I agree with some of the posters. It doesn’t seem like it was 25 years ago that the big W would be heard for the last time on 1130 and in January 1993, Mike Bloomberg’s radio station WBBR and its financial news format would take over.
I remember Mike Bloomberg once saying he wasn’t out for ratings. That proved to be true as very few listened to his station.
WNEW wrote the book on how standards should be presented and they had the personalities that made what they did work.
We’ll always remember “the world’s greatest radio station.” WNEW 1130 the big W in New York.
From: Bill Stoller
25 years ago on December 11th, 1992, I was sitting in front of a computer at 499 Park Avenue, orchestrating yet another day of “dry runs” for Mike Bloomberg’s Folly, an automated all-news station with each news or business or feature segment, time check, traffic report, or whatever, to be played back on 1130 by a modified system that usually controlled what we called elevator or dentist’s office music. Bloomberg had hired several of us “professionals” to work with the never-did-this-before kids he was staffing the station with. We tried – to no avail – to explain why an all-news station needs live anchors, at least for listener continuity, but he said “I don’t want any ‘stars'” – and he let go the sports contracts, despite our explaining that football, basketball & hockey are night & weekend games only and listeners will have their car radios on 1130 when they head to work Monday mornings.
WBBR went on the air in January and I stayed a year – foolishly thought I could make a real difference – and no matter how bad WNEW-AM’s ratings were by the time it was sold, WBBR’s were even worse (close to rock bottom in the metros), although weekday afternoon drive, when MY news segments played, had the highest of the low numbers. Not a tribute to me, but as I had predicted, WBBR would flip the script and have more listeners in PM than AM drive, as more folks tuned in to hear how their money did while they were at work. I was the voice of the recorded time checks, station IDs & such, and some radio friends were convinced I was “live” in the afternoons!
Bill Stoller
It is hard to believe 25 years have passed since WNEW left the air! It’s even harder for me to believe I’ve been wrong all that time in my memory of the last two songs played on NEW. I was POSITIVE they were Sinatra’s “The Last Dance” and “The Night We Called It a Day.” SURE of it! But when I dug out my “Last Day of WNEW” cassettes this week, I was shocked to learn that the last two songs were really Sinatra’s “Here’s That Rainy Day” and “We’ll Meet Again!” I recorded that cassette, misty-eyed as WNEW was saying goodbye,- but I completely “mis-remembered” the songs! It’s like learning that “Casablanca” has a different ending than the one I’ve always known!
Maybe that’s because I didn’t want to focus on the end, but on all the wonderful years that came before. My mother was a loyal listener since the Martin Block days, so I probably heard WNEW since before I was born! “The Friendly Station This Part of the Nation,” as William B. called it, was a daily part of my life. It always will be, – “The Soundtrack of My Life!”
Here’s a toast to all the wonderfully talented, dedicated men and women behind the microphones and behind the scenes, who entertained and informed, who kept us company and educated, who made WNEW, truly, The World’s Greatest Radio Station! It will live forever…Where the Melody Lingers On!
From: Mike Strange
Thanks Ed for keeping the music lingering on with these wonderful insights from folks. Hard to believe its been 25 years, but I still listen everyday to the streaming version of the Big W. Has been a part of my life since I can remember my dad having 1130 tuned in, in his store, our home and car since I was 5; now turning 70. Best regards, Mike Strange.
From: Andy Fisher
The engineers at WNEW — a couple of them in particular — deserve credit for that wonderful “‘NEW sound.”
Mitch Katz, who was, among other things, the Klavan & Finch engineer (and a Klavan character voice), created pre-amps that made old 78s sound like live music.
I remember walking past Studio 7 one day and swearing I could hear a band in the studio, but it was Mitch doing his electronic magic with a 78 on one of those old RCA turntables.
Irv Weinstein, who had been a clarinetist in Charlie Spivak’s big band, created the “News Close-Up” theme music from the soundtrack of the movie Edge of the City.
John Zarpaylic built a studio around me while I was on the air on the night of the 1977 “Summer of Sam” blackout. That was after Ron Ehrenberg got me on the air in the first place, although the emergency generator was out of gas.
Saul Osias and his son Jeff were a two-generation team of WNEW engineers.
Pete Johnson, the last engineer on the WNEW payroll, is the father of Soterios Johnson, who for many years anchored the morning show on WNEW.
We can’t forget Willie B, Ted, Jim Lowe, Reid Collins, Pappas, and the other voices, but the engineers played very important roles in the station’s distinguished history.
I agree with some of the posters. It doesn’t seem like it was 25 years ago that the big W would be heard for the last time on 1130 and in January 1993, Mike Bloomberg’s radio station WBBR and its financial news format would take over.
I remember Mike Bloomberg once saying he wasn’t out for ratings. That proved to be true as very few listened to his station.
WNEW wrote the book on how standards should be presented and they had the personalities that made what they did work.
We’ll always remember “the world’s greatest radio station.” WNEW 1130 the big W in New York.
From: Bill Stoller
25 years ago on December 11th, 1992, I was sitting in front of a computer at 499 Park Avenue, orchestrating yet another day of “dry runs” for Mike Bloomberg’s Folly, an automated all-news station with each news or business or feature segment, time check, traffic report, or whatever, to be played back on 1130 by a modified system that usually controlled what we called elevator or dentist’s office music. Bloomberg had hired several of us “professionals” to work with the never-did-this-before kids he was staffing the station with. We tried – to no avail – to explain why an all-news station needs live anchors, at least for listener continuity, but he said “I don’t want any ‘stars'” – and he let go the sports contracts, despite our explaining that football, basketball & hockey are night & weekend games only and listeners will have their car radios on 1130 when they head to work Monday mornings.
WBBR went on the air in January and I stayed a year – foolishly thought I could make a real difference – and no matter how bad WNEW-AM’s ratings were by the time it was sold, WBBR’s were even worse (close to rock bottom in the metros), although weekday afternoon drive, when MY news segments played, had the highest of the low numbers. Not a tribute to me, but as I had predicted, WBBR would flip the script and have more listeners in PM than AM drive, as more folks tuned in to hear how their money did while they were at work. I was the voice of the recorded time checks, station IDs & such, and some radio friends were convinced I was “live” in the afternoons!
Bill Stoller
It is hard to believe 25 years have passed since WNEW left the air! It’s even harder for me to believe I’ve been wrong all that time in my memory of the last two songs played on NEW. I was POSITIVE they were Sinatra’s “The Last Dance” and “The Night We Called It a Day.” SURE of it! But when I dug out my “Last Day of WNEW” cassettes this week, I was shocked to learn that the last two songs were really Sinatra’s “Here’s That Rainy Day” and “We’ll Meet Again!” I recorded that cassette, misty-eyed as WNEW was saying goodbye,- but I completely “mis-remembered” the songs! It’s like learning that “Casablanca” has a different ending than the one I’ve always known!
Maybe that’s because I didn’t want to focus on the end, but on all the wonderful years that came before. My mother was a loyal listener since the Martin Block days, so I probably heard WNEW since before I was born! “The Friendly Station This Part of the Nation,” as William B. called it, was a daily part of my life. It always will be, – “The Soundtrack of My Life!”
Here’s a toast to all the wonderfully talented, dedicated men and women behind the microphones and behind the scenes, who entertained and informed, who kept us company and educated, who made WNEW, truly, The World’s Greatest Radio Station! It will live forever…Where the Melody Lingers On!
From: Mike Strange
Thanks Ed for keeping the music lingering on with these wonderful insights from folks. Hard to believe its been 25 years, but I still listen everyday to the streaming version of the Big W. Has been a part of my life since I can remember my dad having 1130 tuned in, in his store, our home and car since I was 5; now turning 70. Best regards, Mike Strange.
From: Andy Fisher
The engineers at WNEW — a couple of them in particular — deserve credit for that wonderful “‘NEW sound.”
Mitch Katz, who was, among other things, the Klavan & Finch engineer (and a Klavan character voice), created pre-amps that made old 78s sound like live music.
I remember walking past Studio 7 one day and swearing I could hear a band in the studio, but it was Mitch doing his electronic magic with a 78 on one of those old RCA turntables.
Irv Weinstein, who had been a clarinetist in Charlie Spivak’s big band, created the “News Close-Up” theme music from the soundtrack of the movie Edge of the City.
John Zarpaylic built a studio around me while I was on the air on the night of the 1977 “Summer of Sam” blackout. That was after Ron Ehrenberg got me on the air in the first place, although the emergency generator was out of gas.
Saul Osias and his son Jeff were a two-generation team of WNEW engineers.
Pete Johnson, the last engineer on the WNEW payroll, is the father of Soterios Johnson, who for many years anchored the morning show on WNEW.
We can’t forget Willie B, Ted, Jim Lowe, Reid Collins, Pappas, and the other voices, but the engineers played very important roles in the station’s distinguished history.