In the 1980’s, Philadelphia’s 106.1 FM seemed cursed. No matter what Cox Radio put on the frequency, nothing seemed to work. In 1981, it was WWSH Stereo 106, playing a mix of Beautiful Music & Soft Adult Contemporary. It had an audience, but that audience was older than station management wanted. 1982, The format was modified to Adult Contemporary as Wish 106, but it failed to attract an audience. In 1983, radio vet, Bobby Rich was hired to fix the station. He took the station in a Top 40 direction, and named it WWSH The Top FM 106. It failed to put a dent in CHR leader, WCAU-FM. 1984 saw another change, as the station became WZGO Z106, and brought in a popular morning show from Hawaii, Randal & Cooke. Nothing. A new morning show was hired, Ross Brittain from Z100 New York. The station still struggled. In 1986, Cox hired radio consultant, Mike Joseph. Five years earlier, Joseph had put the successful Hot Hits format on competing WCAU-FM. He came up with a Hot Hits clone called Electric 106, with Ross Britain holding down mornings. The new Electric format was not as strong as Hot Hits, & failed to impress the audience.
Cox Radio was done, and decided to sell the station. Malrite Communications, owner of WHTZ Z100, just up the road in New York, bought the station, and immediately blew up Electric 106, and launched Eagle 106 WEGX. You can hear that flip, here. The station’s Top-40 format quickly found an audience, and caused WCAU-FM to drop the Top-40 format & flip to Oldies. WEGX was a successful CHR from 1987 to 1993, when the station flipped to Jazz. This aircheck features the final moments of Eagle 106, and the launch of Smooth Jazz 106.1, WJJZ.
***To Play Aircheck, Click The Video Below***
From the Ellis B Feaster You Tube Radio Aircheck & Classic TV Channel.
www.youtube.com/EllisFeaster
AND NOW THIS MESSAGE
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Randall and Cooke were hired during the Top FM 106 era of Bobbie Rich. Great chemistry.
It Didn’t Cause WCAUFM To Go Oldies—-CBS Wanted The Oldies Format—The Top 40 Format Was Losing Money–CBS Knew There Was A Big Void To Be Filled–A FULL BLOWN MASS APPEAL FM OLDIES STATION-CBS Wanted The Oldies Format–Older Demographic
Well, yes. However if WCAU-FM had beaten back Eagle 106 there would have been no format change. On the other hand, CHR was in a bad spot formatically in the early 90s. I would suppose someone in a decision making position at WCAU-FM/WOGL would have a whole lot more insight.
Oh. And please don’t shout. All caps is shouting.
WCAU-FM was NOT losing money. It was a money maker. CBS brass knew they would have to fight another fighter when Malrite bought 106. They also knew there was a hole in the market for an FM Oldies station, and there was no real competition for that audience. So CBS chose what they thought would be the easier route to make money. Had Malrite not come to town, CBS probably would have kept the CHR format. WEGX was a factor in the format change, but not the sole reason for the change.