When the Arbitron radio ratings this month showed WCBS-FM101.1 (6.7 Share 6+) tied with WLTW 106.7 FM (6.8 share) for the city’s top
spot, it marked another step in the remarkable comeback of a station whose format
was declared dead in 2005, according to media writer David Hinckley at the NYDaily News.
WCBS-FM was the country’s defining “oldies” station from the
1980s to the early 2000s. But in 2005, declaring its audience too old, CBS
switched it to “Jack.”
“Jack” tanked,
and in 2007 CBS switched again, to an updated version of oldies called “classic
hits.”
Under program director Brian Thomas it pushed its playlist a
few years forward and crept up to a consistent No. 2 in the city, behind
perennial champion Lite.
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| Jim Ryan |
When Thomas moved to run some of CBS’ Florida stations early last summer, Jim Ryan
became program director. The amusing irony of the new ratings is that Ryan
programmed Lite-FM back when it was first becoming the juggernaut it remains.
At WCBS-FM, he’s happiest that ratings are also rising among
25- to 54-year-olds, the group CBS feared it had lost back in 2005.
What’s critical, he says, is personality. He notes Joe Nolan
has joined Dan Taylor in the morning and WCBS-FM is one of the few stations
that still has a live overnight host, Dave Stewart.
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