a radio station with a talk radio/rock format in New York City located at 92.3 FM.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
The station, first known as WMCA-FM, went on the air on December 25, 1948.
WHOM-FM appeared on February 26, 1951, featuring a variety of formats, including ethnic, background music, classical, Spanish, and easy listening.
[edit] WKTU
The station then became WKTU, taking on an adult contemporary format that ran from June 5, 1975 to July 1978. In July 1978, an executive visited New York's Studio 54 discothèque and was very impressed with the crowds there. From that visit, he got the idea that a disco music-based station was needed, as several FM-based Top 40 stations were leaning disco in other markets. As a result, the station, which was suffering from low ratings, would abruptly adapt a disco format as "Disco 92" (WKTU) at midnight on July 24, 1978. That fall, the station shot from "Worst to First", unseating WABC in the 18-30 age group. During the height of the disco craze, WKTU was the station to listen to in New York.
Initially, WKTU played only dance/disco and a few pop songs by disco artists, but by 1979, the station began to add R&B cuts. By then, the station was still disco-based, but in reality it was a rhythmic contemporary hit radio (before that term was invented). During this period, disc jockeys like Paco, Roscoe, Carlos DeJesus, Joe Causi, Jay Thomas, Freddie Colon , Al Bandiero, and Diane Pryor graced the airwaves, as the station continued to be at or near the top into the 1980s.
In 1981, SJR Communications sold WKTU to its current owners, Infinity (Infinity would later merge with CBS Radio, who currently own the station.). Also that year, WXLO evolved into a rhythmic CHR format as "98.7 Kiss FM". Also in 1981, WKTU mixed dance-based New Wave into the format.
WKTU still was among the top ten-rated radio stations in New York City until 1983. By then, the station introduced a new Dance music sound called Latin Freestyle by playing recordings by Shannon on a regular basis. At this point, WRKS became an urban contemporary station, while the station got new competition in the form of Z-100 and WPLJ, both of which adapted a CHR format. By the next year, the station still did well in the ratings, even though they were on the way down with the new competition.
By the middle of 1984, WKTU went to a CHR format as well, but with ratings continuing to go down. That fall, they added legendary disk jockey Dan Ingram to afternoons, but the station would continue to struggle in the ratings. To make matters worse, WAPP also went CHR that fall.
So strong was the memory of the late-1970s WKTU that despite all the subsequent on-air changes, the general public still thought of it as a disco station. Even though WAPP moved back to playing rock music in the form of a rock-based CHR in June 1985, giving WKTU one less competitor, the station management thought a more drastic change was needed. Since New York City only had one full-time rock station with WNEW-FM, that was the opening.
[edit] WXRK
So on July 13, 1985 at midnight, the same day WKTU (now known as 92 FM) aired the historic Live Aid concert, it switched to an album-oriented rock format, adopted the nickname of "K-Rock", and changed their call letters to WXRK. (The WKTU call letters would reappear on New York City's 103.5 FM with a dance pop format in 1996)
Initially, the format at WXRK was similar to the pre-1983 WPLJ, as the air personalities left the station gradually in the next several months. Howard Stern, after being fired from WNBC that October, signed on to do afternoons. Stern would initially play music along with talk, but in February 1986, Stern took over the morning slot. He would garner highest-rated morning show in the market, dethroning Don Imus, who had had the highest-rated morning show for several years on WNBC. Later that year Stern's show became syndicated, with WXRK as its flagship station.
By 1987, Stern stopped playing music on his show altogether, while the station itself would evolve into a classic rock format that same year. The airstaff became full of veteran refugees from other New York rock stations, including Dave Herman, Pete Fornatele, Meg Griffin, Vin Scelsa, and Alison Steele from WNEW-FM and Tony Pigg, Mark Coppola, and John Zacherle from WPLJ. In 1993, The Greaseman's syndicated show was put into the nighttime slot, bookending Stern with an act that was often even more controversial.
By the mid-1990's modern rock was popular across the world. During this period in New York City radio, Z-100 would play a lot of modern rock despite being a CHR station. In addition, WNEW-FM would switch to a modern rock format in the summer of 1995 evolving to an adult-based modern rock format by the end of that year, and adjust to a more eclectic mix of adult rock by 1996. Finally, Q104.3, which had a hard rock format during this period, played a good amount of modern rock that would fit in with its format. Nevertheless by the beginning of 1996, there was no full-time modern rock station in New York City.
To fill in this void, WXRK switched to a modern rock format on January 5, 1996 at the end of Stern's show. To kick off the new format, which he enthusiastically endorsed as a better fit for his audience, Stern stayed on the air until 1:06 p.m. that day playing music. The first song Stern played was Marilyn Manson's Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). Most of the classic rock DJs disappeared with this change, as did The Greaseman. By August of 1997, the station would also play music that would be suitable for an active rock station, and the station continued with this mix for several years.
By 2003, with a new program director, the station would drop the active rock variant of music. No matter what the format, the longtime problem for the station was that while Stern always had very high ratings, the rest of the station did not fare as well. Also it was hard to label K-Rock an Alternative station with the Led Zeppelin cuts being mixed in while it was hard to label them active rock due to the few pop alternative artists being played.
Concerned about Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio at the beginning of 2006, and acknowledging that its target audience was looking elsewhere for modern rock music, WXRK made another format adjustment on April 4, 2005. In this adjustment, the station would be heavily reliant on classic hard rock such as Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Nirvana, while also playing new music from such established artists as System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Green Day and Weezer. Today, New York City is the largest city in the United States without an alternative rock station. To prevent any backlash from fans of modern rock, an internet-only radio station called "K-Rock2" was launched at the same time as the format adjustment (K-Rock2 is now the HD2 radio station for WFNY.) The strategy would not work, as ratings remained about the same.
As a result of the imminent departure of Howard Stern, an announcement was made on October 25, 2005 that the station would adopt a talk format on January 3, 2006.
At 10 a.m. on Friday, December 16, after the last Howard Stern broadcast, K-Rock stunted a melange of audio sound bites, music and program line-up announcements. At 10:20, K-Rock DJ Julie Slater announced "Welcome to Free FM" and went into music.
[edit] WFNY-FM
The WXRK call letters were replaced by WFNY-FM (Free New York) on January 1, 2006. The station, which is one of several CBS Radio stations around the nation now branded as "Free FM", featured David Lee Roth as its morning show host. Other talk shows aired throughout the day, while music, an active rock format, continued to be played on the weekends, called "Free Rock Weekends."
Simultaneously, the WXRK call sign moved to the former WXTM in Cleveland, also owned by CBS Radio, and coincidentally at the same 92.3 frequency, and was rebranded as 92.3 K-Rock.
Free FM's ratings have plummeted since the change to an all-talk format. As the replacement for Howard Stern, Roth lost nearly three-quarters of Howard Stern's previous audience, dropping a 7.9 share to a 1.8. Among the core audience - 18-34 year-old men - the numbers fell from 13.8 to 1.3. Overall station ratings went from 3.2 in Summer/Fall of 2005 to 2.7 in Winter of 2006, and later to a 2.0, leaving it in 20th place in the New York market.
On April 26, 2006, Opie and Anthony replaced David Lee Roth in morning drive on Free FM, while simulcasting on XM Satellite Radio. The show airs from 6-9 a.m. on both terrestrial and satellite radio, then continues on XM exclusively to 12 p.m.
Opie and Anthony have managed to slightly upturn the ratings for WFNY-FM, to a 1.4 rating. However, this still leaves the radio station ranked #23 of 31 in the NY market.[1]
On April 25, 2006, Chris Booker, host of "The Booker Show", announced that he was broadcasting his last show on Free FM. He soon moved over to Q102 in Philadelphia for the morning show there. The sudden end of his show, which had evolved on afternoon drive before the format switch, lead to the station reverting to "Free Rock" music at nights.
Weekends continue to use the "Free Rock Weekend" label. This includes hour-long "Freecasts" in which a single listener chooses the (approxomately 15) songs played during the hour. The listener will also act as guest DJ over the phone during the time.
The station is also currently used as a secondary broadcaster of sister station WFAN, serving as a secondary outlet for NFL football games, New Jersey Devils hockey games and New Jersey Nets basketball games when there is a conflict with another game on WFAN.
On December 20, 2006, Ron & Fez signed an agreement with 92.3 to broadcast a Free FM-exclusive radio show from 6p.m. to 9p.m. Ron and Fez joined WNEW-FM (now WWFS) shortly after the station switched to FM Talk in 1999.
On December 28, 2006, John and Jeff started syndication from 97.1 Free FM in Los Angeles. They broadcast live 2 a.m.-6 a.m.
On January 1, 2007, Larry Wachs, who was half of The Regular Guys morning show on WKLS-FM in Atlanta, hosted the 10PM-Midnight slot on 92.3 Free FM for 2 weeks starting Tuesday (1/2).
As of January 3, 2007, Loveline with Dr. Drew Pinsky & Stryker airs Late Nights, tape delayed, 12AM - 2AM.
Danni is Free FM's Music Director and is still a Free Rock jock. She has been heard doing DJ shifts on Fresh 102.7 as well.
Free Rock Weekends now air 6am Saturday to 12am Sunday and 6am Sunday 2am Monday. Infomercials run 2am-6am Sunday. Game Show Radio runs 12-2am on Sundays.
Free FM is currently using guest hosts for the 9 p.m.-12 a.m. time slot. A list of the shows is available below.
March 2nd, 2007 was the last Penn Jillette show on Free-FM and CBS Radio Stations. The following Monday WFNY expanded the guest host time slot from 10 p.m. -12 a.m. to 9 p.m.-12 a.m.
[edit] Weekday Lineup
- Opie and Anthony 6 a.m-9a.m.; simulcast uncensored on XM Radio.
- The Dog House with JV & Elvis 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Nick DiPaolo 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
- The Radio Chick with Chuck Nice and Butch 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
- Ron & Fez with Producers "Black" Earl Douglas and "East Side" Dave 6 p.m.-9 p.m.
- Dennis Miller 9 p.m. -12 a.m. (tape delay) (Guest hosting week of 3/26)
- Loveline Tues-Sat. 12 a.m.-2 a.m. (previous night's episode)
- John and Jeff Mon-Fri 2 a.m.-6 a.m.
[edit] Weekend Lineup
- John and Jeff Saturday 2 a.m.-6 a.m. (rebroadcast)
- Dan (Dan-O) Neer Saturday 7 a.m. -11 a.m.
- Dia Sunday 8. a.m. -11 a.m.
- Danni Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. -3 p.m.
- Cabbie Saturday 3 p.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday 7 p.m.-12 a.m.
- Nik Carter Saturday 7 p.m.-12 a.m.and Sunday 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
- Game Show Radio Sunday 12 a.m.-2 a.m.
- The WFNY Free Forum with Bob Salter Sunday 6 a.m.-8 a.m.
- Infomercials Sunday 2 a.m.-6 a.m.
[edit] Guest Hosts M-F 9 p.m. & 10 p.m.-12 a.m.
- Larry Wachs Jan. 2nd to 12th.
- Tazz Jan. 15th to 19th and Feb. 19th to 23rd. March 19th & 21st.
- Freddy Mertz Jan. 22nd to 26th.
- Jay Diamond Jan. 29th to Feb. 2nd.
- Richard Bey Feb. 5th to 9th.
- NEXT with Jefe & Dubs Feb. 12th to 16th.
- Turi Ryder Feb. 26th to March 2nd.
- Lou Pate March 5th to 9th.
- "Cabbie" (Lee Mroszak) March 12th to 16th, March 20th.
- The Babe March 22nd & 23rd.
- Dennis Miller March 26th to 30th.
[edit] Former Shows
- The David Lee Roth Show (Roth Radio) Mornings 6-10 a.m. | January 3rd - April 21st, 2006
- Jake and Jackie, Weeknights 11 p.m.-3 a.m. | January 3rd - April 24th, 2006
- The Booker Show, Weeknights 7 p.m.-11 p.m. | January 3rd - April 25th, 2006
- The Nick DiPaolo Show, Weeknights 7 p.m.-11 p.m. | February 27th - March 2nd, 2006 (During David Lee Roth's "Vacation")
- Danni and Jackie 7 p.m.-10p.m. September 2006 - October 17th, 2006
- Jim Cramer's real money weekday 1 p.m. -2 p.m. | (Last Show was December 1st, 2006)
- The House of Wax with Larry Wachs 10 p.m. -12 a.m. | guest host From January 2nd to January 12th, 2007
- Penn Jillette with Michael Goudeau 9 p.m.-10 p.m. January 3rd, 2006 - March 2nd, 2007.
[edit] Former K-Rock & Free-FM Jocks
- Harris Allen Saturday 6 a.m.-10 a.m.and Sunday 8 a.m. -10 a.m., doing 20/20 sports updates on WFAN 660 AM.
- Julie Slater, weekdays 11AM-2PM, later on FreeFM weekends.
- Cane 6-10PM with Cabbie before promotion to 2-6PM. Now on XM Satellite Radio rock channels.
- Dead Air Dave 2-6AM and weekends, Howard Stern's censor from April 2002-December 2005. Now using the name 'Dylan' doing weekends on Fresh 102.7.
- Maze 6-10PM. Now doing mornings on KC101 New Haven.
- Demos Various shifts on the station. Now on SIRIUS Satellite Radio rock channels.
- Woody 2-6AM before promotion to 10PM-2AM. Now doing mornings on LIVE 105 San Francisco.
- Sluggo 2-6PM when station first flipped to alternative, in later years did shows from the west coast. Now on KROQ Los Angeles and SIRIUS Satellite Radio rock channels.
- Matt Pinfield Hosted 'The Buzz', K-Rock's new music show. Now on VH1 and HDNet.
- Liquid Todd Hosted 'Solid State', K-Rock's Saturday night electronic show. Now on 103.5 WKTU New York and SIRIUS Satellite Radio.
- Ben Harvey 6-10PM. Now a TV host for here! Networks.
- F'N Kevin Various shifts on the station. Now doing mornings on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Playboy Radio channel.
- Cabbie (a.k.a. Lee Mroszak) Nights and afternoons with Cane before moving to overnights solo. Served one year in jail for tax evasion. Is now a weekend DJ for Free FM.
- Razz 2-6PM on the station before being moved to 2-6AM. Now on WXTU Philadelphia, a Country station.
- Loscalzo Various shifts on the station and briefly Operations Manager. Now a VP at MTV Networks.
- Tim Virgin Various shifts on the station. Now on 103.9 The Edge in Phoenix.
- Carol Miller Various shifts on the station. Now on Q104.3 New York.
- Lazlow Sundays 6-10 p.m. The final show was broadcast December 18, 2005. Does shows once a month on XM Channel 202 aka Opie & Anthony's channel "The ViRUS"
- Brad Maybe Various shifts on the station, producer of 'The Booker Show'. Now producer of 'The Kidd Chris Show' on 94.1 Free-FM Philadelphia.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- WKTU – the "new" WKTU started in 1996 at frequency 103.5
[edit] External links
- Official website of 92.3 Free FM
- K-Rock2
- Information page for WFNY-FM from RecNet.com
- Radio Locator Information on WFNY
- Signal coverage for WFNY-FM from radio-locator.com
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WFNY
