WQHT-FM

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WQHT
Hot97logo.PNG
Broadcast area New York City
Branding "Hot 97"
Slogan The Official #1 Station for Hip-Hop and R&B
First air date Mid 1960s
Frequency 97.1 (MHz)
97.1-2 FM (WQHT2 (Hot 97 Throwbacks) - Classic Hip-Hop) (HD Radio)
Format Mainstream Urban
ERP 6,700 watts
Class B
Callsign meaning W Q HoT
Owner Emmis Communications
Website http://www.hot97.com

WQHT, also known as "Hot 97", is a high-profile Mainstream Urban radio station in New York City under the corporate ownership of Emmis Communications. The station broadcasts on 97.1 FM and first signed on the air in the summer of 1986 as "Hot 103" (103.5 FM).

See also: Media of New York City

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] WNBC-FM and variants

The history of the 97.1 frequency goes back to 1940, when station W2XWG came on the air. After several frequency and call letters changes, WNBC-FM was established at 97.1 by 1948. It usually simulcast WNBC's AM programming. In 1954 it changed its call letters to WRCA-FM, but reverted to WNBC-FM in 1960.

WNBC-FM played classical music in the 1950s; it later switched to pop music. It ran automated network programming for some time, such as the NBC Monitor weekend show. By the 1970s it was playing a pop/rock format. Beginning on June 4, 1973, it experimented with a fully-automated programming scheme with local inserts known as "The Rock Pile", but technical glitches were frequent and listenership dropped. For a brief period starting in late 1974, the station attempted a fully-automated beautiful music format for a younger demographic, called "The Love of New York".

NBC Radio then came up with the notion of the NBC News and Information Service (NIS), an unusual attempt to place an all-news format on the FM band. Thus on June 18, 1975, the station became WNWS and branded itself "NewsCenter 97". This failed miserably and on January 1, 1977, 97.1 dropped "all news" and adopted an "Adult Contemporary" (AC) format with a rock lean (to compete against WKTU), under the moniker "Y-97". The call letters WNWS were still in use at the time but shortly afterward the station became known as WYNY.

[edit] WYNY

Ratings were fair at best and by the end of 1978, after toying briefly with an all-Beatles format, WYNY evolved to an MOR format featuring Frank Sinatra, Carpenters, Elvis, Barry Manilow, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, soft songs by artists like Elton John and Billy Joel, etc. They were an easy listening station without all the elevator music heard on WRFM or WPAT-AM-FM. Ratings went up gradually.

By 1980, WYNY moved away from Frank Sinatra and The Lettermen though they continued running "Saturday with Sinatra" hosted by Sid Mark. Musically they added Motown songs, more Beatles, Beach Boys, Eagles, Billy Joel, Doobie Brothers, some well known disco songs, and soft hits by hard rockers.

By 1981, the station format was that of pop hits from 1964 to what was then current music, with an occasional pre-64 rock & roll song. Ratings went up from 1981 through 1983. By 1982, WYNY trimmed the '60s music slightly. Some of the air personalities included Dan Daniel, Bill St. James, Bruce Bradley, Randy Davis, Carol Mason, Mike McCann, Floyd Wright, Steve O'Brien, Bill Rock, and Ed Baer. On Sunday evenings, the station aired a pioneering advice show, Sexually Speaking, which made its host, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a national celebrity. Sid Mark continued hosting a Frank Sinatra show.

In 1983, rival stations Z-100 and WPLJ adopted a "Contemporary Hit Radio" (CHR) format, attacting younger listeners. WYNY continued with its AC format. Then in January 1984, Lite FM 106.7 WLTW signed on, taking away older listeners. WYNY ratings plummeted, and in 1986 the station was revamped with the music staying "Hot AC" but marketed as a "Z-100 for Yuppies". The station had new jingles and imaging, and became known as "The NEW 97.1 WYNY". The format, however, was that of the same pop hits from 1964 to the then-present. The station continued to rate low. NBC had problems with sister station WNBC as well. Then in April 1987, a country music station, WHN, announced plans to go sports full-time on July 1, in competition with the all-sports WFAN. In response, WYNY announced it would change to country music on July 1.

This format change was announced to the press in advance but not over the air except on Saturday With Sinatra. At 12:01 a.m. July 1, WYNY ended its AC format with "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles and went country, playing "Think About Love" by Dolly Parton. The airstaff all remained, though some gradually left later in the year.

Dan Daniel (who had left WYNY in the mid-1980s and returned), Randy Davis, Carol Mason, Lisa Taylor, Floyd Wright, and others survived the format change and remained with WYNY's country unit long after it would leave 97.1 FM and move to 103.5, where it remained until its 1996 demise. The WYNY call letters resurfaced on the suburban 107.1 frequency in late 1998 at a country station that had started up later in 1996; the format lasted until 2002. As of 2006, the WYNY call letters reside on a station in Gainesville, Florida.

In 1987 Emmis agreed to buy NBC radio stations giving them 97.1, 103.5, 660, and 1050. Emmis opted to sell AM 1050 to SBS and then it would be sold to a Jewish group and become WEVD. They would keep 660 AM and shut down ratings troubled WNBC and move the WFAN intellectual unit to 66 AM.

On FM Emmis sold 103.5 FM to Westwood One and the Intellectual Country 97 WYNY unit would move there. Emmis kept 97.1 and moved Hot 103.5's Intellectual WQHT unit there.

[edit] WQHT Hot 103

See WKTU for a full history of the 103.5 frequency.

After the original 92.3 WKTU signed off the air in 1985, New Yorkers demanded a Dance music station. Indianapolis-based Emmis Broadcasting purchased WAPP-FM and transformed it to Hot 103 in 1986. It played a variety of R&B, Pop music, Hip-Hop, Freestyle, House and Rock recordings. Hot 103 was the first radio station to play Latin Hip-Hop (Freestyle) regularly. The station played hits by Freestyle singer Shannon known for her recordings "Let The Music Play," "Give Me Tonight," "My Heart's Divided," "Do You Want To Get Away," and more. It also broke ground for new artists such as Judy Torres, TKA, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Expose, the Cover Girls, and George Lamond, among others. These artists were played in the same rotation as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Belinda Carlisle, etc.

One special thing about Hot 103 is the fact that they played 12-inch singles usually heard in clubs around New York. Urban Contemporary stations WBLS and WRKS were playing long versions of the records played as well.

The station was in the Top 5 in the ratings from 1986 to 1988. Hot 103's major competitors, WHTZ, WPLJ as well as WBLS and WRKS, responded by adding more Dance music to their playlists. In the fall of 1988, Emmis purchased 97.1 WYNY from NBC. That same day the stations did a frequency swap with Hot 103 moving to 97.1 and WYNY to 103.5. Hence, Hot 103 became known as Hot 97 and continued with the dance/freestyle format and featured full-length versions of the records played.

[edit] WQHT Hot 97 from 1988

Hot 97's ratings fell slightly in 1989. The station started to lean towards Top 40 artists such as Milli Vanilli, MC Hammer, New Kids on the Block, and more. In the summer of 1993, Hot 97 decided to target a share of WRKS-FM's (98.7 Kiss FM) hip-hop audience by playing rap songs. It also added Ed Lover and Doctor Dre as its morning hosts. The ratings rose to number-three in one rating period.

WQHT logo from 1995-2000
Enlarge
WQHT logo from 1995-2000

From Summer 1993 to Spring 1994, the station gradually abandoned its Dance music format and became New York's new Urban Contemporary (rap) station, putting it in battle with WRKS-FM ("Kiss FM"), which responded by adding more mix shows and moved Wendy Williams to the morning drive time. Though Kiss FM remained number-one in the ratings, Summit Communications Group still included it when selling seven of its radio stations in order to concentrate on technology and Internet services. Emmis discussed purchasing the station from Summit, but needed federal approval to own two FM stations in the same market. In December 1994 the purchase was approved and Kiss FM's format was changed to Urban Adult Contemporary (Urban AC).

In 1995, Hot 97 again became New York's top station in the Arbitron ratings. Hot 97 was the only radio station in New York for hip-hop until mid-1997 when WBLS reintroduced it on its playlists. In March 2002, Clear Channel Communications launched WWPR-FM (Power 105.1 FM) to challenge Hot 97, and went to number-five in the ratings. In the fall of 2005 Power 105.1 edged slightly ahead of Hot 97 for the first time ever during the same period of time as the Tsunami song parody.

[edit] HD2 Operation

In early 2006, Hot 97 launched a HD2 station called Hot 97 Throwbacks. Hot 97 Throwbacks, located at 97.1-2, uses the format of Classic Hip-Hop. The formart is comparable to XM Satellite Radio's The Rhyme and Sirius Satellite Radio's BackSpin, but censored.

[edit] Controversies

Under the corporate ownership by Emmis Communications Hot 97 has seen many controversies. Citing a litany of recorded complaints and controversies, including violence and disagreements over station security, the landlord of Hot 97's Greenwich Village studios in May 2006 moved to evict the station. The case is pending in the courts.

[edit] Mocking death of Aaliyah

On August 25, 2001, a charter plane with R&B vocalist and actress Aaliyah nose-dived during take off, killing all nine people aboard. The following morning, morning host DJ Star( Troi Torain), played sound effects of a woman screaming in a crashing airplane to mock the death of Aaliyah. Hot 97's broadcast drew criticism and the Hot 97 morning team, including DJ Miss Jones, were suspended without pay for two weeks.

[edit] Tsunami Song and racial epithets

On January 17, 2005, Hot 97 DJ Miss Jones provoked a controversy by airing a song entitled "USA for Indonesia" a month after approximately 187,000 people died in the Asian tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The song, a parody sung to the 1985 tune "We Are The World", was criticized for overtly racist mocking of the Asian and East African victims; the song lyrics contain the racially derogatory words "chinks" and "Chinamen," and calls the drowning victims "bitches." Some of the lyrics included the words "Go find your mommy. I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head. And now your children will be sold. Child slavery".

Miss Info, a fellow DJ of Korean descent, was outraged and spoke against the song on the station. She excluded herself from producing the song and said it was wrong for it to be played. Miss Info immediately found herself subjected to a four-minute, on-air lambasting from the other DJs. Miss Jones accused Miss Info of always distancing herself from the antics of the others, and of acting superior because she is Asian. Another jock on the show named Todd Lynn muttered "I'm gonna start shooting Asians."

Following angry protests from the Asian-American community, bloggers, and networking sites, and other New Yorkers, Miss Jones, DJ Envy (whose wife, ironically, is half Black and half Asian), and Tasha Hightower were suspended while Todd Lynn and Rick Del Gado (the writer of the song) were fired. The station issued an apology on its website. Both Sprint and McDonald's pulled their advertising from the station. The suspended employees' pay was diverted to charities helping victims of the tsunami. Miss Jones has since been reinstated.

[edit] Fights and shootings

In February 2005 gunfire erupted in front of the offices of Hot 97 on Hudson Street between 50 Cent's entourage and The Game's entourage. A member of The Game's entourage [Kevin Reed aka Pnut] was wounded with a bullet wound in his leg.[1] Which also led to the nickname "Shot 97" by Wendy Williams.[citation needed]

Other controversies have included Hot 97 on broadcasts in which women slapped each other on the air for money and prizes, three shootings, and two false bomb threats. In 2004, as a result of continued indecency complaints, Hot 97's corporate owner Emmis Communications, signed a consent decree with the FCC and paid the US government $300,000.

On May 2, 2006, the company that owns the building that houses Hot 97 filed a lawsuit demanding the station's eviction. The lawsuit came after the shooting of rapper Gravy a week earlier, and amid concerns by the New York City District Council of Carpenters about the safety of those in the building's neighborhood.

[edit] DJ Envy and DJ Star feud

DJ Star, whose real name is Troi Torain, previously worked at Hot 97 before switching to rival hip hop station Power 105 and had a running on-air feud with Hot 97's DJ Envy, whose real name is Raashaun Casey.

In a May 3, 2006 broadcast, Torain mentioned DJ Envy's wife and two children and threatened to find and sexually abuse Casey's 4-year old daughter. Torain said he would pay $500 to any listener who told him where the girl attended school. Torain, who is black, also used racial and sexual epithets about DJ Envy's wife, Gia Casey, who is part Asian.

After protests by the New York City Council, detectives from the New York City Police Department's Hate Crimes Unit charged Torain with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and required him to surrender his target pistol license and 9-millimeter handgun. The charges were later dropped.

[edit] Miss Jones Vs. Mary J. Blige

Another controversy heated up on June 4, 2006 at the stations' annual Summer Jam, where performer Mary J. Blige made shout outs to the airstaffers of Hot 97, but neglected to mention Miss Jones. On her morning show on June 6, 2006, Jones lashed out against the singer by calling Blige a "bitch."

[edit] Programming

[edit] Monday-Thursday

Time Show Notes
6 AM The Miss Jones Morning Show with DJ Envy and Michael Shawn
10 AM Fatman Scoop Throwback at Noon with Mister Cee (mix show) - 12-12:30 PM
3 PM Angie Martinez "The Voice of New York" The Rush Hour (mix show) with DJ Enuff - 5-6 PM
7 PM Ridin' with Funkmaster Flex
12 AM G-Unit Radio with DJ Whoo Kid Mondays
In Da Lab with DJ Green Latern Tuesdays
Absolute Heat with DJ Absolute Wednesdays
The Drama Hour with Kay Slay Thursdays

[edit] Friday

Time Show Notes
2-4 AM Mister Cee
6 AM The Miss Jones Morning Show with DJ Envy and Michael Shawn
10 AM Fatman Scoop Throwback at Noon with Mister Cee (mix show) - 12-12:30 PM
3 PM Angie Martinez "The Voice of New York"
5 PM The Rush Hour (mix show) with DJ Enuff
7 PM Heavy Hitter Hour with DJ Camilo
8 PM Ladies Night with DJ Jazzy Joyce, Cocoa Chanelle, & LaLa
10 PM Funkmaster Flex

[edit] Saturday

Time Show
4 AM Big Dennis
8 AM Miss Info
12 PM Cipha Saturdays with Cipha Sounds
4 PM Ralph McDaniels
7 PM Saturday Night Mix with Funkmaster Flex

[edit] Sunday

Time Show
12 AM Taking It to da Streets with DJ Camilo
4-9 AM Big Dennis & Mega
12 PM Raqiyah Mays
5 PM DJ Envy
8 PM Lights Out with DJ Camilo
9 PM Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers
10 PM On Da Reggae Tip with Bobby Konders and Jabba

[edit] Station Management

  • General Manager Dan Halyburton
  • Program Director John Dimick
  • Music Director E-Bro
  • Public Affairs Director Lisa Evers
  • Sales Manager Alex Cameron
  • Webmaster Unknown

[edit] Notable DJs, past and present

[edit] Lists of Artists Played on Hot 97

[edit] 1986-1994 Freestyle music

[edit] Dance music/Pop/House Music

[edit] Hot 97's 20th Anniversary (1986-2006)

Hot 97 is currently celebrating its' anniversary. There is no news that officials at the station will throw a 20th birthday party for the station although sister station 98.7 Kiss FM is celebrating 25 years on the air.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The New Yorker: Where Hip-Hop Lives: Hot 97's turf wars

[edit] External links


FM radio stations in the New York market (Arbitron #1)
By area
New York City
(Arbitron #1)
88.9 | 89.1 | 89.9 | 90.3 | 90.3 | 90.7 | 91.5 | 92.1 | 92.3 | 93.9 | 94.3 | 95.3 | 95.5 | 96.3 | 97.1 | 97.5 | 97.9 | 98.7 | 99.5 | 101.1 | 101.5 | 101.9 | 102.3 | 102.7 | 104.3 | 105.1 | 105.5 | 106.1 | 106.7 | 107.5
Long Island
(Arbitron #18)
88.1 | 88.7 | 90.1 | 90.3 | 92.7 | 98.3 | 103.1 | 103.5 | 103.9 | 107.1 | (See also: Long Island Radio)
New Jersey
(Middlesex-Somerset-Union)
(Arbitron #39)
88.3 | 89.1 | 89.5 | 91.1 | 93.1 | 94.7 | 98.3 | 99.1 | 100.3 | 103.1 | 105.9 | 107.1 | (See also: Middlesex Radio)
Connecticut
(Bridgeport and Stamford-Norwalk)
(Arbitron #121 and 145)
88.5 | 95.1 | 95.9 | 96.7 | (See also: Bridgeport Radio and Stamford-Norwalk Radio)
Upstate New York
(Poughkeepsie)
(Arbitron #163)
93.5 | 100.7 | 103.9 | 107.1 | (See also: Poughkeepsie Radio)
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