- WIP (AM)
Infobox Radio Station
name = WIP
city =Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
area = Greater Philadelphia (Delaware Valley)
branding =
slogan =
airdate =March 17 ,1922
frequency = 610 (kHz) HD Radio
format = Sports
power = 5,000Watt s
class = B
facility_id = 28626
owner =CBS Radio
licensee = CBS Radio Stations, Inc.
sister_stations = KYW,WOGL ,WPHT ,WYSP
webcast = [http://cbsplayer.streamtheworld.com/index.php?CALLSIGN=WIPAM Listen Live]
website = [http://www.610wip.com 610wip.com]
callsign_meaning = We're In PhiladelphiaWIP is a
Philadelphia radio station with an all-sports format. Located at 610 AM, the station adopted its current all-sports format in 1986, making it the first all-sports radio station in the United States. One of its transmitters is located in theCresent Park section ofBellmawr, New Jersey .The station is known for its influence on the Philadelphia sports fanbase. Its prominent hosts include
Angelo Cataldi , who arranged for a group of Eagles fans to attend the 1999NFL Draft and demand the Eagles selectUniversity of Texas at Austin running backRicky Williams with their #2 pick (which led to the booing of the decision to selectDonovan McNabb ), andHoward Eskin , whose notable achievements include theTerrell Owens "funeral" (following the announcement of Owens's four-game suspension from the Eagles during the 2005-2006 season), and a short-livedhunger strike in support of tradingPhiladelphia 76ers superstarAllen Iverson . The station is also known for hosting the annual eating contest, theWing Bowl .It is a sister station to
WFAN (New York City , formerly WNBC-AM), KYW, andWPHT .WIP is the flagship radio station for the
Philadelphia Flyers andPhiladelphia 76ers . When both teams are playing at the same time, WPHT and/or WYSP will usually carry one of the games. WIP was also the flagship radio station for the Philadelphia Eagles until 1992, when Eagles broadcasts moved toWYSP -FM. On February 20, 2008, the station announced that broadcasts of Eagles games would return to WIP, plus remain on WYSP, with each radio station broadcasting different feeds to make it easier for local fans to participate in the common practice of watching television coverage of Eagles games but "turning down their TV" and listening to the game on the radio. The advent of digital television signals was putting television and radio signals too far out of sync. The station also carriedPhiladelphia Phillies games on Friday nights during the 2005 season, allowing WPHT to pick up some regularly scheduled programming on Friday nights. In 2008, WIP broadcast the Phillies' March 31 season opener against Washington along with WPHT.History
Founded by
Gimbels department store, the station first went on the air onMarch 17 ,1922 as Philadelphia's first commercial radio station with the call sign WIP, which people mistakenly think stands for "Wireless In Philadelphia" and "Watch Its Progress." WIP was a call sign randomly issued by the federal government. In the 1940s and 1950s, the station was an affiliate of theMutual Broadcasting System . From the 1950s until the early 1960s, the station was owned by Metropolitan Broadcasting (successor to Dumont) and had a rock and roll format. In the early 60s the parent company name was changed from Metropolitan to Metromedia, and WIP, their flagship, adopted an MOR format. With this format, the station played pop hits of the 1960s, along with some 50s pop mixed in. Announcers during this time period included Joe McCauley (the "Morning Mayor"), Ned Powers, Tom Brown, and Chuck Daugherty.During this time WIP called themselves "The Big W" after a phrase in the 60s comedy, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," and the slogan was justified. WIP was number one in the market ratings through the 60s and for most of the 70s.
In the late 60s they began including more soft-rock until the format gradually evolved into an Adult Contemporary format which survived through the 70s and into the 80s. The music mix continued to include pop from the previous two decades. In addition, the station was full service in approach, as they had a heavy emphasis on news as well.
After many years of ownership by
Metromedia the station was purchased byEd Snider 's Spectacor Group, the longtime owner of theNational Hockey League 'sPhiladelphia Flyers , in 1988. Snider sold the station toInfinity Broadcasting in 1994. Infinity later merged with CBS, and the station is now owned byCBS Radio .1970s and 1980s
By the early 1970s, WIP evolved to an
adult contemporary format, and for a while, they were heavy on 1950s and 1960s rock and roll oldies. At the height of its popularity as a full service/adult contemporary station in the early to mid-1970s, WIP was the home to some of the most well-known air personalities in the city, including popular rush hour host Ken Garland (who had replaced legend, Joe McCauley, the "Morning Mayor,") late morning host Bill “Wee Willie” Webber, early afternoon host Tom Moran, late PM host, Dick Clayton, evening host Tom Lamaine, and overnight host Nat Wright. Weekend coverage included Alan Michaels, Alan Drew and Bill St. James. During this time, Metromedia's affiliate in New York, WNEW, had similar programming and it was not uncommon for DJs to swap back and forth for subbing duties. WNEW's Julius LaRosa was a frequent guest. WIP’s presentation, like other full-service stations, was heavily dependent on its personalities to entertain the audience as much as the music itself.In addition to music, full-service music stations in that era were typically home to strong news operations, and WIP had local newscasts every hour, seven days a week (at one point they offered half hourly newscasts around the clock). The weekday morning news was so extensive that they had two anchors in later years, and even introduced a 5 a.m. 30 minute newscast. One of WIP’s news reporters, Jan Gorham, remained with the station after the switch to sports and continues to work there on a part-time basis.
The station hosted a popular radiothon for one weekend a year for several years, raising funds to fight leukemia. The events were staged on a large scale, in venues like hotel ballrooms, with local and national celebrities visiting the live broadcast.
WIP’s best-known contest was Cash Call, a call-out game in which the DJs picked numbers out of the phone book or from postcards submitted by listeners. If the person at the other end of the call could identify the exact amount of money in the “jackpot,” down to the standard 61-cent ending. Players who knew the 61 cents but not the dollar amount typically won a token prize from a sponsor. Every incorrect guess lead to a few dollars being added to the jackpot; a correct guess resulted in the jackpot being reset to $61.61.
Another long-running contest late in WIP’s run as a music station was Team Trivia. Two area businesses competed, one on the morning show with Ken Garland, the other on the afternoon show with (Bruce) Stevens and (Nick) Seneca (who had replaced Tom Moran).
As the popularity of music on FM radio grew, stations like Magic 103 and Kiss 100 began to eat away at WIP’s audience. For a time, the station experimented with general interest talk. Michelle Iaia was brought on to host “WIPeople Talk,” a weeknight call-in show from 8 p.m. to midnight. The show would later expand to include a weekend edition, and over time the talk block was expanded to run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. (with the station touting that it played music all day and talked all night). One of the regular features was a Friday night segment called Desperate & Dateless, a show that eventually spun off into a stand-alone Saturday night program that included music mixed in with the calls from single listeners.
The local talk was scaled back to make room for Larry King’s syndicated radio show in the overnight hours, and eventually most of the local talk was replaced by music once again. The station later tried a programming experiment known as Midday Infotainment, a features-based midday show hosted by Bill Gallagher and Lynn Adkins. That move pushed Bill Webber out of his longtime midday slot into the early evening shift. The show was canceled in less than a year, and the regular music format, hosted once more by Webber, returned.
As WIP continued adding more current music, it also added the weekly countdown show “Dick Clark’s National Music Survey.” WIP aired the version produced for adult contemporary stations, while WSTW-FM in Wilmington, Delaware, listenable in much of the Philadelphia market, aired the top 40 version.
Sports radio
WIP’s transition to sports was gradual, unlike many so-called format flips that happen instantaneously. The station began adding sports programming in the mid-1980s. More and more sports hosts were brought on to replace the music hosts that left, including Ken Garland, who moved to cross-town WPEN-AM, then a nostalgia-based music station. Garland was initially replaced by WIP part-timer Jeff Brown before the sports-based morning show debuted. Bill Webber’s show, then limited to 9 a.m. to noon, was the last regularly scheduled weekday music program. Webber also would eventually join WPEN, hosting his familiar midday slot on Saturdays.
WIP continued playing music on Saturday mornings for a short time before the transition to all-sports (save for an overnight talk show with Larry King/Jim Bohannon) was complete in 1987.
Notable dates in WIP's history
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