KYW (AM)

KYW

City of license	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Delaware Valley
Branding	KYW Newsradio 1060
Slogan	All News, All The Time
Frequency	1060 kHz (also on HD Radio) (also on HD Radio via WIP-FM-2)
First air date	November 11, 1921 (1921-11-11) (in Chicago, moved to Philadelphia in 1934)
Format	News
Language(s)	English
Power	50,000 watts
Class	A (Clear channel)
Facility ID	25441
Transmitter coordinates	40°06′13″N 75°14′53″W / 40.103622°N 75.248151°W / 40.103622; -75.248151
Callsign meaning	No meaning; sequentially assigned[1]
Former callsigns	WRCV (1956–1965)
Affiliations	CBS News ABC News Radio NBC News Radio CNN News Radio
Owner	CBS Radio
Sister stations	KYW-TV, WIP, WIP-FM, WOGL, WPHT, WPSG
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.cbsphilly.com

KYW, 1060 AM, is an all-news radio station located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by the CBS Radio subsidiary of CBS Corporation. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and its transmitter is located in Lafayette Hill. KYW has maintained an all-news format since 1965; as a Class A clear channel station, the station's signal can be received to up to 60 miles from the transmitter. KYW's signal can be heard in Southern New Jersey (including the Jersey Shore), Harrisburg, Lancaster and York.

History

Origins

KYW began in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois.^[2] It was jointly owned by Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Commonwealth Edison. Westinghouse later bought out ComEd's share and became sole owner of the station. In 1927, Westinghouse aligned its four radio stations (KYW, KDKA in Pittsburgh, WBZ in Boston and WBZA in Springfield, Massachusetts) with the NBC Blue Network, which originated from former sister station WJZ (the present-day WABC) in New York City. Westinghouse had been a founding partner of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), NBC's original parent company.

Move to Philadelphia

In 1934, the assignment of clear channels took a frequency away from Illinois and gave it to Pennsylvania, resulting in Westinghouse moving KYW to Philadelphia.^[3] Upon arriving, KYW supplanted WFI and WLIT (which merged as WFIL in 1935) as Philadelphia's Blue Network affiliate – an affiliation that lasted 20 years (according to the June 14, 1940 edition of the Philadelphia Daily News, KYW used the frequency of 1020 AM at the time).

In March 1941, KYW changed frequencies to 1060 AM as part of a nationwide shift of radio frequencies mandated by the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement. KYW and the other Westinghouse radio stations remained with NBC after RCA was ordered by the FCC to break up its radio networks, aligning with the former Red Network (the predecessor of modern-day NBC) in 1942. KYW acquired a television counterpart when Westinghouse bought WPTZ (channel 3) – the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate – in 1953.

Owned by NBC

In June 1955, Westinghouse agreed to trade KYW and WPTZ to NBC in exchange for the network's properties in Cleveland, WNBK television and WTAM-AM-FM. Westinghouse also received $3 million in cash compensation.^[4] The main impetus for the trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated television station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to seek a waiver for the swap since KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship, WRCA (now sister station WFAN) were both clear channel stations; at the time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) normally did not allow common ownership of clear-channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage. After clearing final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on February 13, 1956. NBC took over the Philadelphia stations, rechristening 1060 AM as WRCV (for the RCA-Victor record label), and Westinghouse moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland.^[5]

However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice about NBC's coercion and an lengthy investigation was launched.^[6][7] In August 1964, NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC – but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed.^[8] Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965 and subsequently restored the KYW call letters to the radio station (the television station became KYW-TV at this point).^[9] To this day, the KYW stations insist that they "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965. However, the two stations' facilities remained the same.^[10]

From a programming standpoint, WRCV carried all of NBC's network programming, such as the weekend Monitor, as per its responsibilities as an NBC-owned outlet. Philadelphia radio legend Hy Lit worked briefly at WRCV during its first year, hosting a local rock-and-roll program and an adult standards show for the NBC network. Prior to the reversal of the 1956 swap, WRCV was evolving into an adult-oriented middle-of-the-road (MOR) station.

Going all-news

On September 21, 1965, shortly after Westinghouse regained control of 1060 AM, the newly rechristened KYW once again dropped its NBC radio affiliation and was converted into one of the first all-news stations in the country.^[11] Five months earlier Westinghouse Broadcasting converted WINS, KYW's New York sister station since 1962, from a Top-40 format to all-news.^[12] A similar move was made three years later at another Westinghouse-owned station, KFWB in Los Angeles.^[13] KYW has been one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country since that point and has been the market leader in Philadelphia for much of that time. The Westinghouse all-news trio, meanwhile, revolutionized and defined the all-news format. KYW's early format elements were shared with WINS, such as the distinctive teletype sound effect playing in the background (which is no longer done at KYW), and the slogans "All News, All the Time", "The Newswatch Never Stops", "Listen 2, 3, 4 Times a Day" and "You Give Us 22 Minutes, We'll Give You the World".

KYW's present format runs on a 30-minute cycle.^[14] Regular segments include contains traffic and mass transit reports from Metro Traffic every ten minutes on the "twos" (six times an hour), sports updates every quarter-hour (twice an hour, at :15 and :45), weather reports from AccuWeather as much as six times an hour (four regularly scheduled reports at :07, :14, :37 and :44 past every hour with breaking weather news plus special forecasts for the New Jersey Shore and the Poconos), and business news twice an hour (at :25 and :55). When breaking news warrants, KYW will break format to provide continuous coverage of any event.

Its television sister took advantage of the radio station's popularity by incorporating a version of KYW's musical sounder into its news themes from 1991 to 2003. In addition, a television program entitled KYW Newsradio 1060 This Morning aired from 5 to 8 a.m. on sister station WPSG (channel 57) in the early 2000s, adapting KYW's "clock" to television. The show was popular among local cable programming in its daypart, and in late 2004 was usurped (due in part to a new affiliation to Traffic Pulse) by television staffers and assumed the name Wake UPNews.

Westinghouse Electric announced its purchase of CBS in 1995, and upon its completion KYW became a sister station to its long-time rival, CBS-owned WGMP (1210 AM, now WPHT). That station, under its original WCAU call letters, attempted to compete with KYW in all-news programming during the late 1970s but failed, dumping the format after only three years.

KYW is currently the easternmost station in the United States whose callsign begins with the letter K. It is also one of three such stations in Pennsylvania, the other ones being KQV and sister station KDKA, both in Pittsburgh.

The station has been broadcasting in the IBOC digital radio mode, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity since September 2007 after an initial testing period. KYW is also rebroadcast by sister station WIP-FM on its HD-2 digital subchannel. From 1986 to 1998, KYW had been broadcasting using the C-QUAM AM Stereo system , but abandoned the system about the time of the CBS-Westinghouse merger and went back to the standard AM mode (in mono).

Studio locations

The former KYW Building on Independence Mall East, used by the station from 1972 to 2007. This building has since been demolished and replaced by the National Museum of American Jewish History.

KYW's studios are currently located at 400 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. The station moved into these studios in March 2007 after spending the previous 35 years one block away at Independence Mall East, on Fifth and Market streets.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia in 1934, KYW utilized the studios and sales operations of WCAU. In 1938 and after returning to the city in 1965, KYW's (and WRCV's) studios were located at 1619 Walnut Street in Center City.

Format features

The assortment of local, national and global headlines are read at the top and bottom of each hour, with news summaries at the quarter hours immediately before the sports report. Besides the main news stories, KYW also carries a variety of other features. KYW receives news reports and sound-bites, along with continuous coverage of breaking news from ABC News Radio and NBC News Radio as well as CBS News.

• AccuWeather – State College-based weather forecasting company AccuWeather provides local weather reports for the station. The current conditions at Independence Mall and the Philadelphia International Airport are read every few minutes. The five-day regional forecast and discussion is given at :07, :14, :37 and :44 minutes past the hour. Forecasts for the Poconos and Jersey Shore regions are read at :29 minutes past the hour, with forecasts for the latter region is also given at :59 minutes past the hour. After a weather anchor gives an extended report, the main anchor will repeat the current conditions and the day's high and low temperatures.
• Business news – Regular business reports are broadcast at :25 and :55 minutes past the hour. The station broadcasts "The Opening Bell", which is anchored by Vince Hill and focuses on the day's headlines on Wall Street, each weekday morning at 9:18 a.m.; the bond market report is presented by Pat Walsh of Merrill Lynch. Market Closing Recap airs at 4:15 p.m. weekdays, recapping the day's activity on Wall Street. Fred Sherman – whose trademark signoff was "Fred Sherrrrrrman" – of Royal Bank (formerly of Sovereign Bank) also provided business reports for KYW until his death on September 12, 2009 at age 85.
• Dateline KYW – Known to listeners as the Community Calendar, this segment provides information regarding events that are open to the public that are occurring in the Delaware Valley. It airs daily at :53 minutes past the hour, running each weeknight from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., Saturdays during the 1:00, 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. hours, and Sundays during the 3:00, 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. hours.
• Education report – Dr. Marciene Mattleman gives an education report Monday through Wednesdays at 3:40 and 11:10 p.m., and Sundays at 5:10, 6:10 and 7:10 a.m.
• Positively Philadelphia – This segment, hosted by Lauren Lipton, presents positive news stories about Philadelphia.
• President's Weekly Radio Address – President Barack Obama's weekly radio address is carried on KYW each Saturday morning at 10:07 a.m.
• Reporters' Roundup – This half-hour program features a roundtable of reporters airing their stories live twice a day. It is hosted by Steve Nikazy and airs at 12:30, 3:30, and 5:00 p.m. An expanded edition, which is broadcast in front of a live audience, is held the first Friday of each month from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at The Shops at Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia.
• Rewind – This segment takes a nostalgic look at events in entertainment history on that day's date, compiled by Brandon Brooks. It airs daily at 12:20 p.m.; weekdays at 4:49, 6:49 and 8:49 a.m.; Saturdays at 9:20 a.m.; and Sundays at 8:20 and 10:20 a.m.
• Sports – Sports reports are provided at :15 and :45 minutes past the hour.
• Traffic and Transit "On The Twos" – Area traffic reports from Total Traffic Network broadcast in ten-minute intervals each hour daily at :02, :12, :22, :32, :42: and :52 minutes past the hour.
• School closures – KYW assigns schools in the metropolitan area a number which is then announced when they are closed for a snow day or other event. The system was originally created by the City of Philadelphia but was taken over by KYW when no other station volunteered to distribute the information.^[15]

Station identifications

KYW jingle

Every fifteen minutes, the station's famous jingle ("KYW, Newsradio – ten-sixty!") is played, followed by a recap of the hour's top stories.

At the top of every hour, a recording of Dick Covington (who died in 2004; all other station imaging is done by Sean Caldwell) is played announcing the following identification: "All news, all the time. From Independence Mall, this is KYW Newsradio 1060, a CBS Radio station serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware."

At :02, :12, :22, :32, :42 and :52 minutes past the hour, traffic and transit reports ("on the twos") are introduced with car horns sounding the first five notes of the KYW jingle.

At :30 minutes past the hour, the recording is slightly different, with Covington announcing that "the newswatch never stops" (borrowed from sister station WINS), and that KYW is "the news authority in Philadelphia."

At :15 and :45 minutes past the hour, after the jingle is played, there is no recording. As the jingle fades out, the following message is always read by the current anchor:

"You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world. This is KYW, the newscenter on your radio dial, and on your smartphone when you dial 'star star radio.'"

The anchor will then introduce themselves and the editor-on-duty, and move directly into the top story and sports wrap-up. In addition, the current weather conditions on Independence Mall and the local forecast as provided by AccuWeather are announced before the jingle.

In addition, at exactly the top of the hour and :30 past the hour a beep is played over anything else that is being broadcast, including commercials, as a time signal.

Teletype

A noticeable "trademark" of KYW is the constant sound of Teletype machines printing in the background. This sound plays constantly during times when the news is being read by a KYW reporter at the headquarters. During other times, particularly during commercials or taped news segments, including AccuWeather forecasts, it is not heard. It is intended to allow the listener to immediately know the station that they are listening to and saves them from checking.

The teletype sound, along with the slogans "All news, all the time", "The newswatch never stops", "Listen two, three, four times a day" and "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world", all originated at WINS. KFWB and WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois also used the branding until they changed formats; WMAQ was shut down by Viacom in 2000.

On-air staff

Anchors

Weekdays

• Ed Abrams - morning drive (4:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.)
• Brandon Brooks - afternoon drive (12:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.); also host of Rewind
• Harry Donahue - morning drive (4:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.); also sports
• Cheryl Elias - afternoon drive (1:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.)
• Vince Hill - provides live business reports from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. at :25 and :55 minutes past the hour
• Carol MacKenzie - morning drive (5:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.)
• Steve Nikazy - middays and afternoon drive (11:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.); also host of Reporters Roundup at 12:30, 3:30, and 5:00 p.m.

Nights and weekends

• Jeff Asch
• Ian Bush
• Robin Culverwell
• Molly Daly
• Michelle Durham
• Wally Kennedy
• Paul Kurtz
• David Madden
• Suzanne Monaghan
• John Ostapkovich
• Kevin Scholla
• Steve Tawa
• Pat Toddy
• Frank Traynor
• John Valerio
• Dan Wing

Weather

AccuWeather

• Elliot Abrams - weekday mornings

CBS 3

• Kate Bilo
• Justin Drabick
• Carol Erickson
• Katie Fellinger
• Kathy Orr - Chief Meterologist

Traffic and Transit

Weekdays

• Sam Clover - morning drive (4:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.)
• Randy Chepigan - afternoon drive (3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.)
• Rich Gunning - nights (6:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.)
• Mike Lankford - overnights (1:00 a.m.-4:30 a.m.)
• Pat Winters - middays (10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.)

Weekends/fill-in

• Joe Backer
• Donna Bradley
• John Butterworth
• Randi Ellis
• Anne Evans
• Mark Fowser
• Eric Herr
• Tim James
• Brendan Joseph
• RJ McKay
• Megan Novelli
• Vittoria Woodill

Sports

From KYW Newsradio 1060

• Jeff Asch - weekends; also fill-in and on-location reporter
• Ed Benkin - weekends; also fill-in and on-location reporter
• Bill Campbell - weekends; also fill-in and on-location reporter
• Matt Leon - weekday middays

From SportsRadio 94WIP

• Spike Eskin - fill-in
• Jon Johnson - weekends; also fill-in and on-location reporter
• Susan Shilling - weekends

Reporters and editors

References

External links

• KYW Newsradio 1060
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KYW
• Radio-Locator Information on KYW
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KYW
• RecNet query for KYW
• History of KYW