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Revision as of 14:41, 30 April 2011
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2009) |
 | |
| Broadcast area | New York City area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 103.5 FM (MHz) (HD Radio)
103.5-2 FM Pride Radio (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 103.5 KTU |
| Programming | |
| Format | Commercial; Rhythmic Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Clear Channel |
| WAXQ, WHTZ, WLTW, WWPR-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1940 |
Former frequencies | 97.1 (MHz) (1940-1988) |
Call sign meaning | We Kater (play on the word Cater) To YoU |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 6595 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 6,000 watts |
| HAAT | 415 meters |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live! |
| Website | www.ktu.com |
WKTU (103.5 FM, "KTU") is a radio station based in New York City that plays a rhythmic contemporary format. The station's broadcast transmitter is located on the top of the Empire State Building and its city of license is Lake Success, New York, with offices formerly in the "Newport" section of Jersey City, New Jersey. As of February 2008, the studios and offices were moved to the AT&T Building in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan along with sister stations WHTZ, WWPR-FM, WAXQ, and WLTW.
History
WNNJ and pre-move WPAT-FM
The 103.5 frequency first went on the air in 1948, as WNNJ, which then changed its name to WPAT-FM. FM listenership was very light in those early days of FM broadcasting, and during the 1950s the station would sometimes be off the air for long stretches.
By 1957 WPAT-FM had relocated to its much better-known frequency of 93.1.
WTFM
In 1958, the 103.5 FM frequency in New York City went back on the air as WTFM. They played an instrumental-based easy listening format until 1978, when the old WKTU (on 92.3) went from an adult contemporary format to a disco music format. As an easy listening station, WTFM's ratings were low, as WRFM and WPAT had higher ratings with the same format. So in the fall of 1978, WTFM switched to an adult contemporary format, even though ratings would remain low with the new format.
WAPP
In 1982, Doubleday bought the station, and that June, the station switched to an Album-oriented rock format similar to WPLJ and WNEW-FM down the dial. The station was renamed "The Apple 103.5", with the call letters WAPP. The station went commercial-free for the duration of that summer, and as a result, it became the highest-rated radio station in New York City. Then, when the station added commercials, listeners switched back to WPLJ and WNEW-FM, and so ratings went down. In 1983, when WPLJ switched to a CHR format, the station's ratings got a slight boost.
In 1983, a then-unknown Bon Jovi visited WAPP 103.5FM "The Apple". He spoke with the D.J., Chip Hobart, who suggested Bon Jovi let WAPP include the song "Runaway" on the station's compilation album of local homegrown talent. Bon Jovi was reluctant but eventually gave them the song, on which Bon Jovi had used studio musicians to play on the track "Runaway" (which was written in 1980). WAPP worked with WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) in nearby Secaucus, NJ on a music video show, Rock 9 Videos, for a short time in 1984.
As 1984 progressed, WAPP's ratings were on the upswing. However, the station's owners decided to change the station's format to CHR that fall. They felt that if stations that they owned in Washington, D.C. and Minnesota could do well with the format, then this station could as well. This would not be the case, as the station could not compete with WPLJ or Z-100, and their ratings fell. Not even a change back to a rock format in the summer of 1985 could solve the station's ratings woes.
The original WKTU
See WXRK section on WKTU for the original WKTU that existed from 1975-1985 and achieved great fame as a disco station known as "Disco 92" in the late 1970s.
WNBC-FM and variants
The history of the 97.1 frequency goes back to 1940, when station W2XWG came on the air. After several frequency and call letters changes, WNBC-FM was established at 97.1 by 1948. It usually simulcast WNBC's AM programming. In 1954 it changed its call letters to WRCA-FM (Reflecting NBC's then-parent company, RCA), but reverted to WNBC-FM in 1960.
WNBC-FM played classical music in the 1950s; it later switched to pop music. It ran network programming for some time, such as the NBC Monitor weekend series. By the 1970s it was playing a pop/rock format. Beginning on June 4, 1973, it experimented with a fully-automated programming scheme with local inserts known as "The Rock Pile" -- a forerunner of today's DJ-free Bob FM and Frank FM formats with a wide diversity of pop, rock and R&B that proved to be 30 years ahead of its time—but technical glitches were frequent and listenership dropped. For a brief period starting in late 1974, the station attempted a fully-automated beautiful music format for a younger demographic, called "The Love of New York".
NBC Radio then launched the NBC News and Information Service (NIS), a network service providing up to 50 minutes an hour of news programming to local stations that wanted to adopt an all-news format without the high costs of producing large quantities of local news content. WNBC-FM's small audience was deemed expendable to allow the NIS to have a New York outlet. Thus on June 18, 1975, the station became WNWS and branded itself "NewsCenter 97," an allusion to WNBC-TV's "NewsCenter 4" local newscasts. Ratings were low, and the service did not attract enough stations to allow NBC to project that it could ever become profitable (At the network's peak, only 57 stations across the country carried NIS, most of them already NBC Radio News affiliates). On January 1, 1977, NBC shut down NIS and 97.1 adopted an "Adult Contemporary" (AC) format with a rock lean (to compete against WKTU), under the moniker "Y-97". The call letters WNWS were still in use at the time but shortly afterward the station became known as WYNY.
WYNY
Ratings were fair at best and by the end of 1978, after toying briefly with an all-Beatles format, WYNY evolved to an MOR format featuring Frank Sinatra, The Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Barry Manilow, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Carly Simon, and Billy Joel among others. They were an easy listening station without all the elevator music heard on WRFM or WPAT-AM-FM. Ratings went up gradually.
By 1980, WYNY moved away from Frank Sinatra and The Lettermen though they continued running "Saturday with Sinatra" hosted by Sid Mark. Musically they added Motown songs, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, Donna Summer, and soft hits by hard rockers.
By 1981, the station format was that of pop hits from 1964 to what was then current music, with an occasional pre-64 rock & roll song. Ratings went up from 1981 through 1983. By 1982, WYNY trimmed the '60s music slightly. Some of the air personalities included Dan Daniel, Bill St. James, Bruce Bradley, Randy Davis, Carol Mason, Mike McCann, Floyd Wright, Steve O'Brien, Bill Rock, Margaret Jones, Paulie, and Ed Baer. On Sunday evenings, the station aired a pioneering advice show, Sexually Speaking, which made its host, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a national celebrity. The station was also a pioneer of Contemporary Christian Music in the city, airing the weekly show Masterpeace, hosted by Steven Joseph. Sid Mark continued hosting a Frank Sinatra show. On weekend evenings call-in talk shows such as "Mouth Versus Ear" with Dick Summers was an alternative to other station's mundane public service shows.
In 1983, rival stations Z-100 and WPLJ adopted a "Contemporary Hit Radio" (CHR) format, attracting younger listeners. WYNY continued with its AC format. Then in January 1984, Lite FM 106.7 WLTW signed on, taking away older listeners. WYNY ratings plummeted, and in 1986 the station was revamped with the music staying "Hot AC" but marketed as a "Z-100 for Yuppies". The station had new jingles and imaging, and became known as "The NEW 97.1 WYNY". The format, however, was that of the same pop hits from 1964 to the then-present. The station continued to rate low. NBC had problems with sister station WNBC as well. Then in April 1987, a country music station, WHN, announced plans to go sports full-time on July 1, to become all-sports WFAN. In response, WYNY announced it would change to country music on July 1.
This format change was announced to the press in advance but not over the air except on Saturday With Sinatra. At 12:01 a.m. July 1, WYNY ended its AC format with "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles and went country, playing "Think About Love" by Dolly Parton. The airstaff all remained, though some gradually left later in the year.
Dan Daniel (who had left WYNY in the mid-1980s and returned), Randy Davis, Carol Mason, Lisa Taylor, Floyd Wright, and others survived the format change and remained with WYNY's country unit long after it would leave 97.1 FM and move to 103.5, where it remained until its 1996 demise. The WYNY call letters resurfaced on the suburban 107.1 frequency in late 1998 at a country station that had started up later in 1996; the format lasted until 2002. As of 2006, the WYNY call letters reside on a station in Gainesville, Florida.
In 1987 Emmis agreed to buy NBC's New York radio stations, which gave Emmis superior signals for use by WFAN and WQHT. Emmis sold its 103.5 license and the rights to WYNY's intellectual property to Westwood One, and the WYNY call sign and format moved to that frequency while WQHT shifted to 97.1.
The pre-move WQHT
In 1986, Emmis Communications would buy the station from Doubleday, as Doubleday was in the process getting out of the radio business. That August, after stunting with classic rock for a 36 hour period, the station relaunched as "HOT 103", with the call letters WQHT. The new station, which played a mix of pop hits, dance songs, rap songs and r&b songs, was an instant ratings success.
The post-move WYNY
On September 22, 1988, WQHT would change frequencies, as Emmis acquired NBC's radio stations. Since Federal Communications Commission regulations at the time required that a company can only own one FM radio station in a market, Emmis sold the 103.5 frequency to Westwood One. At the same time, they moved the format at 103.5 FM to the 97.1 FM frequency which they acquired from NBC, with WQHT becoming "Hot 97." As a result, WYNY, which was running a country music format at the 97.1 frequency prior to the sale, would move from 97.1 FM to 103.5 FM.
The station, now known as "Country 103.5", had mediocre ratings in their first few months at its new frequency. Even though rumors of a format change were always existent at the station, the country format remained. In 1993, the station would be sold to Broadcast Partners, whom were committed to keeping Country on WYNY. As a country station, Jim Kerr would be the station's morning show host from 1990 to 1993, while their airstaff included Dan Daniel, Randy Davis, Ray Rossi, Lisa Taylor and Charlie Berger.
Meanwhile, Hot 97 began to move away from Dance music in 1993 and toward hip hop. By 1994 they played almost no dance music. After Hot 97 changed to an Urban Contemporary format in 1994, New Yorkers demanded a Dance music station.
In the spring of 1995, Broadcast Partners opted to sell to Evergreen Media, and after a lot of speculation about the station's future, Evergreen confirmed in January 1996 that the station would be changing formats. On the final weekend that the station would play country music (which would be from February 2 to February 4, 1996), the entire airstaff said goodbye. After airing the syndicated After Midnight show in the early morning hours of February 5, the country music format was gone from the station. Later that year country would resurface on several suburban stations, one of which would get the WYNY calls, resurfacing in late 1998. Beginning at 6 a.m. the next morning, immediately after the syndicated country music show ended, the station simulcast then rock station WRCX (now WKSC-FM and playing CHR) based in Chicago until February 6 at 6 a.m. That day they simulcast KKBT out of Los Angeles playing an Urban Format until 6 a.m. on February 7. That day they simulcast WLUP based in Chicago which had a Talk format (now a Rock station). Beginning at 6 a.m. on February 8, WYNY simulcast KIOI based in San Francisco offering an Adult Contemporary format (now a Hot AC). On February 9 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., WYNY simulcast WXKS-FM in Boston, playing a CHR format that at that time leaned slightly Alternative. At 6 PM the simulcasting of sister stations ended.
The new WKTU
At 6 p.m. on February 9, 1996 the station started airing a tape loop of sounds of a heart beating and liners about a new radio station coming. Then, the next day at Noon, WKTU was relaunched at 103.5 FM as The Beat of New York 103.5 KTU with a dance-based CHR format. Its first song played in the re-launch was "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now!)" by C&C Music Factory. The station instantly skyrocketed to number one in the Arbitron ratings, although in the decade since they have cooled down considerably. Drag performer RuPaul co-hosted mornings with Michelle Visage and Freddie Colon around this period, further helping their ratings. Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton and Goumba Johnny followed in mornings from 1998-1999. In the early 2000s, cutting edge dance music like Ian van Dahl's "Castles in the Sky", Armin van Buuren's "Perpetuous Dreamer - The sound of goodbye (Above & Beyond radio edit)", Darude's "Sandstorm", Fragma's "Toca's Miracle", ATB's "9p.m. (Till I come)" and others were very successful and proved to be popular with the KTU listeners. "Castles in the sky" was one of the biggest songs on KTU in 2001 and was number two in the "WKTU top 103 of 2001". By 2002, the moderate amount of rap played on the station was gone and the station evolved into more of a Hot Rhythmic AC.
On May 31, 2006, WKTU announced that actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg would become the station's new morning host, and that KTU would serve as the flagship station for her syndicated morning show. Her show, which airs mostly on AC and Rhythmic outlets in the United States, especially those owned by WKTU's parent company Clear Channel, began on July 31, 2006. The news of Goldberg being named 'KTU's new morning star, and the departures of popular afternoon drive DJ "Broadway" Bill Lee and late night hostess Jewelz in June 2006, led to talk that KTU might switch formats (some suspected an upbeat female targeted Hot AC-type direction similar to sister station KBIG/Los Angeles) with Goldberg's arrival. KTU management insisted that there were no plans to flip formats, even with Goldberg in mornings. Another surprise move was the reunion of former KTU morning hosts Sean "Hollywood" Hamilton and Goumba Johnny, who hosted afternoons for the station from September 5, 2006. Hamilton continues to host his popular syndicated show's the Weekend Top 30 and the Remix Top30 heard in over 250 cites across America and around the world.
However, on September 9, 2006, after many format flips by Clear Channel Communications of other radio stations throughout the country, 'KTU took on the upbeat Rhythmic AC direction by playing only popular current rhythmic material, as well as increasing the airplay of older rhythmic sounds such as soul, disco and freestyle.
On November 28, 2007, WKTU announced that it had dropped Whoopi's morning show. According to station management, the reason was due to Goldberg's duties on The View, although it may also have to do with the show's ratings.[1] Her show continued to air in syndication through Premiere Radio Networks until April 18, 2008, when she called it quits. Cubby Bryant, who served as Goldberg's sidekick, left the syndicated show and returned to WKTU in January 2008 to host his own morning show.
Some believe that the cause for the lower ratings in 2006 is the fact that WNEW-FM changed to a Rhythmic AC format, even though WNEW's ratings, which were among the lowest for any New York City FM station while they kept that format, have remained about the same since their format change. Core dance music fans tend to blame the lower ratings on the feeling that 'KTU doesn't hop on to current dance music songs as quick as other stations (such as WNYZ - Pulse 87 and Long Island's WDRE - Party 105.3) and tend to stay with the older music to compete with WNEW-FM, which is no longer a Rhythmic format radio station.
Around 2009, 'KTU did another tweak in their Rhythmic AC format, dropping the older elements of dance music (disco and freestyle, including Judy Torres' "Freestyle Free For All" Sunday show) and focusing mainly on a current direction, with mainstream dance and rhythmic sounds. That has helped increase the ratings of the station. In September 2010 the station returned to a Rhythmic Top 40 direction, as WKTU was added to the Mediabase Rhythmic panel joining rival WQHT. On December 15, 2010, Goumba Johnny left WKTU after 15 years, leaving Hamilton solo in afternoons. KTU's current success and high ratings also has to do with the return of some cutting edge dance music on their playlist like Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina's "Stereo love" which became number one on KTU and adding a few others, including Martin Solveig & Dragonette's "Hello".
On April 4, 2011, WKTU was moved from the Rhythmic CHR panel on Mediabase to CHR (Top 40), reflecting the recent evolution of the station's music to a more rhythmic adult contemporary sound again without the disco titles; however it cannot become a contemporary hit radio because of sister station WHTZ having that title. Even the station's Clear Channel parent still describes WKTU as a rhythmic.
WKTU's ownership
As a result of a series of transactions from Evergreen Media, SFX Communications, and Clear Channel Communications in the late 1990s and early 2000s, WKTU is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications
HD2 Operation
Like other Clear Channel stations WKTU began Multicasting in the late winter of 2005. On WKTU HD 1 the Rhythmic Top-40 format is heard on the original analog station while WKTU HD 2 has played Country Music similar to the previous Country station occupying 103.5. HD stations can only be received with an HD Radio. HD Radios receive both the primary analog station, the duplicate HD Feed and the Multicasting feeds. Stations can put as many as three sets of HD programming on one dial position plus their original analog broadcast. On July 23, 2009, The Country music format was dropped in favor of Pride Radio, catering to the Gay community. The Country format moved to 106.7 HD-2.
Signal
Due to its antenna on top of the Empire State Building, WKTU's signal can reach as far as Clinton, NJ. It can reach even as far as the Philadelphia area, particularly South Jersey, in certain areas and has been heard as far south as Gloucester County. The WKTU subcarrier also airs Catholic programming in Italian from Radio Maria New York, the local unit of Radio Maria USA.
It is shortspaced to 103.3 WPRB cutting into WKTU's reception in central Jersey and 103.7 WNNJ cutting into its signal in Eastern Sussex and Morris County, NJ.
Beatstock
Every August, WKTU holds a annual event called Beatstock. The event, which began in 1997 showcases artists from every dance genre from Disco to Electronica, is held at two locations in the New York area, most notably at Jones Beach and The Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey. The original KTU Beatstock concert which took place in 1997 was an all-day event held at Floyd Bennett Airfield in Brooklyn, NY. It featured over 50 acts from various genres of dance music, all performing on one stage.
Alumni
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Former programming
- Top 8 at 8PM (1996–2006)
- Fun House with Joe Causi & Al Bandiero (1996–2006)
- Studio 54 Clubhouse with Joe Causi & Al Bandiero (1997–2007)
- Freestyle Free-For-All with Judy Torres (1998–2009)
- KTU After Hours & Sanctuary with Dangerous Dave Hanson (1996–2000)
References
- ^ David Hinckley, "WKTU Cans Whoopi Goldberg," New York Daily News, November 28th, 2007.
External links
- WKTU official website
- Facility details for Facility ID WKTU ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- Radio Maria New York in Italian (WKTU subcarrier with streaming audio)