From the mid 1960’s, to the mid 1970s, Famous 56 WFIL was on fire in Philadelphia. The station was played everywhere. The WFIL Boss Jocks seemed bigger than life! It seemed like they were at every event in Philly. Parades, sporting events, high schools, and of course at every WFIL event. Some of these names are still talked about today, like Jim O’Brien, Dr Don Rose, Long John Wade, & George Michael. By the late 1970s, WFIL had become a shell of it’s former self with falling ratings, and the station moved to an Adult Contemporary format. With listeners migrating to FM, the AC format could not attract and audience, and in 1981, the station flipped to Country. That format also flopped. By 1983, WFIL management decided to bring back the glory days of WFIL, and the music it played during those years, by flipping to Golden Oldies. The new format did provide a slight ratings uptick, and stopped the ratings slide… for a while. This aircheck features the launch of Oldies on WFIL, with the voices of newsman Jeff Collins, baseball great Pete Rose, General Manager Bruce Holberg, Program Director Jay Meyers, & original Boss Jock Jim Nettelton.
Since 1979, Ellis has been on the radio, mostly hosting morning radio shows across the country, from Philly to Salt Lake City, Tampa to Seattle, and for the last 25 years, has been waking Orlando & Daytona Beach.