WFAN Turns 25 - NTS MediaOnline

WFAN Turns 25
On July 1, 1987, the radio landscape
changed forever and history was made as
then Emmis-owned WFAN/New York
signed on, providing Tri-State area sports
fans with their first radio outlet to hear and
talk about sports 24/7. Since then, the station
has gone on to become the gold standard in
sports radio, with a past and present roster
that’s featured many of Sports radio’s most
MARK CHERNOFF
renowned and successful hosts, while also
serving as the radio flagship for four of
the region’s professional sports franchises -- the New York Mets
and Giants and the New Jersey Devils and Nets. This Sunday, the
now CBS Radio-owned Sports/Talker will celebrate its first quarter
century as the Big Apple’s premiere Sports radio station with special
programming all day long, culminating with the unveiling of the
Greatest New York Sports Moments of the past 25 years as voted on
by the station’s listeners. I recently caught up with longtime WFAN
Operations Manager and CBS Radio VP/Sports Programming Mark
Chernoff to talk about the station’s storied history and what he sees
as a continued bright future.
I know you weren’t there on Day One at WFAN, but safe to say you
were a “fan” before you became professionally involved with “The
Fan?”
Absolutely. I actually started at the station in 1993, but I certainly
remember listening to that very first day when the station signed on.
June 29, 2012
I was working at WNEW-FM here in New York when Richard Neer -who was on WNEW and also doing a sports show at the time on what
was then WNEW-AM -- told me one day that a station in New York
was rumored to be switching to all-sports. I couldn’t imagine that was
true, but we found out that it was 1050 AM, which was then WHN, so
like everybody else in New York I was tuned-in when the format flip
happened. The first voice on the air was Suzyn Waldman, who later
became our Yankees beat reporter, doing the very first WFAN Sports
Update. The first host after that was Jim Lampley. It all sounded a little
strange to us, but it was also fascinating to hear those first hours, days
and weeks of a new format being born.
Talk about your recollections of those first days and months when you
joined the radio station as a programmer vs. just being another listener.
At that point I was the PD at K-Rock (WXRK), where we had Howard
Stern. K-Rock was then a sister station to WFAN after Infinity had
acquired it from Emmis. At a couple of company meetings I’d become
friendly with Joel Hollander who was then the GM at WFAN. He asked
me if had any interest in being the station’s PD and even though I loved
sports, I turned him down a couple of times. Honestly at the time I
wasn’t all that interested, I liked being PD at a K-Rock. But then one
day [former Infinity CEO] Mel Karmazin suggested to me that it would
be a “really good idea” for me to accept the PD job at WFAN. That was
motivation enough for me, so I made the move to a completely different
world than anything I was used to. I also went from Howard Stern to
Don Imus, which was pretty weird for me because those two guys hated
each other. I figured Imus would hate me, too, but we hit it off from the
very first day. I loved working with him for the entire time he was here.
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June 29, 2012
Page 2
In the wake of the recent untimely death of veteran talk host Howie
Chizek, WNIR/Akron is now seeking the station’s next great midday
personality. The independently owned and operated FM News/
Talker is looking for someone who “has the gift of gab and the ability
to entertain, inform and make your audience laugh.” If you think
you’ve got the right stuff to fill some pretty big shoes, email your
resume and audio HERE…Got a gig open? Looking for your next
challenge? Email details and your contact info HERE and we’ll
post it free of charge as a service to the Talk media industry.
KFMB/San Diego affiliates with CBS Radio News, distributed via Dial
Global. More affiliations from DG this week include: KFXR/Dallas
(MarketWatch); WTOL/Somerset, KY and WYKY/Science Hill, KY
(NBC News Radio); WXGI/Richmond, VA (CNBC Business Radio);
WSVA/Harrisonburg, VA (Daily Dose with Dr. Oz); WAVH/Mobile
(Overnight America); and WCCO/Minneapolis (Jill On Money) …
Talk Shows USA syndicated weekend home improvement show The
Money Pit adds WTHQ/Paducah, WTYM/Kittanning, PA, KQWC/
Webster City, IA, KWOC/Poplar Bluff, MO, KMAS/Shelton, WA and
WMCD/Statesboro, GA … CRN Digital Talk Radio debuts on three
new telecommunications systems including Home Net/Kutztown, PA,
CML Telephone Cooperative Association/Meridien, IA and LISCO/
Fairfield, IA. The three new systems will carry all seven of CRN’s
broadcast networks on dedicated audio channels … Virtual News
Center welcomes Marina Brett as a new anchor for the outsource
news service. Brett will anchor newscasts for WKVL/Knoxville, TN,
KMAS/Shelton, WA, KNOZ/Grand Junction, CO and the Lake
Cumberland News Network covering several counties across the State
of Kentucky … Former WILD/Boston producer Heather Bachman joins
Stephan Multimedia as co-host/producer of Doug Stephan’s Good Day
syndicated morning show.
Those secretive little elves at Facebook were hard at work behind the
scenes this week, launching yet another new unannounced feature
that changes users’ default email contact to a facebook.com address
instead of your personal email address. Thankfully, with just a few
simple steps you can restore your old non-Facebook email address
as your preferred setting and hide the one that FB has assigned
to you. See the simple instructions on how to fix it HERE… Get
BREAKING NEWS alerts by following us on TWITTER, or
“friend” us on FACEBOOK. Find one-click links to both HERE.
WOAI/San Antonio morning host Charlie Parker re-ups to remain in
wake-ups at the company’s hometown News/Talker. Parker first joined the
station in 2007 … Gregg Jarrett has joined the team at Merlin Mediaowned WIQI/Chicago as morning news anchor. Jarrett was most recently
heard in mornings at crosstown WGN … Ryan Clune is named Director
of Sales for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s stations in
Tucson. Most recently LSM for the company’s Denver cluster, Clune will
now oversee sales for CC’s seven stations in southern Arizona including
News/Talker KNST-AM … Jim Schachter signs on as VP/News for
pubcaster WNYC/New York. He was most recently Associate Managing
Editor for the New York Times … WICC/Bridgeport, CT weekend host
Al Warren has announced his plans to retire on July 1st after 50 years
behind the microphone.
MISS MARY MACK
U.S. Representative and newly elected Chairman of the Women’s
Policy Committee, Mary Bono Mack recently paid a visit to the FOX
News Radio studios to chat with Tom Sullivan about claims that
Republicans are waging a so-called war on women. Mack, a Republican
from California, said the number one issue for women in the upcoming
presidential election is jobs and said she believes GOP hopeful Mitt
Romney is the best candidate to create them.
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June 29, 2012
Page 3
That was one of those odd blocks in the building of WFAN, having Don
Imus in mornings on what was otherwise an all Sports radio station.
How did that decision come about?
Honestly, I think it was a really great move. When Emmis acquired
WNBC and moved the Sports format down the dial to 660 from 1050,
there was a battle between WFAN and WYNY to get Imus. Eventually
he decided to stick with 660 and become part of ‘The Fan’ and to me, it
was a really brilliant move. I think it’s what really put the station on the
map. Especially 25 years ago, the prevailing philosophy in radio was
as goes the morning show, so goes your radio station. Imus was able
to bring people to the party that might not have otherwise come. Then
when Mark Mason -- who was the brilliant PD at WFAN at the time
-- put Mike & The Mad Dog together in afternoons, it was the station’s
big trifecta -- the move to 660, Imus In The Morning and the pairing of
Mike and Chris in afternoons. Those are the three big moves early on
that I think really established this radio station.
Twenty-five years is a long time for any station in any market to remain
in one format. What do you think has been the essence of WFAN’s
staying power?
The talent, the fact that we are always local-local-local, and the call
letters -- those are the three major reasons the station has had such
longevity in my opinion. It was such a unique and new idea to offer
a station to primarily 25-54 year old guys, where they can talk about
sports all day, everyday. People love to talk sports and they love to get
on the radio to talk about something they are passionate about and have
an opinion about. In a town where we have the Giants and the Jets, the
Yankees and the Mets, the Knicks and the Nets, the Rangers and Devils
and Islanders and whatever else we have cooking, people just know
that WFAN is the place where they can go to talk about it, pour their
hearts out, express their opinion and talk to the host like they know
more than he does. I just think this station has bonded so personally
with the people of the metropolitan area -- when they think of WFAN
they have an emotional attachment to the station. We see it all the time
when we’re out broadcasting live somewhere. That, plus all the great
talent on this station over the years and today -- that’s what has made it
such a success story.
How do you think Sports radio has changed and evolved in the 25 years
since WFAN debuted?
I think it’s become much more of a player in the real world of
advertising. I think at first advertisers saw it as just a niche format and
nobody really thought it would last. But Sports/Talk radio has become
a very mainstream format in today’s media business. It’s a format that
attracts passionate fans who respond to advertisers in a way that few
formats do. It’s the kind of format that clients are also often fans of -clients who buy because they love the station and know that it produces
results and gets their message across. I think the current boom in Sports
radio and sports network programming is a true testament to the fact
that this is now truly a mainstream radio format and not just a niche
player as so many thought it would be 25 years ago.
Al Peterson
858.486.7559
[email protected]
Brooke Trissel
512.218.8228
[email protected]
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