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WINS (AM)

Coordinates:40°48′14.36″N74°06′22.51″W/ 40.8039889°N 74.1062528°W/40.8039889; -74.1062528
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(Redirected from1010 WINS)
For the FM station simulcasting WINS (AM), seeWINS-FM.

WINS
Broadcast areaNew York metropolitan area
Frequency1010kHz
Branding1010 WINS
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatAll-news radio
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WCBS-FM,WFAN,WFAN-FM,WHSQ,WINS-FM,WNEW-FM,WXBK
History
First air date
October 24, 1924;99 years ago(1924-10-24)
Former call signs
WGBS (1924–1934)
Former frequencies
  • 950 kHz (1924–1927)
  • 860 kHz (1927–1930)
  • 600 kHz (1930–1931)
  • 1180 kHz (1931–1941)
  • 1000 kHz (1941–1944)[1]
Call signmeaning
named for onetime ownerHearst Newspapers'International News Service
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID25451
ClassB
Power50,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
40°48′14.36″N74°06′22.51″W/ 40.8039889°N 74.1062528°W/40.8039889; -74.1062528
Repeater(s)92.3WINS-FM(New York)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live(viaAudacy)
Websitewww.audacy/1010wins

WINS(1010kHz) is a commercial,all-newsAMradio station licensed to New York City owned byAudacy, Inc.The station brands itself as1010 WINS,with the call signphoneticallypronounced as "wins". WINS's studios are located in the combined Audacy facility in theHudson Squareneighborhood inlower Manhattan,and itstransmitteris located inLyndhurst, New Jersey.

WINS is the oldest continuously operating all-news station in the United States, having adopted the format on April 19, 1965, under former ownerWestinghouse Broadcasting,and was one of two all-news stations in the New York City market owned by Audacy, withWCBS(880 AM) being the other. WCBS ceased operations on August 25, 2024. The station's nighttime signal, viaionosphereskywavepropagation, reaches much of the eastern half of North America.

WINS formerly broadcast in theHD Radio(hybrid) format.[3]As of October 27, 2022, WINS is simulcasting onWINS-FM(92.3 FM).[4]

History

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The station began broadcasting On October 24, 1924, on 950 kHz as WGBS, with studios located inGimbelsDepartment Store nearHerald Square;the call sign was an initialism for Gimbel Brothers Store.[5][1]WGBS moved to 860 kHz in 1927, to 1180 kHz in 1928, to 600 kHz in 1929, and back to 1180 kHz in 1931.[1]

The station was bought byWilliam Randolph Hearstin 1932. That same year, effective January 15, it adopted its present call sign, named after Hearst'sInternational News Service.[6][7]No longer owned by Gimbels, WINS relocated to theHotel Lincolnon 8th Avenue. On June 19, 1932, it moved to the WINS Building, 114 East 58th Street.[8]

WINS changed its frequency from 1180 kHz to 1000 kHz on March 29, 1941, as part of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement(NARBA), and moved again to 1010 kHz in 1944.[1]Cincinnati-basedCrosley Broadcasting Corporationannounced its purchase of the station from Hearst in 1945 for $1,700,000,[9]though it would be over a year before Crosley would take control of WINS, in July 1946.[10]

SportscasterMel Allenwas an early disc jockey on the station, hosting an afternoon popular music program beginning in 1947.[11][12]

Rock and roll (1953–1965)

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Crosley sold the station toJ. Elroy McCaw's Gotham Broadcasting Corporation in 1953 for $450,000.[13][14]Soon after, WINS became one of the first stations in the United States to playrock and rollmusic full time. In the fall of 1954,Alan Freedwas hired as a disc jockey on WINS.[5]In 1958,Murray "the K" Kaufmanjoined as the all-night DJ, naming his show theSwingin' Soiree.[15]Noted sports broadcasterLes Keiterserved as sports director for a period in the 1950s. Keiter is perhaps best remembered for his recreations ofSan Francisco (formerly New York) Giantsbaseball games, which WINS carried in 1958 to keep disconnected Giant fans in touch with their team. The Giants had moved west along with theBrooklyn Dodgersthe previous year.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, as thetransistor radiobecame popular, especially with young people who could carry radios with them everywhere, rock and roll solidified as a genre, thanks in large measure to what became known asTop 40radio. In New York, four stations battled in the category:WMCA(570 AM),WMGM(1050 AM),WABC(770 AM), and WINS. While WMCA was only 5,000 watts, it was at the bottom end of the dial, which gave it better coverage than might be expected for its power; the other three were all 50,000 watts, but only WABC was bothnon-directionaland aclear channel station.Of those three, WINS was the most directional (aimed straight at New York's inner boroughs), with a weaker signal than the others toward the New Jersey suburbs (primarily to protect 50,000 wattCFRBin Toronto, Canada, which is also on 1010) and theJersey Shore.

In 1962, WMGM adopted abeautiful musicformat under its previous call letters, WHN, while WINS was purchased by theWestinghouse Electric Corporation.[16]On April 18, 1965, around 8:00 pm, WINS bowed out of Top 40 competition with the song "Out in the Streets", byThe Shangri-Las.[17]WMCA enjoyed some early success after WINS and WMGM left the Top 40 format, but WABC became the dominant Top 40 station in New York City by 1965.

"All news. All the time." (1965–present)

[edit]
Logo before simulcasting on 92.3
Louis Israel Newmanreading a story for WINS, c. 1930s

On April 19, 1965, after weeks of speculation, WINS changed its format radically. It became the third radio station in the United States to attempt all-news programming, going with the new format around the clock.[18][19]WINS immediately established a template for its format with an easily identifiable, distinctiveteletypesound in the background, which for many years was from a live microphone behind their bank of newswire machines. Most other all-news stations later dropped this, but WINS continued to use a teletypesound effectdespite teletype machines becoming obsolete by the mid-1980s. The teletype sound effect was eventually dropped by the late 2010s. WINS used memorable slogans such as"All news, all the time";"The newswatch never stops";"Listen two, three, four times a day";and"You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world";the latter tagline was a reference to WINS's format clock, which returns to the top stories every twenty minutes.

WINS's switch to all-news was initially viewed as a risky programming choice.[19]Tijuana, Mexico-basedborder blasterXETRAhad programmed an English-language all-news format for the Los Angelesradio market,as had Chicago stationWNUSand, previously WAVAAMandFMin the Washington, D.C. area.[19]Locally,WABC-FMaired a news format for several weeks during the1962–63 New York City newspaper strike.[20]None of the other attempts were successful, and as a result many in the radio industry predicted a quick demise for WINS, however,Westinghouse Broadcastingsupported the format and WINS eventually prospered with it. Westinghouse made similar format changes at two other stations:KYWinPhiladelphia,in September 1965;[21]andKFWBin Los Angeles, in March 1968.[22]Together, WINS, KFWB and KYW served as prototype all-news stations, and all three succeeded in attracting both listeners and advertising revenue over the years.

In 1995, Westinghouse Electric purchasedCBS,a move which put WINS under common ownership with WCBS. Despite initial speculation after the merger that either station would drop the all-news format, both stations remained in place and are among the most successful radio operations in the U.S. in terms of advertising sales. The two stations have their own areas of dominance; WINS's ratings numbers are better within New York City, while WCBS's listener strength is greater in the suburbs, owing primarily to its much stronger signal. From a programming standpoint, they have different styles (hard news, vs. lighter and conversational) to appeal to different listeners. Since the Westinghouse-CBS merger, both stations have continued to perform well in both ratings and advertising revenue.

Transmitter site of 1010 WINS in Lyndhurst, New Jersey

WINS's signal was also improved in 1995 after the company bought KSYG inLittle Rock, Arkansas,which had also broadcast on the same frequency, and took it off the air.[23]This relieved WINS of the need to "null" its signal in the direction of Little Rock. WINS' towers inLyndhurst, New Jersey,which were shorter than optimum for its frequency, were replaced with four taller ones.[24]While the signal is still directional to protect other stations, such as CFRB in Toronto (itself a Class A station), the signal no longer has to protect Little Rock.

Despite having been owned by CBS, WINS maintained an affiliation withABC News Radiothroughout, as WCBS was and remains theCBS Radio Newsaffiliate for New York. WINS added a secondary affiliation withWestwood One Newson January 1, 2015, afterWestwood Oneended a distribution deal with ABC News; WINS does not clear newscasts from either service but does air vocal reports and sound bites.

On February 2, 2017,CBS Radioannounced it would merge with Entercom (nowAudacy, Inc.), which fully separated WINS and WCBS radio fromWCBS-TV.[25]The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17, 2017.[26]

On October 10, 2022, it was announced that Audacy would flip sister stationWNYL(92.3 FM) from its alternative format to a simulcast of WINS effective October 27; Audacy also concurrently announced that, after a deal was reached with theSAG-AFTRAunion, it was planning on combining the separate staffs and newsrooms of WINS and WCBS. Along with the launch of the simulcast, WINS' simulcast on WNEW-FM's HD3 sub-channel was dropped.[4]

Influence

[edit]

CBS was the first broadcaster to make an attempt to mimic Westinghouse's all-news formula. Locally in New York, WINS' success as an all-news station spurred CBS to make a similar transformation with WCBS in August 1967.[27]At first, WCBS did not go full-time with all-news, offering other programming during late nights, but joined WINS in broadcasting all-news around the clock by 1970.[28]After completing the conversion of WCBS to all-news, five of CBS' otherowned-and-operatedAM stations also adopted the format;WCAUin Philadelphia andKNXin Los Angeles competed directly against KYW and KFWB, but with varying results.

In 1975,NBC Radiotried a national all-news approach with itsNews and Information Service(NIS) network, but it was shut down in 1977 after only two years in operation. In the mid-1970s, Westinghouse's second Chicago station,WIND,carried the format part-time while competing against CBS-owned, all-newsWBBM.WIND was not successful, and Westinghouse tried again after selling WIND in 1985 and acquiringWMAQfromNBCin 1988. Westinghouse converted WMAQ into a full-time news outlet with mixed results.[citation needed][clarification needed]

In the summer of 2011, New York would gain a third all-news station, this one on the FM dial, in WEMP'sFM News 101.9.In the wake of meager ratings, the format abruptly flipped back to thealternative rockformat that had been on the frequency three years prior. Later in 2012, Merlin Media, LLC sold the frequency to CBS Radio, which turned it into anFM simulcastofWFAN,making it a sister station to both WINS and WCBS.

Today, the New York outlets co-exist with the format as Audacy-owned sister stations. As of 2021,Audacy operates eight successful all-news stations around the U.S., including WINS,WCBS,WBBM, KNX, KYW,KCBSin San Francisco,WWJin Detroit, andKRLDinDallas.(WBZinBostonhad also been a Westinghouse/CBS all-news outlet until CBS Radio's merger with Entercom in November 2017 forced WBZ to be spun off toiHeartMediato meet FCC ownership limits and concerns from the Department of Justice). In August 2024, Audacy announced that it would end programming on WCBS and migrate its remaining all-news content solely to WINS.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdHistory Cards for WINS,fcc.gov. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for WINS".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^"Station Search Details - WINS".licensing.fcc.gov.RetrievedJanuary 13,2021.
  4. ^ab"Audacy To Launch 92.3 WINS-FM New York".RadioInsight.October 10, 2022.Archivedfrom the original on February 14, 2024.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
  5. ^abSterling, Christopher H.;O'Dell, Cary (2010).The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio.Routledge.pp. 851-852. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  6. ^"Hearst buys WGBS, plans improvement."Broadcasting,October 15, 1931, pg. 12.
  7. ^"WGBS Now WINS"(PDF).Broadcasting.January 15, 1931.RetrievedAugust 28,2018.
  8. ^"Station WINS Moves"(PDF).Broadcasting.June 15, 1932. p. 18.RetrievedOctober 2,2014.
  9. ^"WINS sold to Crosley for $1,700,000".Broadcasting - Broadcast Advertising,January 29, 1945, pp. 13, 66. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  10. ^"WINS sale to Crosley approved by FCC".Broadcasting - Telecasting,July 23, 1946, pg. 17. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  11. ^"The Mel Allen Show"(PDF).Broadcasting.December 8, 1947.RetrievedMarch 7,2019.
  12. ^"Mel Allen Jumps From Diamonds to Disk Show on WINS",Billboard.October 11, 1947. p. 6. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  13. ^"McCAW GROUP PAYS $450,000 FOR WINS"(PDF).Broadcasting - Telecasting.August 10, 1953. p. 70.RetrievedOctober 19,2022.
  14. ^"For The Record"(PDF).Broadcasting - Telecasting.January 4, 1954. p. 98.RetrievedOctober 19,2022.
  15. ^Loder, Kurt (April 15, 1982)."1922-1982: Murray Kaufman".Rolling Stone.RetrievedOctober 19,2022.
  16. ^"Westinghouse buying WINS".Broadcasting,May 7, 1962, pg. 72. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  17. ^"30 Years Of Wins' 22-minute World",Daily News.April 18, 1995. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  18. ^"WINS New York going to an all-news format"(PDF).Broadcasting.No. March 22, 1965. p. 92.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  19. ^abc"The toughest test of all -news format"(PDF).Broadcasting.April 19, 1965. pp. 76–78.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  20. ^"Strikebound N.Y. depends on air news"(PDF).Broadcasting.December 17, 1962. pp. 42–46.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  21. ^"WBC turning KYW into all -news plant"(PDF).Broadcasting.June 21, 1965. p. 9.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  22. ^"Dry run precedes KFWB's switch to all news"(PDF).Broadcasting.March 11, 1968. p. 66.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  23. ^"KSYG will be sold to Group W to add coverage to WINS in New York"(PDF).The M Street Journal.12(17): 1. April 26, 1995.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  24. ^Fybush, Scott (May 20, 2005)."1010 WINS, Lyndhurst, N.J."fybush.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  25. ^Venta, Lance (May 2, 2017)."CBS Radio To Merge With Entercom".RadioInsight.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
  26. ^Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017)."Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger".Radio Insight.RetrievedNovember 17,2017.
  27. ^"WCBS to switch to more news".Broadcasting,July 31, 1967, pp. 45–46. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  28. ^"News all-night".Broadcasting,January 12, 1970, pg. 60. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  29. ^Marchand, Andrew."WFAN parent company reaches deal to license 880 AM to ESPN NY".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedAugust 12,2024.
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