WRDW-FM
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| Broadcast area | Philadelphia, PA |
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| First air date | 1944 |
| Frequency | 96.5 MHz |
| Format | Rhythmic Top 40 |
| Owner | {{{owner}}} |
WRDW-FM, also known as Wired 96.5, is a Philadelphia radio station owned by Beasley Broadcast Group that plays a Rhythmic Top 40 musical format. Although they lean towards R&B/Hip-Hop, Wired also adds Rhythmic Pop tracks to their playlist. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
The station was briefly known as "Wild 96.5", but was changed early on due to Clear Channel Communications, who are owners of the copyrighted 'Wild' moniker. When Clear Channel threatened Beasley with a lawsuit for copyright infringement, 'Wild' then segued into 'Wired' in order to avoid any potential legal action.
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[edit] 96.5 Philadelphia history
For several years in the 1940s and 1950s, the frequency was known as WHAT-FM and was simulcasted with its sister station on the AM dial. In 1956, a young disc jockey known as Sid Mark took the airwaves for the first time in Philadelphia, beginning a nearly 50 year career in the market as a disc jockey. WHAT-FM became a full-time jazz station in 1958, the first of its kind on the FM spectrum.
In the late 1960s, the call letters were changed to WWDB, after the owners of the station, William and Dolly Banks. In the early 1970s WWDB experimented with playing adult contemporary music, but eventually went back to jazz. In 1975, the station's format was changed to talk, and WWDB became the first FM talk station in the United States.
From Dolly Banks' retirement in 1985 until 1997, WWDB changed hands several times, ending up with Beasley Broadcasting. Beasley tried tweaking the talk format by adding Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and an all-news morning show, but these were ineffective. Finally, the day before the U.S. Presidential Election on November 6th 2000, WWDB's format was changed by its current owner to '80s Hits, known as "The Point". The callsign was soon switched to WPTP. Approximately three years later, on November 17, 2003, WPTP flipped to its current format as "Wild 96.5" (with callsign changing to WLDW). After the Clear Channel injunction, WLDW became Wired 96.5 and the callsign changed to WRDW-FM (the -FM tag was necessary because Beasley owns an AM station called WRDW in Augusta, Georgia).
Around the beginning of the third quarter 2005, Wired 96.5 introduced podcasting programming, where listeners could send in their top 18 songs to be aired together at once. It was also around this time that several crew members were let go, such as Dakota, who did 10PM - 2AM. In addition, Wired 96.5 also replaced their morning crew. This could be seen as a foreshadowing of Wired 96.5's gradual switch from being categorized as CHR Rhythmic to CHR Pop. This became more evident in January 2006, when the station changed its slogan to "Where Hit Music Lives," indicating a more Top 40/Pop playlist.
On March 20th, 2006, Wired 96.5 acquired CHR Pop radio station Q102's morning host, Chio, to replace their current morning show. Chio disrespected at his old station, encouraged listeners to call in and bash the station, while repeatedly bashing the station himself.
On October 12, 2006 it was announced that morning show member Casey is leaving that show to fill the Mid-Day slot (10am-3pm) after former host of that slot, Janita Applebaum, left the station.
[edit] On-air schedule
[edit] Weekdays
- 6AM to 10AM - Chio in the Morning
- 10AM to 3PM - Casey
- 3PM to 7PM - Kannon
- 7PM to MID - Chris
[edit] Weekends
- Various Shifts - Ricky Rayn
- Various Shifts - Special K
- Various Shifts - Nelly Nel
- Various Shifts - Toure
[edit] External links
- WRDW Website
- 96.5 Philadelphia Information
- Wired 96.5 YouTube Videos
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WRDW-FM
