Where Things Stand: AM Drive At NYC's Classic Hits WCBS-FM

Longtime New York radio personality Race Taylor told listeners Friday morning he would be leaving the morning show at Audacy Classic Hits 101.1 WCBS-FM. The station has not announced who will take over the 6–10 a.m. slot.

Whoever hosts next, chances are the WCBS-FM will continue its strategy to maintain its position in the market.

WCBS-FM’s morning strategy has been consistent even as the hosts have changed: protect a heritage classic-hits brand in New York’s most expensive daypart by putting a familiar local voice in front of the music, then handing the later morning to a long commercial-free music sweep that competes with playlists and iHM's WLTW Lite FM. 

That approach sits on three pillars.

1. Personality first, but not a talk-heavy morning zoo: CBS-FM does not try to beat 1010 WINS on news or Z100 on a full-cast morning show. It treats mornings as the station’s “front door”: a recognizable New York voice who can talk about the city, the music, and the commute without crowding out the records. That is why the station has repeatedly chosen market veterans rather than imported syndicated brands. Scott Shannon defined the modern version of that show after 2014. Brand Manager John Foxx took mornings after Shannon’s 2022–23 exit, first with Annie Leamy and then solo after 2025 layoffs. In June 2025 Audacy moved Race Taylor from middays into 6–10 a.m., explicitly selling his “deep-rooted connection with tri-state listeners spanning multiple generations.” 

The bet is continuity. Taylor had already been on New York radio since 1999, including two decades at WPLJ. Foxx’s own comments framed the 2025 shift as an “iconic” local moment, not a format change.

2. Music intensity after the talk window:   The station still advertises more than three hours of commercial-free music beginning just after 8:30 a.m. weekdays. That is a deliberate workday hook: enough personality in the first two hours to set the brand, then a long music block aimed at offices and late commuters. It is the same competitive tool used by WLTW and WNEW in New York. Historical PPM analysis of those sweeps showed the audience building once spots dropped out. 

That structure also explains why mornings matter beyond 6–10. Classic hits lives or dies on all-day cume. A morning host who does not chase listeners away is more valuable than a flashy show that spikes and then dumps the audience at 9.

3. Internal talent, not outside stars:  The June 2025 lineup shuffle was revealing. Taylor went to mornings, Music Director Jesse Addy to middays, Foxx to afternoons, Broadway Bill Lee stayed nights. Audacy recycled people already inside the building. That is cheaper, preserves institutional memory, and keeps the station sounding like CBS-FM instead of a rented morning franchise. Foxx remains Brand Manager, so mornings are still programmed by someone who also hosts another daypart. 

How it has performed.  The strategy has kept CBS-FM in New York’s top tier without winning mornings outright. In summer 2025, with Taylor newly in mornings, the station ranked fourth nationally in morning-drive cume among PPM-market stations; WINS led the country. In 2026 overall books, WCBS-FM has generally sat third in New York 6+ behind Lite FM and WINS, often in the mid-5 shares. That is a strong classic-hits result in a market where news and AC own wake-up listening. 

Race Taylor

What Taylor’s exit tests

Taylor had only been in mornings for about 15 months. The station has not named a successor. The strategic choices now are familiar: Promote from inside again (Foxx back to mornings, Addy, or another house voice). Pair a solo host with a co-host after the Leamy-era cutbacks. Or Lean even harder into the 8:30 a.m. music sweep and treat 6–8:30 as a lighter personality wrap.

History suggests Audacy will not blow up the format. CBS-FM’s identity since the 2007 return from Jack FM has been “New York’s Greatest Hits” with live local jocks. Mornings exist to put a trusted name on that promise, then get out of the way of the records. The open question after today is which name fills that chair next.