WWDB 96.5 FM Archive
A collection of items and features for the first talk radio station in not only Philadelphia but America.
WWDB staff photos on WWDB Archive Page 2
This Page:
On November 6, 2000, Philadelphia's heritage talk station, WWDB, stopped broadcasting talk at 9 am. The staff was called to a meeting and told the format was changing, they were all fired. Throughout the day all that the listeners heard was a computerized voice count down until at 5 pm the format was changed to 80's rock. The studio dedicated to playing Sinatra music was used to play the new format. The other two studios, one brand new, were left empty. Facilities and production were slated to move to its sister station WXTU.
Audio of the Format Flip Countdown and Intro Spot
Additional Audio is in the Audio Vault
Graphic made by Icon Design in 1997 for DB's website
Here is the ad placed in the Inky by WWDB from May 1975.
Note Mumia listed after he changed his name from Wesley Cook.
Program schedule for June 1997
Monday-Thursday
5:30 am Phil Valentine
9:00 am Irv Homer Show
12:00 noon Rush Limbaugh Show
3:00 pm Dr. Laura Show
5:00 pm Tom Marr & Susan Bray Show
8:00 pm Dr. Jim Corea Show on Health & Fitness
10:00 pm Debra Luray Show
1:00 am Dom Giordano Show
Friday
5:30 am Phil Valentine
9:00 am Irv Homer Show
12:00 noon Rush Limbaugh Show
3:00 pm Dr. Laura Show
5:30 pm Friday with Frank featuring Sid Mark
10 pm Debra Luray Show
1:00 am Austin Culmer Show
Saturday
5:30 am Dom Giordano Show
8:00 am Russ Miller On Housing & Real Estate
12:00 noon Dining Around with Frank & Mary Jelineck
2:00 pm Financial Forum with Steve Cordasco
5:00 pm Frank Ford Show
8:00 pm Frank Rizzo
11:00 pm Dr. Yvonne Kaye
3:00 am David Coleman Show
Sunday
6:00 am Sunday Morning Show
9:00 am Sunday With Sinatra featuring Sid Mark
3:00 pm Dr. Dean Edell
5:00 pm The Doctor Is In with Dr. Jim Corea
6:00 pm Dr. Jim Corea on Health & Fitness
8:00 pm Steve Friedman - Mr.Movie Show
12:00 midnight Dom Giordano Show
Lineup Fall 2000
The Morning News Team with Earl Bailey and Pat Farnack - 5 to 9 am.
Gil Gross - Weekdays from 9 to noon. Gil Gross interview
Irv Homer - Weekdays from noon to 3 pm.
Jay and Hilarie - Weekdays from 3 to 5 pm.
Kent Voss - Mon. - Thurs.. 5-7 pm.
Jim Corea - Evenings 7-9 Archive
Susan Bray - Weekdays from 9pm to 1am. Susan's
Steve Martorano - 1 am to 5 am.
John McNulty - Food and Wine Saturday evenings 6 to 8 pm
Joel Gibbs - MovieMania Saturday, 10 pm to midnight
Sid Mark - Frank Sinatra show - Friday 5 to 10 and Sundays from 9 to 3.
Franny Rizzo - Sunday nights at9
Jason Meyer - fill in host
John Stolnis - Producer - fill in host
Russ Miller - Real Estate, Saturdays.
Austin Culmer
David Coleman
Frank and Mary Jelineck - Dinning Around - Saturdays at noon.
The Car Show - Saturdays from 2 to 4 pm - Frank and Mike Daulario
Past Favorites, fill-in hosts, etc.
Noted fill-in hosts, some that got their own shows or helped run the station - Chuck Darrow, Bill Thomas, LaDonna Monet, John Ziegler, Dick Pomerantz, Mark Williams, Mike Seigal, Gil Gross.
Past Favs - Smokey Gifford // Rollye James // Dom Giordano // Bernie McCain
Way Way Back - Dominic Quinn // Wynn Moore // Stan Major // Richard Hayes // Bernie Herman // Ken James // Rod Luck // former PD, Jack Ellery
Other Notes:
On November 3rd the Beasley's registered thepoint965.com (482 NE 31st Street BOCA RATON, FL 33431) - This was three days before they flipped formats. Remember up until November 6th they led the entire staff to believe that they were going to continue with the talk format. As we reported here first on this website (11/8) that turned out to be a ruse.
Year 2000 AIR awards winners (there is an odd relationship between AIR award winners at WWDB and then the winners leaving. In a previous year Phil Valentine won3 and was let go 2 months later.)
Best Traffic Reporter - John Brown, Metro Networks
Best Talk Show Host - WPHT Michael Smerconish
Best Morning Team - WMMR Barsky in the Morning and team
Best Spot News - WWDB Tom MacDonald & Brad Segall, Pier Collapse
Best Sports Reporting - WWDB, Mike Rossi
Best Public Service Announcement - WWDB Zach Giltrap
WWDB won 3 AP awards in the spring of 2001, months after they ceased operations.
Brief History
The call letters stood for William and Dolly Banks (calls were changed around 1968). The siblings William and Dolly bought was was then WHAT-AM from the Public Ledger. Included was 96.5 FM which was used to simulcast the AM side until 1955-56. They hired Sid Mark to host an overnight jazz music show on the FM. In 1958 WHAT 96.5-FM became all jazz until early 1975. On March 17th 1975 WWDB 96.5-FM flipped to all talk. After her brother died in 1979 Dolly took over as full owner and GM. Several lawsuits were filed against WWDB in 1985 concerning age and racial discrimination. Dolly retired in May 1985. The station was then sold to Ragan Henry (a Philly lawyer) for $6,000,000. At that time he was the only minority station owner in town. Soon after he sold it to Charles Schwartz who turned it over to his private company, Pinache Broadcasting, in 1986. You might remember the station was carrying a heavy spot load for Pinache Travel through the late '80s. In 96 Mercury Broadcasting bought it for [[ here the story is incomplete, I have to look the rest up in my files]] 48 mill and then Beasley bought it for nearly 65 mill in the late 97.
Former station address and owners
Station Address
166 E. Levering Mill Rd.
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Bala Cynwyd, PA
17,000 watts -- Tower height 954 ft.
Note: Operations will be moved from this building to WXTU, also owned by Bealsey.
Station Owners
Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc.
3033 Riviera Drive, Suite 200
Naples, Florida 34103
Telephone: 941-263-5000
Fax: 941-263-8191
http://www.bbgi.com
email @ bbgi.com
Archived Press Links (Material Expired Online)
No talk, just music
After 25 years, WWDB-FM abruptly changes its format to all '80s rock, fires all on-air personalities
Sid Mark would have celebrated the 45th anniversary of his Sinatra show this weekend. (Mark Ludak / Daily News)
by Rose DeWolf
Daily News Staff Writer
Goodbye, Irv and Susan.
Hello, Tears for Fears and Van Halen.
After 25 years as a talk-radio station, Philadelphia's WWDB (96.5FM) switched to an '80s rock format at 5 p.m. yesterday.
All the station's well-known personalities - Irv Homer, Susan Bray, Gil Gross, Pat Farnack, Frank Rizzo and Sid Mark among them - were called to a 9 a.m. meeting at the station and told their jobs had ended.
Just like that, 45 years of "Friday with Frank" and "Sunday with Sinatra" are over.
"I found out a minute and a half before I thought I was going on the air," said Gross yesterday. "That was fun."
If you tuned in to WWDB before 5 p.m. yesterday, what you heard was an electronic voice counting backward from 6,000.
"That's an old radio stunt," said Gross. "The aim is to get people wondering 'What's going on there?' to create interest in what's coming next. And apparently word got around. A Lower Merion policeman told me someone called to report 'a crazed woman was holding the station hostage while she counted.' That was the first laugh I had all day."
The countdown voice reached 3-2-1 at 5 p.m. at which point another voice announced: "Look out Philadelphia, here we come." The station promised to bring listeners "the best of the '80s."
According to Paul Heine of the radio newsletter Friday Morning Quarterback, there has been a rash of stations switching to this '80s format in recent months, presumably to attract 20- and 30-somethings nostalgic for the music of their high school years.
That's a much younger audience than WWDB has been attracting.
The programming is a combination of rock and pop artists such as Simple Minds, Blondie, Pat Benatar, the Police, Lover Boy, Madonna, Tears for Fears, The Cars, and B-52s, he said.
WWDB's owner, Beasley Broadcast Group, had tinkered with the talk formula since buying the station in 1997. But yesterday's change was total.
The staff of the award-winning morning news show launched in March 1999 didn't work directly for WWDB, but rather for a news and traffic service called Metro Networks. But since 'DB dropped news, "we lost our jobs, too," said reporter Jenny Robinson.
But so did most other station personnel, including vice president and general manager Dennis Begley, who said he hadn't expected the ax to fall, but "they handled it with class and I wish them all the best. I knew going into radio 20 years ago that this kind of thing happens. I feel bad for my people. But that's life in the big city."
Dave Donahue, who is general manager at country music station WXTU, also owned by Beasley, will now also manage WWDB. He said that although the station's call letters will remain WWDB "for the moment," they'll probably change.
"We're calling it 'Radio 96.5, the Point,'" Donahue said, "and over the next few weeks, we'll be adding new on-air personalities."
The old on-air personalities echoed Begley's "that's radio" view.
Said Irv Homer, who was among the original hosts when what used to be known as WHAT became the nation's first FM talk show station: "That's the business. What can I tell you. I have no hard feelings. I had 25 good years. What will be now, I haven't any idea, other than getting into my Mercedes to collect unemployment. I'll probably devote more time to the Sunshine Foundation."
Sid Mark would have celebrated the 45th anniversary of his "Friday with Frank," Sunday with Sinatra shows this weekend.
"I started at WHAT on Nov. 11, 1955," Mark said. "To be anywhere for 45 years is amazing."
Mark said he wishes Beasley well and noted that since his show is nationally syndicated, it will still be heard in 115 other cities and "you never know, it may rise again here."
"If Frank were still with us," he added, the question wouldn't come up. "He would call and buy the station."
Susan Bray, an 18-year veteran at WWDB, said she missed the 9 a.m. farewell meeting.
"I'd worked the night before and when Neil Larrimore," named interim program director for the new format, "called me, I said: 'I worked late last night. I'm still in my nightie. I didn't get there until 9:30 and by that time the meeting was over. Unhappy people were cleaning out desks. All I had to take was a picture and pair of earphones. Now who knows what the future will bring?" she said.
Gil Gross said he was more upset about employees who will get only two weeks severance than about his own situation. "I have a contract that will pay me very well to be home. This will be the best job, I've ever not had."
The demise of the WWDB morning news program is likely to help all-news KYW- 1060AM.
When WWDB launched its 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. news format last year, it stole KYW veterans Pat Farnack and Melanie Armstrong among others. It offered the first serious competition to the AM news giant and bested the station in two news categories at Pennsylvania Associated Press News Awards Contest this year.
With WWDB talk shows gone, WPHT-AM is now the sole talk station in Philadelphia.
But Michael Smerconish, attorney and host on that station, is not gloating over the competition's demise.
"I am drinking no champagne," Smerconish said. "It may sound odd. But a large part of me is sorry to see it go. I started my radio career there filling in on Saturday night."
Smerconish blames the loss of the talk format on "a succession of owners who paid more and more to buy the station and then felt they had to get blood from a stone to pay the debt service.
"I left five years ago when the management then wanted me to hawk some wonder drug on the air," he said.
The current ownership saw Infinity/CBS, which owns WPHT, outbid them for the syndicated talk shows of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura, said Smerconish. "CBS appears willing to spend whatever it takes to compete. My guess is that Beasley decided that rather than continue to compete with CBS, it was better to get out."
Columnist Stu Bykofsky contributed to this report.
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LETTERS
Change in format for Philly station WWDB-FM
Archive | Letters
I am 25 years old and have been listening to Sid Mark on WWDB-FM (96.5) for five years (a mere one-ninth of the show's air time). I was shocked to see that the station has changed formats so drastically and so suddenly (Inquirer, Nov. 7). From talk radio to all '80s is about as drastic as switching from classical to pop (oh, I forgot, that also happened in Philly).
I ask any station in Philadelphia to please consider the fans of Mark's Frank Sinatra shows and keep them on the air.
And to Sid Mark, thanks for entertaining your fans, both young and old, for so long.
Mike Zink
Marlton
I was born in 1975 and listened to WWDB while I was growing up in the Philadelphia area. My parents specifically bought me a clock radio in 1984 so that I could listen to WWDB and be prepared with the news as I woke up every morning. Before that, I crawled into their bed just to listen to the black transistor radio on their nightstand. From 1984 to 1994, I woke up and went to bed daily with WWDB. I credit the station with reaching out to me and teaching me news, politics and current events, which eventually led me to a career in politics.
Losing WWDB is like losing a Philadelphia icon such as John Wanamakers, Strawbridge & Clothier, or even the late, great Frank Rizzo. Dominic Quinn, Susan Bray, Paul W. Smith, Irv Homer and Bernie Herman were just a few of the great personalities who touched my life. As a frequent caller to the radio station growing up, I must say the station treated all callers with respect.
Philadelphia is the ultimate loser for the loss of such a great radio station. WWDB has died, and a major part of Philadelphia will die with it.
James Romano
Alexandria, Va.
Though not a listener, I am saddened by the demise of yet another Philadelphia radio institution, WWDB-FM. I also feel deep sympathy toward all the hosts and other station personnel who are now out of work - except general manager Dennis Begley. In 1997, Begley and his cronies helped arrange the destruction of classical music station WFLN-FM, for which I worked. I was one of those summarily told not to show up for work anymore. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
To the other former WWDB employees, best wishes and good luck to you all.
Mark Pinto
Collegeville
To what source does Kevin Carter attribute his conclusion concerning WWDB's morning news program challenge to KYW-AM (1060) that "the move was a disaster" (Inquirer, Nov. 7)?
The Associated Press drew a different conclusion in awarding the morning news program (and the outstanding news staff) its top air award for best newscast in Pennsylvania this past year. (KYW won third place in that race.)
Don't blame the morning news program for the failure of WWDB to attract listeners. The disaster of almost nonexistent ratings can more accurately be attributed to a deliberate decision by the company to spend no money advertising the station or the morning news program. It's hard to attract listeners when they don't know you're there.
It will be interesting to see whether that corporate philosophy changes with the new '80s format, or whether it will continue to expect new listeners to find the station by osmosis.
Sylvia Dorn
Wynnewood
I am disgusted by the actions of WWDB with respect to the Friday with Frank and Sunday with Sinatra shows. More important, their firing of host Sid Mark just shy of 45 years on the air demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the value he and his shows bring to the greater Philadelphia area.
Even though I am part of the supposed target demographic of the new "96.5, the Point" (under 35 years old, female, professional), I can assure you that I will not listen to the station and will not patronize its advertisers.
I hope some other Philadelphia station will hire Sid Mark and broadcast his shows. If they do, I can assure you that my family and I will be listening.
Judy Mancini
Erdenheim
I turned on the radio last Monday morning to hear my daily dose of talk radio - anticipating much talk of the election - only to be greeted by a computer countdown. I am terribly disappointed and will not be listening to the new '80s music format.
I will miss the talkers and the community of listeners. I hope Sid Mark and Sinatra, along with many of the hosts, find new jobs in Philly where I will gladly listen to them.
Mary Jane Vaughn
Cheltenham
Fans of talk radio take heart. Just tune your radios to WOR-AM (710) or WABC-AM (770). There is a great variety of talk show hosts on both of these stations.
For those in "mixed marriages," WABC's morning program has a liberal and a conservative together, certain to spark some lively discussions at home.
Jeanne Nagel
Southampton
For 33 years, Friday with Frank and Sunday with Sinatra have been an almost indispensable way to start the weekend. Hearing the calming, mellifluous voice of Sid Mark every Friday night was a treasure.
This Sid Mark/Sinatra tradition also permeated my family as my daughters turned their friends on to Frank's music with Sid. Whenever my oldest daughter would come home from college, she immediately would lunge for the radio and put on Friday with Frank. After all, it was a ritual.
Now, due to demographic changes and competition for the MTV and VH-1 crowd, 96.5 as we know it will disappear. It will be hard this Friday not to want to "put the world on hold," sit back and listen to five hours of great Sinatra music with the most affable radio host Philadelphia has ever had, Sid Mark.
Not only is this man a true radio original, but also he has no pretenses - something not usually found in celebrities.
Beasley Broadcast Group Inc., the station owner, may think it knows Philadelphia and what the public wants to hear. Little do they know that they are killing a 45-year-old Philadelphia tradition - a tradition that can never be replaced.
Philadelphians feel the same way about Sid Mark as the tag line for Friday with Frank would go: "Often imitated . . . never equaled."
Beth Hegedus
Lansdale
Barnes audit
I am writing in response to the article "State did not follow up Barnes audit request" (Inquirer, Nov. 2) about an audit undertaken by the Barnes Foundation under the management that succeeded my term as president of the Barnes, which ended Feb. 9, 1998.
It is now, and was then, my position that the audit was unnecessary, and if an audit was to be performed, it should be conducted by the attorney general of Pennsylvania, who is the guardian of the charitable trusts, such as the Barnes, in the commonwealth. In the instance, it resulted in a waste of approximately $500,000 spent on accountants and lawyers for an audit, which, to date, has not been released. I stressed to the attorney general and his deputy, Larry Barth, that this was not about an audit or the integrity of management of the financial affairs at the Barnes Foundation during my tenure as president, but was about settling a feud through the use of an audit that would reflect the views of those who demanded it. Regrettably, my request that the attorney general conduct the investigation or audit was declined, with the result being that the Barnes is without the $500,000 it could now use, as it appears to be broke.
The present management is continuing to claim that it is not responsible for the current conditions at the Barnes and is attempting to blame them on me to conceal the lack of any constructive management since my departure as president.
Richard H. Glanton
Philadelphia
Clinton and apologies
So the President wants an apology from congressional Republicans for his 1998 impeachment (Inquirer, Oct. 31). Well, let me do the honors.
Mr. President, I'm sorry that you may have sexually harassed Paula Jones. I'm sorry that you received oral sex from a 21-year-old subordinate in the Oval Office.
I'm sorry that Jones' attorneys became aware of your "affair" with a subordinate and tried to introduce that fact into her sexual harassment case. I'm sorry that, though it was true, you lied to the American people about the "affair."
I'm sorry that for two years you stonewalled every effort of the judicial process and prolonged the country's agony.
I'm sorry that your stonewalling greatly increased the cost of your impeachment.
I'm sorry that you forced the hand of your attorney general to appoint an independent counsel in the first place.
I'm sorry for all the women in this country that are now fairer game to their superiors for what you've done.
I'm sorry that the people that had a legal obligation to investigate your behavior are the ones that seem to be smeared the most.
I'm sorry that the country had to endure the filth that you brought to the White House.
And, finally, I'm sorry that your vice president called you one of our country's greatest presidents.
John Zack
Hopkinton, Mass.
Bowa and the Phillies
I felt bad when Terry Francona was fired, but that is the past. The future is Larry Bowa as manager (Inquirer, Nov. 9). I love it. I remember when Bowa first came to the Phillies. He was a skinny little kid who couldn't hit a basketball, but he worked hard and made himself into a really good shortstop who could hit.
Now if the Phillies will get a pitcher or two to go along with the rest of the team, we can finally say, "Look out, Atlanta, here come the Phillies."
I can't wait till April comes.
Peg Davis
Drexel Hill
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COMMENTARY
WWDB's format shift silenced a brand of democracy-in-action
Archive | Commentary
By Jeff Hurvitz
As I gazed at The Inquirer's headline, the ironies ran rampant: "Talk silenced as WWDB-FM (96.5) shifts to '80s musical hits." At the dawn of that very decade, I had been an energized seller of talk radio. As an account executive at WWDB, I had the daily task of highlighting the best features of that talk format in selling commercial time to advertisers. By 1980 and two years on the job, I was finding that my mission had become much easier.
An already maturing format had suddenly become very strong with the additions of two nationally recognized talk hosts. Now, suddenly, we were strong from top to bottom, from a.m. and p.m. drive times to overnights. The balance was pure democracy and pure American. On the conservative side of the political spectrum, we had Bob Grant and Dominic Quinn. From the liberal sector were Frank Ford and Bernie Herman. For moderates, there was Irv Homer. Overnights belonged to national icon Larry King. Philadelphia was blessed with a lineup regarded in many broadcasting circles as the best in the nation.
On Monday, as I flipped on the station in anticipation of listening to the last remaining member of that star-studded lineup, Irv Homer, I was perplexed to hear a computerized, numerical countdown. I listened to its cadence and quickly calculated that it would be exhausted by 5 p.m., an ideal time to initiate a new format.
The only true shock for me was the fact that the death of an example of democracy-in-action occurred just one day before an election that would influence the course of the world for the next four years. The clues leading up to the format's demise were certainly evident for several years.
After WCAU, the old 1210 AM, abandoned talk in 1975, owners William and Dolly Banks replaced the market's jazz station, WHAT-FM, with talk. Its new call letters, WWDB, reflected the names of the half-siblings. The Banks, who also owned the African American music-and-talk formatted WHAT-AM (1340), were local residents who brought a hands-on approach to their finished product. WWDB was their store, and they its shopkeepers.
When the Banks family sold the station to local radio executive Chuck Schwartz in 1985, the station retained its identity. By the time Schwartz sold it, less than a decade later, its existence had become beleaguered. It was one of an endangered species - a radio station owned by a local company. But it then succumbed to the pressures of Wall Street and was bought by a succession of corporate entities whose primary missions were to maximize profits to fuel increases in the values of their stocks.
Talk radio in this market has always been dominated by older listeners, but the agencies that dominate the advertising buys have always wanted the younger listeners. This meant that WWDB's account executives had to work harder than those at other stations to get the ad dollars directly from retailers and frequently bypassed agencies. When these efforts were operated by local interests - those directly in touch with both the local market and the station's daily operations - it worked. But when operations were run from afar - from a boardroom in New York or elsewhere - the cold stares at figures made changes necessary.
First, there was the selling of block time to advertisers. It began as a medical doctor purchasing an hour of time on longtime health and fitness guru Jim Corea's show on weekends, to tout that person's practice. But it gradually turned into others huckstering various medicinal products and "miracle" cures on prime-time issue-oriented talk shows, such as Homer's.
When talk rival WPHT, the present incarnation of 1210-AM, which has more recently returned to "pure" talk, outbid WWDB for nationally syndicated powerhouses Rush Limbaugh and Laura Schlesinger last January, another shovel of dirt was heaved upon the remains of once-proud WWDB.
As WWDB died, something else was dying with it: What was believed to be the country's longest-running local program - Sid Mark's Frank Sinatra shows, the last remnants of the old jazz format, anchored by "Fridays With Frank."
Perhaps it is a tribute to Sinatra that his voice wasn't silenced until two years after his death. It is possible that nostalgia music station WPEN-AM (950) may find the wisdom to add Mark's Sinatra programming to its lineup. It is also possible that WPHT-AM (1210) may want to add Homer to its growing format. In each scenario, however, those talents will come under the watch of yet another corporate giant. Long gone is a voice that was truly local. Last rites were just administered this week.
Jeff Hurvitz lives and writes in Abington Township.
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Stu's column confirms the "behind the scenes" story you read here first on November 8th.
Stu Bykofsky
Double X
WWDB snookered staffers
Exxon isn't the only company that uses a double-cross.
When WWDB abandoned its decades-old talk format and flipped it to '80s music last Monday, it not only double-crossed its listeners, it also double-crossed its local management and some on-air hosts, according to station insiders.
When they were summoned to the station Monday morning, staffers in the know - or who thought they were - expected they were going to be hear that the ill-fated 5-9 a.m. news operation would be abandoned and that some time slots would be shifted around.
Instead of the slaughter of the 18-month-old news department, they walked into a massacre of the entire station.
In boxing it's known as a feint - a fake move in one direction to fool your opponent to set him up for a devastating attack.
WWDB's fake plan - part of which was "shared" with some of the hosts - called for Kent Voss to be let go, Jay Sorensen and Hilarie Barsky to take over the abandoned morning news slot, Gil Gross to keep 9 a.m.-noon, Irv Homer to retain noon-3 p.m., Steve Martorano to move from overnight to 3-5 p.m., Susan Bray to get 5-7 p.m., Dr. Jim Corea to retain 7-9 p.m., followed by Frank Rizzo Jr. from 9 p.m.- 1 a.m.
The feint was so well-planned and designed that commercials announcing the changes had been prepared. The ruse was worthy of the Mossad, Israel's spy agency.
The above information comes from fired WWDB employees who requested anonymity, since they remain under contract to Beasley Broadcast Group and fear reprisal. Calls to chief operating officer Bruce Beasley were not returned.
With the sudden availability of numerous hosts, other stations - think WPHT and WPEN - are moving in like sharks to attack survivors with friendly offers. (Many of the station stars - such as Gil Gross, Bray, Homer and Mark - have no-compete clauses, which makes them possibly unavailable.) Many hosts have been contacted, and a rumor's circulating that 'PEN might drop its nostalgia formula and move into talk. Don't bet the farm on that move at this time.
Another broadcaster looking for survivors in the wreckage of 'DB is Comcast's CN8, which sees an opportunity to perhaps score some well-known names for its fledgling TV operation.
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Stu Bykofsky
Seems familiar
The Point is like the Bee
Right after WWDB dropped talk and became 96.5 The Point, the Beasley Broadcast Group started running TV commercials touting its new sound, the hits of the '80s.
Maybe you, like me, see the ads as a stylistic imitation (homage, perhaps?) of commercials aired by B.101 - quick shots of Philly, "local people" talking about the music, but. . .
While I see quick shots of Philly in The Point ad - a 4th & South street sign, the Rocky statue - I don't see the people who are speaking on the streets of Philly.
The B.101 commercials, which have been running several years, were done by Nashville's Film House, according to Dave Nichols, senior VP/marketing. (Film House also does commercials for Philly's WMMR, WMGK and Jammin' Gold.)
Beasley chief operating officer Bruce Beasley told me Beasley had approached Film House, which declined the job because it would conflict with another Philly client.
The Point then went to Rosler Creative in Mendocino, Calif., where I left calls for Peter Rosler to find out where the commercial was shot. My calls weren't returned before deadline.
Beasley, who has not seen the Bee commercial, said he was "not aware" of any similarities. The ad's content was based on focus groups and research done in Philly before the format flip, he said.
--- More from Stu in a follow-up ---
Tongues were set wagging when WWDB discard Irv Homer was spotted coming out of the City Line building that is home to WPHT talk radio, carrying a manila envelope under his arm. Turns out he was there not for a job interview (he's under a no-compete clause until May, check with me then) but to cut commercials for Cherry Hill Wellness Center, which he is allowed to do. On another front, look for Evil Irv's exposure to increase on Marc Howard's Sunday-morning "Inside Story" snip-and-snarl TV show. . .Patti LaBelle joined Shirley Caesar for some overdubs for the latter's forthcoming album at Indre Studios in Queen Village. . .Philadelphia's Soul Food Queen Delilah Winder is sitting pretty. In a soup ladle, that is. A full-page GE ad in December's Ebony magazine shows Delightful Delilah seated inside a giant ladle, hanging with some other kitchen tools. Winder, who operates Delilah's Southern Cuisine and the new and humming Bluezette (246 Market), is a 1995 graduate of GE Small Business College.
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Insider Commentary on WWDB
Submitted in the Fall of 1998
An unsolicited commentary by a former high-level DB staffer.
The whole thing is this - WWDB was for many years a family run station, Dolly Banks put talk on it really as a lark. Most cities have a talk station or heritage full service station FIRST, then all news stations came in in the late 60's or so. In Philadelphia KYW was one of the first all news stations, Westinghouse created the model along with WINS, NYC or WBBM, Chicago, etc. This captured a huge part of the "spoken word" audience. Meanwhile, the real talker, WCAU (CBS) blew it because they were not content to have a smaller audience (but more loyal - remember all newsers depend on tonnage during primarily morning drive, not time spent listening). So CBS sez... damn!, we're CBS, we should own the dominant brand in spoken word. Well, along about 1972 they make a run, hire a ton of staffers, reporters, etc (all news has high labor costs)...and get their clocks cleaned!!! Meanwhile, Dolly Banks has this FM signal, pays the talent next to nothing, whores out all the product with endless commercials, has sales managers that are indicted for the shaky deals, and she and her brother keep all the dough! LOW OVERHEAD, LOW AD RATES, BUT since it's MOM & POP...everybody's happy!!! Flash forward.....CBS gets some better managers and talent for 'CAU - Rizzo, Bruno, Dom, Alan Burke etc, get's some ratings, but can't cover the NUT of all the infrastructure that they STILL were paying because of the decision in 1972, big AFTRA payroll....SOOOO....the kill the station. ALL that audience (WCAU was beating 'DB 1989-90) comes to WWDB. Dom Quinn comes back, AND they put RUSH on the station when he was at his height!!!!!! The station got some attention HOWEVER, the station became increasingly OLD. NOW, The new owner CHUCK SCHWARTZ has partners, banks, and lenders, they want a return. Since the stakes were higher (they were paying a premium to get Rush), they needed DOUGH. The local ad business (even though the station was good at beating down doors) could not cover the nut. The Lou Zumuda's, Adam's Warehouses, and Glanzman Suburu's of the world were paying low rates.......AND they got results BUT, no significant dollars were coming the station's way......McDonald's, Budweiser, Mercedes, Mellon Bank, Home Depot, etc....WHICH come from being a top 10 25-54 radio station, or EVEN 35-54. So, Chuck started the INFOMERCIAL deal which preyed upon the success of the local personalties to use their name to endorse and disguise interviews, they basically used this loyal core audience to pay the bills. The infomercials guys loved it, they would pay upwards of 4K for a half hour. Plus, they would run the 20 minutes of the regular direct account commercials... AND because the talent was older (and was happy to have a gig) THEY didn't ask for talent fee's or a cut of the action. The Sales People started getting huge commissions (WWDB pays 25%) they ran the show, no money was spent on equipment, producers or new product. The sales department had complete arrogance and enmity for anything relating to Programming.
Now, come The Beasley's - they were sold a bill of goods by the previous owner (Mercury) who over sold the billing, cash flow, etc (keep in mind that ad money minus operating costs = broadcast cashflow, so the old way was strip it clean...and whore it out) SO, the Beasley's really didn't look the deal over to well. They wanted another station in Phila AND they were kinda like drunken sailors with money (they had a HUGE windfall with the sale of WDAS). They come in and say we're real broadcasters....we are going to show you how to do it!!!!)
They found nothing but an endless pit of spending money. Meanwhile, keep in mind how it works today, stations in today's market are selling for 22+ times yearly cash flow - which means if WWDB was sold Now it would go for about 80 million.... 'cause the station billed about 10 million and kept about 4 (40%). NOW (sorry if I am boring you) The 10 million was the absolute threshold!!!! It was all direct business and infomercials. If they could get SOME ratings, they could easily keep 8 million in profit. Do the math, see now the station is worth about 160 mil. It's all multiplies....AND equity towards additional purchases and borrowing. But, NO ratings, no multiples. Add to that the audience is dying, the "crackpipe" money had to go away (at least weekdays 6a-7p) and they were left with no money, no ratings and a black hole, they panicked (keep in mind Phila is their biggest market, a big contributor towards cash flow) they were desperate to try ANYTHING. Now, they split the signals and programs, WWDB old... and new... at the end of the day they hope to grow the FM into 35-54, really 30-60, and the old folks on AM. The problem is of course they will whore the hell out of the am, PROBABLY NOT GET THE RESULTS because a lot of their older listeners live in outlying areas and can't get the WTEL signal. They hope that the income will be a wash, that between both stations they will make the same cash flow while they try to move up from #15 in 25-54 with the FM. If they can crack the top 10 it would create that multiple-worth scenario, probably increasing the station worth by 25%. We'll see, it will take time. My opinion is that it must be driven by the talk show. The mistake would be to try to compete with KYW but this decision should buy a little more time.