July 25 Radio History

In 1925…In Schenectady, New York, WGY-AM (then at 790 AM) became the first radio station in the U.S. to broadcast with a 50,000-watt transmitter. Click Here for more on the WGY Transmitter site.


In 1944...New York Times takes ownership of WQXR AM & FM.

WQXR-AM was the first in New York to experiment with stereo broadcasting, beginning in 1952.  It used two microphones positioned six feet apart.  One fed the AM station, the other was broadcast over FM.  A home listener could position two radios six feet apart, one tuned to WQXR 1560 AM, the other to WQXR 96.3 FM, and listen in stereo.

In 1965, the FCC required commonly owned AM and FM stations to broadcast separate programming for at least part of the day.  The New York Times tried to sell the radio stations in 1971, but later got an FCC waiver of the simulcasting rules.  WQXR-AM/FM continued their simulcast until 1992.

WQXR-AM dropped classical music and adopted a format of adult standards, becoming WQEW-AM.  In 1998, the Times leased the AM station to Radio Disney.  Disney purchased WQEW in 2007.

WQXR-FM continued its classical music format. In 2009, it traded the 96.3 frequency to Univision Radio in exchange for Univision’s 105.9 FM frequency, which broadcast WCAA-FM.  WNYC-FM, a municipally-owned station, then bought WQXR from the New York Times, converting the station to a non-commercial education station.

The new frequency has a smaller broadcast range than the 96.3 FM facility.  The station uses two translator frequencies to increase its reach.  It also broadcasts over cable television and the Internet.

In 1964...WCBS does last broadcast from 485 Madison Ave. moving to 51 W. 52nd Street. nicknamed 'The Black Rock'.


In 2002...WNNY 1380 AM switches format to “Regional Mexican Music”


In 2008...WWDJ 970 AM Newark, NJ changes calls to WHTT.

Back in the '70s, WWDJ was Top40 challenging WABC.  Courtesy of Airchexx.com:


There were many excellent DJ’s who passed through the 97 DJ doors. They include Al Brady, (went on to become Program Director at WABC), Ronnie Grant, Howard Clark, George Taylor Morris, Sean Casey (who was the last Program Director WWDJ, had), Joe Conway, Steve Clark (who was for a short time a WMCA Good Guy in 1967, plus on WOR-FM & CBS-FM), Mark Driscoll (also of WOR-FM and WNBC), Bob Lockwood, Don Cannon (he can be heard on the radio in the original Rocky movie), Bob Savage, Bobby Finck (aka Robert K. Oliver, or Rokko from 99X) and many more.

Sean Casey worked at WOR FM and WPLJ before DJ, and then went on to work for a while at CBS FM. Steve O'Brien of ABC and YNY fame worked afternoons for a period of time as well as Jim King of 99X fame. During the summer of 1971, Dean Anthony left the station and was replaced by a DJ named Chuck Cooper (ala Radio City Bill, Bill Rock who has worked at WYNY and WNBC among other stations).



Bwana Johnny (aircheck starts at the 1:36-mark) had two separate tours with the station. So did Gary Russell, who worked mornings and weekends in separate tours. That was a real no-no in those days.) He was also the last DJ on the air before WWDJ’s music format changed to inspiration on April 1, 1974.  


In 2012...WEMP changes call letters back to WRXP