In the waning days of Country music at WHN, here’s a look at how mornings sounded just before the end.
By 1987, WHN would be gone, having flipped to All-Sports as 1050 WFAN, which would move the next year in what was known as the big switch, down to 660 upon the expiration of WNBC. But before the end came… listening to this aircheck, you’ll hear a who’s who of legendary deejays in New York radio (well, at least mentioned by morning guru Del Demontreau)! Some of these went on to be a part of WYNY, others to WCBS-FM and elsewhere.
Notables on this aircheck… breaking news about a partial nuclear meltdown in the (former) Soviet Union. This would be the Chernobyl nuclear power plant but back at this time details were still sketchy
1050 WHN… the last truly succesful Country station in NYC. Thanks to Matt for sharing this with us!
Actually WYNY 97.1 which then moved to WYNY 103.5 was the last successful country
radio station in NY. Then a gallant Attempt
by was made by a quadracast at 107.1 which
which failed due to techinical problems
with the signal which did not overlap and
had many dead spots since it was really
4 separate radio station signals.
New York has 3.5 Million Country Music
and the 6 big monopolies that run radio
refuse to put a Country Music Radio Station on the air in NY, yet every year
there are Country Music Award shows at
Madison Square Garden. Something is wrong
with that picture. It is obvious radio
should be programmed by Radio People and
not Wall Street.
Well, Ira, the lack of a Country station in NYC has best been explained this way: After the demise of
1050 WHN, every attempt at bringing a Country format to one of the city’s big signal FMs failed, not
because it wasn’t popular, but because it wasn’t popular enough in places where it counted. As far as
most of the conglomerates are concerned, most of New York’s advertising dollars are in Manhattan,
and, unfortunately, the businesses and shoppers that these signals would reach are metropolitanites –
more likely to listen to either WLTW, WPLJ or Oldies (okay, classic hits) on WCBS-FM than they are
to Country. The stigma of Country still being performed by rednecks is alive and well on the island.
Not so when you get to places like Westchester County NY or Bergen County NJ, where Country tested
VERY well. This is where the quadcast came in – the whole idea was that the signals at the four WYNY
stations were receivable in areas where country was considered popular. But that wasn’t then and
isn’t now considered the gold mine for radio sales, that’s always been Manhattan where the BIG money
is. Even the original WYNY Country format on 103.5 suffered because the audience was too fragmented –
the ratings were good in the aforementioned counties, but bad in Midtown. And you are correct about
the quadcast on 107.1 – the signals had awful overlap and gap problems, and did not come in inside
stores and office buildings in Midtown Manhattan, say nothing of the multipath picketfencing drivers
had to endure in their cars.
I’ve often been an advocate of bringing a Country format to New York, considering that there are three
solid AC type stations (106.7 WLTW, 102.7 WWFS and 95.5 WPLJ), one solid Oldies station (101.1 WCBS-FM), which
by the way, was number ONE 12+ in the Q2 FY 2010 book, three hip-hop/dance stations, two major rock
stations, and plenty of other signals sitting on a 2 share or less with decent signals into Midtown.
Surely one of those under-performers could TRY Country.
Unfortunately, radio is so bottom line oriented today that even the thought of TRYING with no guarantee
of success right out of the box is vexing to Wall Street investors, thus, nobody will make the attempt
knowing that there’s too much money to loose in the short run, and investors are absolutely NOT willing
to make a long term commitment to create another WYNY or WHN that might take up to a year to gain a
substantial audience.
Ira, it’s just not going to happen. Radio is too poor and too bad off these days for any owner to take
the chance… look at NYC’s demos. Caucasians are a minority and any owner wanting to make a change
can make substantially more return on an investment by going to Hispanic or some Urban format than Country.
It’s just a matter of fact. The only way New York City will get another Country station, is for some
suburban rimshot station will have to give it a try, a station that doesn’t rely on Manhattan money as its
primary source of revenue.
Hey Steve,
Thanks for your link, I’d love to talk to you about WHN, WYNY in NYC. I was a good friend of Dan Daniel and still have some tapes here in OZ.
My email addy is davidell@bigpond.net.au
Hope to hear from you.
David Ellis.
Brisbane Australia
My dad was on a billboard for WHN. The tag line was Music to make you laugh and Music that will make you cry. My dad has since past away and we are trying locate a copy of the billboard. Do you have any suggestions?