66 WNBC Returns – Internet Station Brings Back the WNBC Time Machine for One Weekend

The Personalities of The WNBC Time Machine, 1987

Once upon a time, at a station long, long ago, the idea of a themed Oldies show was born in the mind of a certain Program Director. Dale Parsons was looking for a way to help WNBC’s overall ratings, which had taken a big hit after the departure of Afternoon Host Howard Stern. Explained by two of the best in the business in the following videos, the addition of Joey Reynolds to the afternoon lineup and then Big Jay Sorensen after Joey’s departure helped stabilize the declining ratings – albeit too late to save the station, since NBC ultimately decided to sell to RCA, which in turn decided to divest itself of all of NBC’s radio stations.

All that was 32 years ago as of this writing. It was with this background that Internet Oldies station HitOldies.net decided to take on the daunting task of re-creating the WNBC Time Machine format, from the jingles to the news and sweepers, and all that great toe-tapping music of the 1960s and 70s. The personalities took on the aura of WNBC, as if they were really there at 30 Rockafeller Center, doing their best to entertain the way the best in the business did it all those years ago.

No tribute such as this is ever truly complete… there’s always SOMETHING missing. We’ll leave it to you, the listening audience, to decide what should have been there. In the meantime, before all the actual shows post on this page, take an hour or two out of your time and watch the following videos. The first is the “Wrap-Up” video that starts with a 13 minute scoped aircheck, and then moves on to our group meeting held on Sunday, March 7, 2021 as the final shows were airing on HitOldies. You’ll get a real feel for how and why the shows sounded as they did, the procedures we used and our thoughts on the music. Just after the 1 hour mark, Big Jay Sorensen joins in with some FANTASTIC stories of his time at WNBC, from doing afternoons with Joey Reynolds, to some hilarious stories about what happened at the station during his overnight Time Machine shows! You’ll want to not miss this at all. So… start with the first video, then watch the first one we did the week leading into the Time Machine Weekend. I think you’ll find the whole thing fascinating!