Misplaced Pages

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81-594: Bowes brought his amateur hour to the New York City radio station WHN in April 1934. On March 24, 1935, on NBC , The Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company chose this show to fill The Chase and Sanborn Hour . This arrangement lasted until September 17, 1936, when the show moved to the CBS Radio Network . The show remained on CBS for the remainder of its run on radio. Each week, Bowes would chat with

162-502: A DVD collection of highlights from the series. The television debut came on January 18, 1948 on the DuMont Television Network with Mack as the host. The regular staff for the television show included Lou Goldberg (aka Lewis Graham); Lloyd Marx, musical director; accompanist Dotty Marx, his wife; Jac Hein, writer/producer; and Marguerite (Dwyer) Scheid, talent scout. The show regularly traveled to other cities across

243-470: A broadcaster for failing to pay it for a commercial broadcasting license. The station played jazz and contemporary dance music, including Sophie Tucker , Fletcher Henderson , and Duke Ellington , as well as broadcasting Columbia University football games. In 1928 the station was bought by the Loew's Theatre Organization . During the 1920s the station's frequency changed to 830, 760, and then 1010. In

324-666: A decade longer than WEPN had existed. Because of WEPN's limited signal, all Jets games once were simulcast on WABC, which reaches more of the suburbs. The station had also worked with MSG Network to find affiliates for Knicks and Rangers games outside WEPN's coverage area. Early in 2008, to strengthen the reach of WEPN, ESPN reached local marketing agreements to simulcast WEPN on WLIR in Hampton Bays , extending WEPN's reach to eastern Long Island , and on WNJE in Flemington (for "New Jersey's ESPN"), extending WEPN's reach into

405-652: A different name each time. On January 26, 1992, the Family Channel launched its version of the program, The New Original Amateur Hour , with Willard Scott as host. WEPN (AM)#WHN WEPN (1050 kHz ) is a sports radio station licensed to New York, New York . The station is owned-and-operated by Good Karma Brands and its transmitter site is located in North Bergen, New Jersey . The 1050 AM facility in New York signed on in 1922 as WHN. For

486-425: A half-hour show, the only exception to this rule being from March 1956 to June 1957 on ABC, when it was expanded to an hour. Some contestants became minor celebrities at the time, but few ever became really big show-business stars, like the six Ebe Sisters, whose fame was short-lived. The two greatest successes of the show's television era were Gladys Knight , then only a child, and Pat Boone . Boone's appearances on

567-430: A last prime-time run from March 1960 to September 26, 1960. Even then the show wasn't finished—it ran for another decade as a late-Sunday-afternoon feature on CBS, beginning on October 2, 1960. Many long-running CBS shows were canceled in 1970–71 because they attracted viewers of an advanced age . Mack's show was among the first to go, though not as a direct result of the other cancellations. Its Sunday afternoon timeslot

648-404: A long history prior to this format. Starting in the 1920s as WHN, its programming was a standard mix of music, news, weather and drama. It was renamed WMGM in the late 1940s, continuing the same format until a switch to rock & roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As WHN again, it played adult standards in the 1960s and country music in the 1970s and 1980s (the format it was best known for). In

729-569: A lot of research, on February 26, 1973, WHN became a country music station. The New York Metropolitan Area had never been a country music hot spot, and prior to WHN, the area had only had two country music stations: WJRZ in Hackensack, New Jersey and WTHE in Mineola, New York . In the early years of WHN's country format, it featured on-air personalities such as Larry Kenney , Big Wilson and Jack Spector . Some of these were holdovers from

810-451: A radio set by E.H. Lewis of the New York Y.M.C.A. Radio School. Before the end of April, WHN had added a two-hour Sunday afternoon program of religious music and a brief sermon, and augmented its Monday through Saturday programming with a talk on real estate at 6:15 p.m., and a children's bedtime story by James Baldwin at 7:15, followed by jazz or another talk. The station was sharing 360 meters with WJZ , WWZ and WOR . In March 1924,

891-467: A result, ratings went down for WHN, although they again added New York Mets baseball to their lineup in 1983 (WHN had previously carried the Mets from 1964 through 1968, and again in 1972 through 1974). In 1984, WKHK became "Lite FM" WLTW , playing a soft adult contemporary format. Without direct competition, WHN remained country, with decent ratings. In 1985 Doubleday Broadcasting acquired WHN, and sold

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972-409: A short time of transition, heading eventually to MOR WNEW . The station played vocalists such as Nat King Cole , Perry Como , Frank Sinatra , Bing Crosby , Peggy Lee , Patti Page , and Johnny Mathis , plus a heavy dose of instrumentalist groups, notably Percy Faith , Al Hirt , Ray Conniff , and Henry Mancini . The station was about 75% vocal and 25% instrumental. Ratings were respectable, but

1053-584: A sports-themed show, Boomer and Carton in the Morning . Despite the fact that it is a 50,000-watt station, it cannot be heard clearly in many parts of the New York metropolitan area , especially west of New York City and in Suffolk County on Long Island . WEPN has a highly directional signal, due primarily to the fact that there is another 50,000-watt station on 1050, CHUM , a few hundred miles to

1134-537: A tap in her difficult routine; and the Wallace Brothers, two fast stepping youngsters from Harlem, will dance their way into the audience's heart." A very young 10 year old named Tommy DeVito would appear in 1938 to sing and play guitar to "Red River Valley, and would later rise to fame as the founder and lead guitarist of the Four Seasons rock/pop band famous in the 1960s, and whose life was portrayed in

1215-551: The Federal Communications Commission . On September 22, 1988, Emmis ended up moving their Dance/R&B "Hot" format and call letters WQHT over to the 97.1 frequency (while selling the 103.5 facility and WYNY's intellectual property over to Westwood One ; that station would later become WKTU in 1996), and then moved WFAN's format and call letters from 1050 to 660 on October 7, at 5:30 pm, replacing "66 WNBC" , which signed off forever. As for

1296-717: The Golden Age of Television . The series was broadcast weekly, on early Sunday evenings, on DuMont until September 25, 1949, then moved to NBC Television in October 1949 where it remained until September 1952. NBC then hosted it from April 1953 to September 1954. The Original Amateur Hour finished at #27 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1950–1951 season. The show moved to ABC (October 1955 to June 1957), then returned to NBC (July 1957 to October 1958). It then ran from May 1959 to October 1959 on CBS , before returning to ABC for

1377-783: The Skylands Region and the Trenton market. WNJE broadcast the WEPN signal full-time. WLIR broke off the simulcast in the summer of 2011 when the station was sold to a religious broadcaster. WNJE ended the simulcast with WEPN on December 3, 2012. There were also partnerships with Syracuse University and the United States Military Academy to air college football games, but those usually aired on former sister stations WABC or WQEW due to scheduling conflicts. WEPN had overflow agreements with WNYM and WWRL ,

1458-444: The interim host of the radio show and a few months later moved it to the fledgling medium of television. It was intermittently broadcast on the DuMont Television Network during 1947 and began regular weekly programs January 18, 1948, still using Bowes' name in the title, Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour . The TV show subsequently moved to each of the four commercial networks, eventually ending up on its original network, CBS, where

1539-498: The "Interwoven Scoreboard" after Mets games and later on reintroduced New York fans to the Knicks and Rangers on radio. Initially, Rangers games were broadcast in small doses: the last two minutes of the first and second periods, then the entire third period. The entire metropolitan area enjoyed Red Holzman 's miracle 1969–70 Knicks championship run, much of which was blacked out on TV. Overall though, WHN's ratings were still low. After

1620-556: The 1050 license, the Spanish Broadcasting System bought it, intending to swap it with cash to The Jewish Daily Forward for their FM station, WEVD (97.9 FM). However, Spanish Broadcasting already owned WSKQ (620 AM) in Newark, New Jersey . The deal for WEVD could not be consummated at the same time as Emmis' purchase of 660, which left Spanish Broadcasting owning two AM stations in the New York market, which (as

1701-557: The 1930s it broadcast the Major Bowes Amateur Hour , which was picked up by the CBS Radio Network . In 1933, WHN became a full-time station when it acquired the licenses of WRNY and WQAO-WPAP with approval by the Federal Radio Commission on January 31 and February 3, respectively. In 1938, WHN hosted a show called Whiz Kids . WHN made its final frequency change to 1050 in 1941. During

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1782-504: The 1940s the programs Radio Newsreel and Newsreel Theater were prototypes for what later became the all-news radio format. The station broadcast Brooklyn Dodgers games with Red Barber as well as the New York Giants and New York Rangers with Marty Glickman . In 1946, the station hired Eddie Cantor 's daughter Marilyn as one of the earliest female disc jockeys. She ran a program for children. On September 15, 1948,

1863-485: The 1960s, was invariably sponsored by Geritol and other patent medicines manufactured by their long-time sponsor, the J. B. Williams Company , best known for Aqua Velva after-shave lotion ("There's something about an Aqua Velva man!") and Lectric Shave pre-shave lotion. Bowes started the radio show on WHN in New York City in 1934. Bowes' field assistant was Ted Mack , who scouted and auditioned talent for

1944-574: The AM signal would be converted to a new Spanish-language sports format as part of the ESPN Deportes Radio network by mid-September 2012 (to coincide with National Hispanic Heritage Month ). The transition began on April 30 when WRKS, now christened as WEPN-FM, began to simulcast WEPN's AM signal as 98.7 ESPN New York . WEPN broke away from the simulcast on September 7, 2012, and re-launched as promised as ESPN Deportes Nueva York . At launch,

2025-570: The Broadway musical "Jersey Boys" and the film of the same name. "Other entertainers include Ding, Dong and Dell, harmony trio; Harvey Mearns, Swiss bell ringer; Dick King, Imitator; Neva Ames, xylophone wonder; Duane Sister, acrobatic dancer, Adolph Robinson, song and danceman and Gae Allen, toe tapper on drums." Ted Mack , who joined the Bowes operation in 1935, was "first assistant in the talent selection, production and direction" for Bowes, became

2106-504: The ESPN Deportes Radio network on September 8, 2019. It was stated that WEPN would switch back to an English-language sports format at this time. In September 2019, ESPN agreed to a two-year deal to carry at least 60 New York Islanders broadcasts; due to WEPN-FM's existing contracts with the Knicks and Rangers, most Islanders games are aired on 1050 AM, with select games on WEPN-FM, and previous flagship WRHU continuing to be

2187-526: The English-language ESPN Radio upon ESPN Deportes Radio's shutdown in 2019. Since its return to ESPN Radio programming in 2019, the station has aired the national ESPN Radio lineup in its entirety, including programs not cleared by WHSQ (880 AM) or, prior to August 2024, WEPN-FM (98.7). WEPN also carries overflow play-by-play rights, including most New York Islanders games, and some New York Rangers games. The 1050 frequency has

2268-471: The FCC requirement). For the first few hours after the switch of WFAN to the 660 facility, WUKQ broadcast a recorded message which was continuously looped stating: "This is WUKQ-AM New York, operating at 1050 Kilohertz. If you're looking for SportsRadio 1050, we've moved... down the dial to 66 AM. Join us now for the new SportsRadio 66 WFAN." The FCC approved the trade of WUKQ for WEVD on February 1, 1989. Under

2349-618: The Mets. The station's ratings were low at first, but began to grow. In early 1988, General Electric , which now owned NBC through its purchase of RCA two years earlier, announced that it would sell off the NBC Radio division. In February of that year, GE made a multi-station deal with Emmis; in New York, the WNBC and WYNY licenses were included in the sale. This ended up giving Emmis control of four frequencies: 97.1 FM, 103.5 FM, 660 AM and 1050 AM, whereas duopolies were not permitted yet by

2430-493: The Redhead (Ted's then-wife Rhoda ), Jerry Marshall, Peter Tripp , Norm Stevens, Dick Shepherd, Bob Lewis, Ed Stokes and Bob Callen. Among its newsreaders were Bill Edmunds, Dick DeFrietas and Aime Govin. During its Top 40 incarnation, WMGM was for a time home to New York Yankees baseball with Mel Allen , Red Barber and Phil Rizzuto . Ex-athletes Marty Glickman and Gussie Moran worked Yankees pre- and post-game shows from

2511-630: The Shore " hit the top of the charts during this era). WMGM was overall more up-tempo than the competition, featuring artists like Elvis Presley , Fats Domino , Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis , Frankie Lymon , the Crystals , the Tokens , Ray Charles , Dinah Washington , Brook Benton , Ricky Nelson , and Bill Haley . Playlists were narrower and more predictable than mainstream MOR stations'. WMGM's disc jockey lineup included morning man Ted Brown and

Major Bowes Amateur Hour - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-686: The United States and made at least two trips to Europe for the USO . In the early 1950s, the show went to Washington, D.C., for a program featuring contestants from the United States Congress and the Truman administration . The series is one of only six shows—the others were The Arthur Murray Party ; Down You Go ; The Ernie Kovacs Show ; Pantomime Quiz ; and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet —to appear on all four TV networks during

2673-399: The address ("Box 191 Radio City Station") where viewers could send their postcards; he did this after every act. The winners were invited to appear on the next week's show. Three-time winners were eligible for the annual championship, with the grand-prize winner receiving a $ 2000 scholarship. Ted Mack ensured that the show was very fast-paced. Despite the program's title, it was generally only

2754-560: The air on March 18, 1922, at AM frequency 833 kilocycles. The station's schedule was not originally published in its owner's radio page. The first mention of the station in the press may have been in the Brooklyn Eagle of April 9, 1922, with the following schedule: 9-11 a.m., Hour For Women; 12:15 p.m., Lunch Hour Gossip; 3:15, Afternoon Tea Discussion; 4:15, Radio Gossip For Amateurs, Boy Scout News. The "Radio Gossip" appears to have been instructions on how to build or operate

2835-471: The broadcast. Some accused Bowes himself, but none of these accusations could ever be proved. Bowes was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's closest friends and was personally responsible for having the swimming pool constructed at the White House when FDR was in office. As the years went by, the audience for this program aged as well. The Sunday-afternoon version of the series, which aired on CBS in

2916-595: The brokered programming format and call letters of The Forward -owned WEVD (previously on 97.9 FM) being moved to 1050 AM in February 1989. In 2001, The Walt Disney Company took control of the station (later buying it and renaming it to WEPN in 2003) and transformed it into a full-time affiliate of its ESPN Radio network. In 2012, WEPN became an affiliate of the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes Radio network, reverting to broadcasting

2997-545: The call letters to WNYM (now WWRV ) while WEVD continued on the FM dial. By 1988, the station was mostly an outlet for leased access foreign language programming. WEVD had a brokered format with Jewish programming (in Yiddish and English), ethnic programs, talk shows, and a big band show with Danny Stiles . The station generated cash flow by selling blocks of airtime, which allowed it to be profitable despite minimal ratings. By

3078-433: The contestants and listen to their performances. His familiar catchphrase "Round and round she goes, and where she stops nobody knows," was spoken in the familiar avuncular tones for which he was renowned, whenever it was time to spin the "wheel of fortune," the device by which some contestants were called to perform. Bowes sent the more talented contestants on "Major Bowes" vaudeville tours, often with several units roaming

3159-497: The country simultaneously. Bowes presided over his radio program until his death on his 72nd birthday, June 14, 1946. Frank Sinatra was perhaps the best-known alumnus of the Bowes program, having appeared as part of the Hoboken Four quartet. Maria Callas also appeared on the program at age 11, performing as Nina Foresti when she sang a selection from Madame Butterfly . In 1945–1946, CBS presented "an extension series" of

3240-547: The deal, the Spanish AC format on 620 would move to 97.9 FM, and the station would become WSKQ-FM . Meanwhile, WEVD's call letters and programming moved to the 1050 facility. Dating back to October 20, 1927, WEVD had been the radio station owned by the Workman's Circle ( Arbeter Ring ) in New York City. Its call letters were a tribute to legendary Socialist Party leader Eugene Victor Debs , who died one year earlier. This

3321-454: The demographic was older by a generation or two. In 1968, WHN gradually began mixing in softer songs by artists like Elvis Presley , The Everly Brothers , The Beatles , The Association , and others with their easy listening format. Still, the ratings were below average. By 1970, the station had evolved into more of a MOR format and less of an easy listening format and by 1972 evolved into more of an adult contemporary format similar to what WNEW

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3402-496: The floor and yelled, "Can you hear me down there, Major Bowes?" suggesting that the late radio host had been consigned to Hell as punishment for his treatment of young performers. In his comic monologue on his album Sinatra at the Sands (1966), Frank Sinatra describes how his vocal group The Hoboken Four 's appearances were so popular on Major Bowes Amateur Hour in the mid-1930s that they were brought back week after week, under

3483-629: The former airing Knicks or Rangers games that overlapped with each other or with the Jets and the latter airing when there were two overlapping games. WEPN was expected to bid for the radio rights for either the New York Yankees , at the time on WCBS (AM) , or New York Mets , from their longtime home of WFAN. Both teams had contracts that expired at the end of the 2013 season, with the Yankees purposely extending their deal with WCBS to expire at

3564-470: The last words he said on 66 WNBC in 1988 saying, "We thank you very much, thank you for listening and for the very last time, This is News-Talk 1050 WEVD New York". On September 2, 2001, at Midnight, WEVD began running ESPN Radio full-time, albeit having simulcast WABC 's coverage of the September 11 attacks nine days later. The first local voice on "1050 ESPN Radio" was Don La Greca . The call-sign

3645-539: The late 1980s as WFAN it was the original frequency for the very successful first of its kind all-sports station. Then began a truly convoluted set of ownership, call sign, and format changes from the Spanish language WUKQ to WEVD, a brokered station in the 1990s, to today's incarnation as WEPN. Originally owned by the Ridgewood Times newspaper, WHN was one of the first radio stations in New York City, going on

3726-481: The late 70s rock artists –including The Eagles, Ronstadt, Newton-John, and Rogers– who had absorbed country into their contemporary pop– and, using extensive, award-winning television and transit advertising, into one of the most successful Country radio stations in history. In the late 1970s, Mutual Radio bought WHN from Storer. In 1980, WHN got some competition when WRVR was sold to Viacom and dropped jazz for country and became WKHK (also known as "Kick 106 FM"). As

3807-590: The majority of its existence under these call letters, as well as during its 14-year stint as WMGM, the station broadcast several different music-based formats, finally assuming a country music format in 1973. In 1987, WHN dropped its country format to become the first radio station dedicated entirely to sports programming , changing its call letters to WFAN . A series of transactions in the late 1980s resulted in WFAN's format and call letters moving in October 1988 to 660 AM (on which WFAN has continued to broadcast since), with

3888-401: The mid-1990s, WEVD was branded as "News-Talk 1050 WEVD", and had a talk format with a liberal emphasis on weekdays, with ethnic programming at night and on weekends. Talk hosts included Bill Mazer , former New York mayor Ed Koch , Jay Diamond , and Alan Colmes . During most of 1050's existence as WEVD, the station broadcast Mets, Jets, Knicks and Rangers games produced by WFAN , when WFAN

3969-689: The northwest in Toronto, and yet another 50,000-watt station, KYW , in Philadelphia on the adjacent frequency 1060 AM, along with protecting the signal of Monterrey -based XEG in Northern Mexico to the southwest. According to Arbitron data of as early 2006, WFAN's daytime ratings were about 3 points higher on average than WEPN's, though WFAN's most-known and now-defunct Mike and the Mad Dog show had been airing since 1989, or well over

4050-576: The original program. In addition to new talent, it featured performances by winners on the original program who had achieved some additional success. Major Bowes Amateur Hour also toured the US under the name Major Bowes Jamboree in 1938. The following performers appeared on the stage of Shea's Buffalo : "It is composed of 12 prize winning acts which have never before appeared in Buffalo, with Ted Mack , former conductor of Shea's Buffalo Orchestra, returning in

4131-405: The originator of the program and its master of ceremonies , left the show in 1945 and died the following year. He was ultimately succeeded by Ted Mack , when the show was brought into television in 1948. The show is a progenitor of later, similar programs such as Star Search , American Idol and America's Got Talent . The format was almost always the same. At the beginning of the show,

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4212-633: The past weeks. Among these are the Three Chords who startled the studio audience and radio listeners with their uncanny imitations of musical instruments and favorite bands, on the May 12 broadcast." "Bobby Blakeman, choir boy, who is called the Bobby Breen of the Major's hour, brings an unparalleled sweet voice to the program. Louise Boyd, the amateur Eleanor Powell , has a reputation for never missing

4293-484: The previous middle of the road format. As a country music station, they played artists like Johnny Cash , Willie Nelson , Waylon Jennings , Tanya Tucker , Lynn Anderson , Kenny Rogers , Mel Tillis , Charley Pride , Mickey Gilley , Ronnie Milsap , and many more. Also, they mixed in non-country and country-pop cross-over artists that had country-friendly songs such as The Eagles , Elvis Presley , Anne Murray , Olivia Newton-John , Linda Ronstadt , and others. Over

4374-426: The primary station for games not carried on either WEPN or WEPN-FM. In December 2021, Good Karma Brands announced that it would acquire WEPN. The deal closed on March 1, 2022. Original Amateur Hour The Original Amateur Hour is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of Major Bowes Amateur Hour , which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes ,

4455-486: The program. Mack brought the show back in 1948 on ABC Radio , where it ran until 1952. When Mack assumed the host duties, his position in the field was taken by Albert Fisher. The official archives of The Original Amateur Hour and the rights to the original programs and related material are now owned by Fisher. He has donated the radio recordings and television films and tapes to the Library of Congress , and has compiled

4536-507: The province of much of FM radio at the time. The station was renamed WHN again on February 28, 1962, with special permission of the FCC. Three-letter call sign sets are a rarity and have not been issued to broadcast stations since the early 1930s. Through the 1960s, WHN became New York City's Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate. On-air hosts included Jim Ameche , and early on, the comedy team of Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding ( Bob and Ray ). (Morning host Ted Brown remained with WHN for only

4617-511: The radio show continued to run until 1952. (Another source says that Mack's program ran on ABC radio, rather than on CBS.) Starting with the 1950–51 season, both the radio and television versions became simply Original Amateur Hour and in 1955, the TV version was renamed Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour . Future stars who appeared on the show included Pat Boone and Gladys Knight . Each episode usually featured eight acts. Viewers selected

4698-429: The range again. They're on 1050 WMGM. By 1962, with 1010 WINS , 770 WABC , and 570 WMCA also playing predominantly rock and roll music, WMGM-1050 was sold by Loew's to Storer Communications , which owned mostly TV stations, but also owned WIBG , a rock and roll radio station less than 100 miles (160 km) away in Philadelphia. Storer immediately dropped Top 40 for slow-paced standards and beautiful music ,

4779-472: The role of master of ceremonies. On the screen will be Mickey Rooney , the delightful star of the Judge Hardy family series , in his newest role, Hold That Kiss with Maureen O'Sullivan and Dennis O'Keefe , Shea's Buffalo News will conclude the bill." "In the stage show, Major Bowes has booked some of the outstanding acts heard over his weekly radio program, most of which have just won honors within

4860-429: The same time as the Mets, for better leverage. It had been reported that WEPN had been looking to move to a stronger frequency to accommodate having a Major League Baseball team full-time. Ultimately the Yankees moved to WFAN, displacing the Mets, who signed on with WOR . On April 26, 2012, Disney announced a 12-year lease of Emmis Communications ' 98.7 WRKS , under which WEPN's programming would transition to FM, and

4941-458: The show include Ann-Margret (in 1958), Jose Feliciano (in 1962), Irene Cara (in 1967) and Tanya Tucker (in 1969). Louis Farrakhan appeared in 1949 playing a violin, under his birth name Louis Wolcott. Future child actor Roger Mobley appeared with an older brother and older sister in a musical trio. Future comedian Robert Klein appeared as part of a doo-wop singing group, "The Teen Tones." The greatest fame attained by anyone appearing on

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5022-524: The show probably caused the closest thing that it ever had to a scandal. After he had appeared, and won, for several weeks, it was revealed that he had appeared on the rival CBS Television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , meaning that he was technically not an "amateur" singer. He was removed from the program, but by then his fame was assured. At twenty-three, Boone was hosting his own variety show on ABC, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom , which aired from 1957 to 1960. Other future celebrities discovered on

5103-461: The show was that achieved by Frank Sinatra , who appeared on the show during its radio days with "The Hoboken Four". During World War II , some in the American armed forces believed that someone involved with the program was a Nazi sympathizer because after many episodes aired, an American naval vessel would supposedly be sunk. The claim was that coded information was passed out in the course of

5184-554: The station carried the national lineup of the network, and local morning and afternoon drive shows ( Firma ESPN and Zona ESPN NY ). The station also acquired Spanish-language rights to the New York Jets. On December 13, 2012, ESPN announced that it had acquired the rights to the Spanish-language broadcasts of the Mets, starting with the 2013 season. On June 11, 2019, ESPN announced that it would be discontinuing

5265-654: The station changed its call letters to WMGM, reflecting Loew's then-ownership of movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . The station had a diversified format that included pop standard hits, drama, talk, and sports, and briefly featured New York talk host Barry Gray . In May 1956, the station switched to playing Top 40 rock and roll hits, which covered a broad spectrum of music. The '50s brand of Top 40 played by WMGM and its competitors included what might today be considered rhythm and blues and country music , in addition to popular instrumentals ( Percy Faith 's 1960 " Theme from A Summer Place " and Acker Bilk 's 1962 " Stranger on

5346-632: The station to Emmis Communications in 1986. Emmis added sports talk in the evenings, but kept the country format the rest of the day until 1987. In late April 1987, Emmis announced that WHN would drop country on July 1 for an all-sports format, the first of its kind on radio. They would drop the WHN calls and become WFAN ( The Fan ). In May, NBC announced that adult contemporary WYNY (today's WQHT ) would go country on July 1. Dan Taylor signed off WHN's 25-year history at 3 p.m. that day with " For The Good Times " by Ray Price . The first voice heard on WFAN

5427-427: The station was sued by AT&T , which claimed that WHN failed to pay it for a commercial broadcasting license. However, public opinion turned against AT&T, with the public beginning to view AT&T as a monopolist, and AT&T began to fear an antitrust investigation. AT&T backed away from its lawsuit and agreed to settle out of court, with WHN paying $ 1,500 for a patent license. AT&T never again sued

5508-409: The studio. WMGM had a theme song incorporating the names of many of its DJs in the 1960s. The words were: He was a US Marshal and Jerry was his name. So they called him Jerry Marshall and widespread was his fame. He went to catch the outlaws, Bob Callen and Ted Brown Who were roping old Dick Shephard's sheep and herding them to town. Sing a song about Western hero men will never ride

5589-418: The talent's order of appearance was determined by spinning a wheel. After it was announced how many episodes the current one marked (the final broadcast on CBS being the 1,651st), the wheel was spun. As the wheel spun, the words "Round and round she goes, and where she stops nobody knows" were always intoned. (From the late 1950s forward, the wheel was gone: it was symbolized by flute arpeggios as Ted Mack invoked

5670-435: The traditional phrase.) Various acts, sometimes singers or other musicians, quite often vaudeville fare such as jugglers , tap dancers , baton twirlers, and the like, would perform, with the audience being asked to vote for their favorites by postcard or telephone. The telephone number JUdson 6-7000 was on a banner at the bottom of the screen for viewers to call. As the show gained markets outside New York, Mack would give

5751-465: The winner, casting votes for their favorites by telephone or by mail. Each segment's winner was announced the next week. All contestants who won for three consecutive weeks appeared in an annual championship episode. Mack's style was decidedly more charitable than that of Bowes. The Major made a strong impression on a young Alan King , who had appeared on the Bowes program as a teen. He was discussing Bowes with Johnny Carson once, and suddenly stomped on

5832-512: The years, as WHN evolved as a country station, on-air personalities such as Dan Daniel , Alan Colmes , Jerry Carroll and others moved in. During this era, WHN was programmed by Ed Salamon , who was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2006. Salamon and promotional partner Dale Pon were able to walk the line between country music like Johnny Cash , Dolly Parton , and latter day Elvis, Top 40 radio programming tactics, and

5913-417: Was WEVD's second existence on the AM dial, as it was originally a time-share at 1330 AM with WPOW , an arrangement that lasted until 1984. WEVD soon added an FM counterpart at 107.5 FM in 1950, which then moved to 97.9 FM in 1952. Both stations maintained the same programming through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The AM station was sold on March 2, 1981, for $ 1.1 million to Salem Communications , and changed

5994-449: Was already broadcasting another game. WFAN game overruns are now broadcast on WBBR . In 2001, WEVD entered into a local marketing agreement with ABC / Disney and added ESPN Radio 's The Dan Patrick Show to the talk lineup. Despite a public campaign to save the old format, the LMA was signed into effect. During its final day on-air as "News-Talk 1050 WEVD", the outraged public campaign

6075-647: Was broadcast on September 27, 1970. In 1992 Albert Fisher revived the program (as The New Original Amateur Hour ) on cable television network The Family Channel (now Freeform) hosted by weatherman Willard Scott . This revival lasted one season, in spite of its popularity and high ratings. It featured the debut of highly successful and famous Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter . This was a catalyst for other child stars including Elizabeth Byler, who starred in October Sky , Ernest Goes to Camp , and Other Voices, Other Rooms , and Summer Pulley, who went on to become

6156-414: Was changed to WEPN on April 28, 2003, after being sold to ABC/Disney outright for $ 78 million. They continued to run the station as "1050 ESPN Radio". For years, WEPN billed itself as New York City's only all-sports station, since competitor WFAN's former morning show, Imus in the Morning , was primarily a politically based talk show. However, this is now a misnomer, since Don Imus has been replaced by

6237-561: Was subsumed by the NFL on CBS at the start of the 1970 season as a result of the AFL–NFL merger and its expanded game slate, with CBS beginning to carry football doubleheaders . The network announced the show's cancellation on November 2, as Geritol dropped its sponsorship of the series, one of the last vestiges of the Golden Age where single-series sponsors were more common. The final show

6318-415: Was subtly extended into the station's control room, as soon-to-be terminated staffers occasionally interrupted portions of the brokered programming with audio clips, some of which contained obscenities. On September 1, 2001, Alan Colmes was the last voice heard on WEVD closing out the station by giving out his web address, playing Steam's " Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye ", and said the last words similar to

6399-413: Was that of Suzyn Waldman with a sports update at 3:00 pm, followed by the first show, which was hosted by Jim Lampley . Waldman would report for the station, covering the Yankees and Knicks, for 14 years. Other personalities that hosted shows besides Lampley in the 1050 kHz years included Bill Mazer , Pete Franklin , Greg Gumbel and Ed Coleman . WFAN also inherited WHN's broadcast rights to

6480-415: Was the case with Emmis earlier) was not permitted under FCC rules at that time. The FCC granted them a temporary waiver to run 1050 on a noncommercial basis until it could be transferred. Therefore, following WFAN's move to 660, 620 WSKQ flipped from Spanish adult contemporary to Spanish oldies while the 1050 facility became "KQ 1050" WUKQ, playing Spanish adult contemporary music (commercial-free, to satisfy

6561-426: Was then doing. WHN picked up New York Mets baseball for 1964 (with announcers Lindsey Nelson , Bob Murphy , and Ralph Kiner ), after the team's original NYC flagship, WABC 770, dropped the rights, broadcasting through the 1966 season, with the Mets later returning to their airwaves from 1972 through 1974. The station also became a launching pad for the radio sports broadcasting career of Marv Albert , who hosted

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