Interestingly he’d been a dj at one time, I believe it was in the Army. So they went from 770 to 880 to 660. In 1941, the FCC approved the station's request to move to Philadelphia, and new studios at 1425 Walnut Street in Center City were constructed. So to me, WCBS 880 wins over WINS. But there are lots of people who were there and remember WIBG and WFIL duking it out, and I’m sure they’ll be commenting in short order. Initially, Salem retained the Christian music and teaching format. WIBG, known as "Wibbage," ruled Philadelphia radio, especially among teenagers. According to the Philadelphia Radio Archives: WIBG was founded in 1924 as a 25 watt religious station for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Elkins Park. All Rights Reserved.
Not much to say about this, except that you’ll notice that they give complete weather forecasts including temperature, sky conditions and even barometric pressure. It may even have been what caused the demise of WIBG when WFIL began its Top 40 format in 1966.
Thank you for visiting and Stay Safe! Ok, pardon the pun!. By the late 1990s, music was cut back to a couple hours a day.
Many format changes happened beginning in 2005, leading up to the current (as of this writing) sports talk format as WIP-FM. In 1957, WIBG was sold to Storer Communications along with sister station WPFH TV channel 12 which at the time was licensed to Philadelphia.
In 1943, the station's power was increased from 1,000 watts to 10,000 watts. Site Map. Jay, you’re absolutely right. In 1969 Buckley Broadcasting bought WIBG from Storer, brought in all new airstaff, and tried a newer, lighter take on top 40. I long for the days when it was one AM and one FM per market.
The church sold the station to a for-profit company in 1931, and moved to Glenside the following year. In 1939 the station was sold again, this time to Seaboard Broadcasting with Paul F. Harron as president. Listeners did not respond, and the format was changed to disco, which did not fare much better.
This is surprising, because low-band VHF isn’t too good for digital reception. You’ll hear that on the next newscast as well. You know, it seems like we’ve veered way off topic here, wouldn’t you agree? One thing I find interesting is that WPVI opted to move their digital signal to channel 6 after the big switch. Legend has it that the call letters stood for "I Believe In God" but recent research by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia dispute that fact. The calls were changed to WZZD and a heavily researched adult top 40 format was adopted. WIBG identified itself here as WIBG AM and FM Philadelphia. It didn’t work, and failed to beat WFIL, and competition from FM stations, such as WIFI 92. At the end of your post, you said that WINS gets clobbered by CFRB.You’re absolutely right. Really dug the Warner Mack Coke spot. The other was “Wibbage,” WIBG, located at 990 on the AM dial. From 5 to 4; the 5th tower's footing, which is northwest of the present Tower 1, can be seen on aerial views. As you posted in the intro, the research-based Top 40 format that came with the latter format change failed. In 1980, the station was sold to Christian broadcaster Communicom, which began airing contemporary Christian music and Christian teaching and features similar to sister station (and another former top 40 station) 970 WWDJ in Hackensack, New Jersey. Well, WCBS is said to appeal more to suburbanites, whereas WINS has its approach toward New York City, never mind focuses on news of the Five Boroughs themselves. and WAXY (pretty obvious). The local “flavor” is gone. Beginning in 1945, the Wanamaker Organ was broadcast live from the Philadelphia department store each Monday through Saturday from 10:05 to 10:30 am. It was on 94.1 and simulcasted AM 990 for many years. Privacy Policy | Some hits, such as Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Martha and the Vandellas' "Heat Wave" actually got their early airplay in Philadelphia and then became hits nationwide. WFIL had a similar playlist but played 3-4 more songs per hour. It is the flagship, but definitely serves the Tri-State region.
Very familiar with WPVI; also learned Roman numerals in school. 06/03/63 — wibg 990 am ( philadelphia, pennsylvania ) wibg radio 99 total popular music … © 2012 Alan Boris LLC. Welcome to the Heritage Media Group.
In 1971, the FM broke away from the AM side, as it was purchased by Storer Communications. For many years, 990 was known as WIBG, and had great success in the ratings playing Top 40 music in the 1950s and early 1960s with popular hosts including Joe "The Rockin' Bird" Niagara, Hy Lit, Billy Wright Sr., Frank X. Feller, and others. The final hour of WIBG was hosted by Hy Lit and Joe Niagara on September 10, 1977.
By 2002 WZZD ran nearly all teaching and almost no music at all. Yes, there was a WIBG-FM. Well, CHUM (also in Toronto) beat up on them, as both were 1050, as CHUM still is. WIBG was founded in 1924 as a 50 watt religious station on 1350 AM for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Elkins Park. Jay, one other thing. We hope to serve all of your education and entertainment needs. But by the late 1990s, music was cut back to a couple of hours a day.
The station began to call itself "The All New Wizzard 100", and adopted a heavily researched Top 40 format. WIBG was best known for its wildly popular top 40 format that began in the mid 1950s when DJ Joe Niagara began slipping rock and roll songs into the station's pop standards format.
The guy talking on the Great Shakes spot sounds like he could be Casey Kasem. Stations like WABC, WLS, KHJ and so on, they were the pioneers of streamlining Top 40 radio without watering down the talent. Now, that may seem strange by today’s standards, but from the dawn of Top 40 radio in the 1950s until the mid and late 1960s, this was the most commonly used approach to the format.
WNTP (990 kHz) is an AM radio station located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The days “B.D.” (before deregulation) offered more variety and real competition among stations in practically every market. I was the biggest fan WHN ever had, once I learned they were a country station. (WIBG apparently stood for “I Believe In God”) Until the mid 1930s, the station only broadcast religious services on Sunday afternoons. WIBG spent most of the 1970s trying to regain their former ratings success but was hobbled by their "staid" image and the gradual shift of music listeners from the AM to the FM band. I can also mention KEIN, Great Falls, Montana (13 Keen); WHOO, Orlando (another obvious one), WAYS, Charlotte (ditto), CHUM, Toronto (ditto again), I could go on…. FAIRBANKS BOUGHT IT AND SOLD IT IN 1980 TO SALEM.
One option was Famous 56, WFIL. Several other approaches on top 40 were tried as the station evolved into an adult contemporary format in 1975. The station hosted local "record hops" and was the first to publish weekly "Top 99" surveys of the most popular music that could be found at local record stores. I very much enjoy 880s more conversational style of reporting and respect their anchors. If somebody had said as recently as 20 years ago that, their sanity would have been questioned. Circa 1969/1970, Storer sold Wibbage to Buckley Broadcasting. WZZD played music about half the day and Christian programs and features during the other half of the day. The station is now News Talk 990 WNTP. Also, talking about stations’ call letters having a pronunciation, there was WIXY (1260 in Cleveland) known as Wicksee 1260, and WIXZ (1360) serving Pittsburgh, known as Wicksee 1360. DMCA | By the spring of 1980, the format was switched to a religious format described as "Information, Inspiration and education" retaining the WZZD calls. Please let us know!