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| Simulcast with WINS, New York City | |
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| Broadcast area | New York metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 92.3 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 1010 WINS on 92.3 |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | All-news radio |
| Subchannels |
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| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
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| WCBS-FM, WFAN, WFAN-FM, WHSQ, WINS, WNEW-FM, WXBK | |
| History | |
First air date | December 25, 1948 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Taken from sister station WINS |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 58579 |
| Class | B |
| ERP |
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| HAAT | 415 meters (1,362 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°44′53″N 73°59′10″W / 40.748°N 73.986°W / 40.748; -73.986 |
| Links | |
Public license information |
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| Webcast |
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| Website |
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WINS-FM (92.3 MHz) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, and owned by Audacy, Inc. WINS-FM simulcasts all-news radio station WINS (AM) (1010 kHz),[3], with the station referred to on air as "1010 WINS at 92.3 FM". The station's studios are located in the Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan and its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. WINS-FM also broadcasts in HD Radio.
Originally the FM adjunct to WMCA, this station has featured a series of contemporary music, rock, hot talk and alternative rock formats from 1975 to 2022. As the home of disco-formatted WKTU, this station overtook WABC as the top-rated hit music station in the late 1970s. Becoming "K-Rock" WXRK in 1985, Howard Stern was hired as morning host, with his talk show eventually becoming nationally syndicated via owner Infinity Broadcasting Corporation. WXRK's format varied between different iterations of rock, including classic and alternative rock, until Stern's highly publicized departure for Sirius Satellite Radio forced a relaunch as WFNY, the flagship of CBS Radio's Free FM hot talk format, in 2006. WFNY's failure resulted in the station reverting to rock in 2007 as WXRK with holdover morning hosts Opie and Anthony, but again flipped to Top 40 as "92.3 NOW" in 2009. In a bid to rejuvenate ratings, the station was rebranded "92.3 AMP FM" WBMP in 2014. The day that CBS Radio's Reverse Morris Trust merger into Entercom (now Audacy, Inc.) closed in November 2017, WBMP was relaunched as alternative WNYL. On October 27, 2022, the station switched to a full-time simulcast of WINS, one of the two all-news stations in Audacy's New York portfolio.
History
Early years
The station launched as WMCA-FM at 2:30 pm on December 25, 1948, transmitting from atop the Chanin Building. It operated daily between 3 and 9 pm, duplicating programming that originally aired on its AM counterpart, WMCA; both stations were co-owned by former New York state senator Nathan Straus Jr.[4] The FM station was not a profitable success, and in December 1949 officials announced the outlet would cease for economic reasons after sign-off on December 30. General manager Norman Boggs compared running the station to "having a champagne taste with a beer pocketbook."[5][6] The announcement attracted interest from a syndicate of buyers headed by Stanley Joseloff, president of Storecast Corporation of America, acquired the station for $7,500 in February 1950.[7][8][9]
In late 1950, the owners of WHOM acquired the station and WHOM-FM went on the air on February 26, 1951,[10] featuring a variety of formats, including ethnic, background music, classical, Spanish, and easy listening. By the early 1970s, WHOM-FM aired a Spanish-language easy listening format.
WKTU (1975–1985)
Mellow 92/Disco 92
In the early 1970s, WHOM and WHOM-FM were sold to SJR Communications. On June 5, 1975, WHOM-FM became WKTU, taking on an adult contemporary music format and was positioned as "soft rock". On air, they were known as "Mellow 92". They played current AC songs that crossed over to top 40 as well as a mix of music from 1964 forward. Core artists included Eagles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Stylistics, Linda Ronstadt, Four Tops, Carly Simon, Barry Manilow, and some more contemporary cuts by Barbra Streisand. For 1960s music, the station played softer songs from the Beatles, Mamas & Papas, Spanky and Our Gang, the Association, the 5th Dimension, among others. The station steered clear of AC only songs and standards vocalists as well as hard rock or uptempo R&B. Eventually, the station evolved, re-positioned as mellow rock, dropped artists like the Carpenters, most R&B product, and added some softer songs from AOR artists. Unlike today's adult contemporary music formats, WKTU, by early 1978, was only playing artists heard on album-oriented rock stations, using the softer songs from their popular albums. Artists found primarily on top 40 stations were no longer included. WKTU was still called "Mellow 92" at that point. Ratings were relatively low.
Meanwhile, station executive David Rapaport (father of actor Michael Rapaport) visited New York's Studio 54 nightclub on half a dozen occasions, and was very impressed with the crowds there. He got the idea that a disco-based station was needed, as several FM-based Top 40 stations were leaning disco in other markets, although no one was airing all disco music around the clock. As a result, Rapaport purchased 200 disco records and brought them into the station. WKTU abruptly flipped to a disco-based rhythmic top 40 format with the tagline "Disco 92" at 6 p.m. on July 24, 1978. The same disc jockeys from the mellow format were at first kept on, with Paco (full name Paco Navarro) from Spanish language sister station 1480 WJIT added for evenings. That fall, the station rose from "Worst to First", unseating long-time leader WABC in the 18−30 age demographic. Air personalities of this era included Kenn Hayes, Randy Place, Paul Robinson, Trip Reeb, Mary Thomas, Dave Mallow and Joe Guarisco. During the height of the disco craze, WKTU was the station to follow in New York.
Initially, WKTU played mostly dance/disco and a few rhythm-friendly pop and rock songs (such as "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones for example), but by 1979, the station began to add more R&B music (though they played some at the launch in 1978 as well) as well as rhythm friendly new wave rock. By then, WKTU was still regarded as a disco station, but could be more accurately described as rhythmic contemporary. Since that term was not yet used, the station had been classified as urban contemporary. During this period, the disc jockeys included Paco, G. Keith Alexander, Rosko (William Mercer), J.D. Holiday (Paul Zarcone), Dale Reeves, Bob Bottone, Jim Harlan, Carlos DeJesus, Joe Causi, Guy Broady, Jay Thomas, Freddie Colon, Don Geronimo, Al Bandiero and Diane Pryor. Paco later went to jail for drug dealing.[11]
92KTU (1981–1985)
In 1981, SJR Communications sold WKTU to Infinity Broadcasting (which merged with CBS Radio in 1997). Also that year, WKTU added more dance-based new wave to the format. WKTU remained among the top ten New York City radio stations through 1983. Shortly thereafter, WKTU received new competition from WHTZ and WPLJ, both of which adapted a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format. The station maintained respectable but declining ratings, due to the new competition.
By mid-1984, WKTU moved to a mainstream CHR format as well, giving up its disco past, but the ratings continued to decline. That fall, the station added legendary WABC host Dan Ingram to afternoons, and Jo "The Madame" Maeder, from Miami's Y-100, joined Jay Thomas in the morning and did her own midday show, but the station continued to struggle in the ratings. To make matters worse, then-named WAPP also went CHR that fall.
So strong was the memory of the late-1970s WKTU that despite all the subsequent on-air changes, the general public still regarded it as a disco station. Even though WAPP moved back to playing mostly rock music in the form of a rock-based CHR in June 1985, giving WKTU one less competitor, the station management thought a more drastic change was needed. Since New York City only had one full-time rock station with WNEW-FM, there was an opportunity.
WXRK (1985–2005)
92.3 K-Rock
On July 13, 1985, at midnight, on the same day WKTU aired the historic Live Aid concert, the station switched to an album-oriented rock format, adopted the moniker "K-Rock", and changed their call letters to WXRK.[12] (The WKTU call letters later reappeared on New York City's 103.5 FM with a dance pop format in 1996.)
Initially, the format at WXRK was similar to the pre-1983 WPLJ, as the air personalities left the station gradually in the next several months (exceptions were Maria Malito and Jo Maeder, who became known as "The Rock and Roll Madame"). Jimmy Fink from WPLJ was one of the first new radio personalities to be hired. After being fired from WNBC in October 1985, Howard Stern signed on to do afternoons, and initially combined music with talk, but on February 18, 1986, Stern took over the morning slot. His morning show became the highest-rated in the market, dethroning Don Imus, who previously had the highest-rated morning show for several years on WNBC. Later that year, Stern's show became syndicated, with WXRK as its flagship station.
By 1987, Stern stopped playing music on his show altogether, while the station changed to a classic rock format at 6 p.m. on June 5 of that same year.[13] The airstaff, which included Flo & Eddie from classic rock band The Turtles, became full of veterans from other New York rock stations, including Dave Herman, Pete Fornatale, Meg Griffin, Vin Scelsa, and Alison Steele from WNEW-FM, along with Jimmy Fink, Tony Pigg, Marc Coppola, and John Zacherle from WPLJ. In 1993, The Greaseman's syndicated show was put in the nighttime slot, bookending Stern with an act that was often quite controversial.
By the mid-1990s, modern rock had become popular. In mid-1993, in New York City radio, WHTZ began to play a lot of modern rock despite primarily being a CHR station. Late in 1993, classical music station WNCN switched formats and became WAXQ ("Q 104.3"), with a mix of hard and modern rock. Moreover, WNEW-FM switched to a modern rock format in the summer of 1995, and later evolved to first an adult-based modern rock format by the end of that year, and then to a more eclectic adult rock mix by 1996. Nevertheless, by the beginning of 1996, there was no full-time modern rock station in New York City.
To fill the void, WXRK switched to an alternative-leaning active rock format on January 5, 1996, right after Stern's show. To kick off the new format, which he enthusiastically endorsed as a better fit for his audience, Stern stayed on the air until 1:06 p.m. that day playing music. The first song Stern played was Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".[14][15] Most of the classic rock DJs, including Jimmy Fink, Tony Pigg and Marc Coppola, disappeared from the station with this change, as did The Greaseman. By August 1997, the station added more music that suited an active rock station and removed pop-leaning alternative product (which they played very little of anyway), and it continued this format of a hybrid active rock/alternative for several years.
By 2003, with a new program director, the station dropped the active rock variant of music. No matter what the format, the longtime problem for the station was that while Stern always had very high ratings, the rest of the station did not fare as well. Moreover, it was hard to classify "K-Rock" an alternative station (considering classic rock acts like Led Zeppelin were being played), while it was hard to label it as active rock due to the inclusion of some, but not all, alternative artists.
Concerned about Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio at the beginning of 2006, and acknowledging that its target audience was looking elsewhere for modern rock music, WXRK made another format adjustment on April 4, 2005, to a mainstream rock format, which relied heavily on classic rock from artists such as Guns N' Roses, Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, while playing new music from such established artists as System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Green Day and Weezer. At this time, New York City was one of the few large cities in the United States without an alternative rock station. To prevent any backlash from fans of modern rock, an Internet-only radio station called "K-Rock2" was launched at the same time as the format adjustment.[16] The strategy did not work, as ratings did not improve much.
On October 25, 2005, as a result of the imminent departure of Howard Stern to Sirius Satellite Radio, Infinity announced that WXRK would adopt a Hot talk format on January 3, 2006.[17]
At 10 a.m. on Friday, December 16, after the last terrestrial Howard Stern show, "K-Rock" began a 20-minute stunt with a melange of audio sound bites, music and program line-up announcements. At 10:20, K-Rock DJ Julie Slater announced "Welcome to Free FM", and went into music.