WABC

History

WJZ Newark (1921–1923)

In November 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company had established its first broadcasting station, KDKA, located in its plant at East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to promote the sale of radio receivers. This initial station proved successful, so the next year the company developed plans to set up additional stations in major population centers, including, in addition to the New York City area, WBZ, originally in Springfield, Massachusetts, and KYW, originally in Chicago, Illinois.

On September 30, 1921, Westinghouse was issued a broadcasting authorization for a station with the randomly assigned call letters WJZ, located at the company's meter factory at Orange and Plane streets in Newark, New Jersey, and transmitting on a wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz).

WJZ's studio and transmitter were initially housed in a shack located on a factory roof that was only accessible by ladder. The station later expanded to a larger studio on the factory's ground floor. The station began test transmissions around October 1, 1921, followed, beginning October 5, by broadcasts of the 1921 World Series baseball games. Announcer Thomas H. Cowan in Newark simply relayed the description phoned in from the Polo Grounds baseball field by Newark Sunday Call sportswriter Sandy Hunt. (At first station announcers were identified only by initials; in Cowan's case as "ACN", for "Announcer-Cowan-Newark".)

The station soon expanded to feature a wide variety of live programming. A popular early feature was the "Man in the Moon" bedtime stories, written by Josephine Lawrence and read over the air by Bill McNeary (both were Newark Sunday Call employees). Beginning on November 27, 1921, a weekly 90-minute show presented by the Vincent Lopez band was aired.

When it began its broadcast service, WJZ was the only station in the New York City area transmitting on 360 meters. In mid-December 1921 station WDY, operated by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) from Roselle Park, New Jersey, began sharing the wavelength, with WJZ now broadcasting on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and WDY operating on the other three nights. This soon ended when WDY ceased operations in mid-February 1922 and was merged with WJZ, with RCA now assuming half of WJZ's expenses. However, within a few months a large number of additional broadcasting stations began operating on 360 meters, and WJZ was stubborn about having to share "its" wavelength. In May 1922 a proposed time-sharing agreement among 15 local stations assigned more than half of the available airtime to WJZ, but the station did not feel this was sufficient, which in turn led the Radio Broadcasting Society of America to petition that WJZ's license be canceled for being uncooperative.

WJZ New York City (1923–1953)

May 15, 1923, saw a number of simultaneous major changes. Most notably, on this day the station moved from Newark to New York City, and the ownership was changed from joint Westinghouse-RCA responsibility to full control by RCA. WJZ moved to studios on the sixth floor of the building where the Aeolian Hall was located, and station publicity heralded the upgrade: "Located in the heart of the city's musical and theatrical district, where entertainment of the highest order is ever available, this station will offer to the American public the most elaborate radio programs yet attempted and with a degree of faithfulness in reproduction that marks the beginning of a new era in radio broadcasting." This was also the day that the Department of Commerce implemented an expansion of the broadcast band, which now consisted of a range of transmitting frequencies from 550 to 1350 kHz, with WJZ assigned the sole use of 660. Finally, a sister station with the call letters of WJY operating on 740, was established, which shared the "Broadcast Central" Aeolian Hall studios, with WJZ providing more serious programming, and WJY's offerings considered more informal.

Program logs from May 15 to December 31, 1923, show WJZ aired 3,426 programs, including 723 talks, 67 church services, 205 bedtime stories and 21 sports events. Many of the broadcasts were musical and ranged from Carnegie Hall and Aeolian Hall recitals to harmonica and banjo solos.

As part of the move to Aeolian Hall, WJZ's transmitting antenna was constructed atop the building, but the location in the middle of New York City proved to be a poor choice. At the end of 1925, the station began operations from a new transmitter site located at Bound Brook, New Jersey. WJZ did not operate regularly at 50,000 watts until 1935.

Westinghouse and RCA's original financing plan envisioned that profits from receiver sales would provide the funds for broadcast station operations, but this revenue soon became insufficient. In 1922, AT&T adopted a more practical approach, of selling airtime, which it called "toll broadcasting", in addition to connecting stations together using telephone lines to form a radio network that could broadcast programs simultaneously to multiple sites. This first radio network was called the "WEAF chain", named after the flagship AT&T station (later WNBC), located in New York City.

RCA, along with its "radio group" allies of Westinghouse and General Electric, responded by creating a small network of its own, centered on WJZ. Due to AT&T's interpretation of a patent-rights cross-licensing agreement, the telephone company claimed the sole right to sell airtime, so WJZ was not able to charge for advertising, and again there were technical limitations, since the network had to use inferior telegraph lines to interconnect its stations.

Birth of ABC

In 1942, the FCC ruled that no broadcaster could own more than one AM, one FM and one television station in a single market. On January 23, 1942, the FCC approved the transfer of WJZ's operating license from Radio Corporation of America to the Blue Network, Inc. A year later, on October 12, 1943, WJZ and the NBC Blue Network were sold to Edward J. Noble, then the owner of WMCA. This spun off network was simply called "The Blue Network" for little over a year.

On June 15, 1945, "The Blue Network" was officially rechristened the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), when negotiations were completed with George B. Storer, who had owned the defunct American Broadcasting System and still owned the name. In November 1948, WJZ and the ABC network finally got a home of their own when studios were moved to a renovated building at 7 West 66th Street.

On March 1, 1953, WJZ changed its call letters to WABC, after the FCC approved ABC's merger with United Paramount Theatres, the movie theater chain owned by Paramount Pictures which, like the Blue Network, was divested under government order. The WABC call letters were previously used on CBS Radio's New York City AM and FM outlets, reflecting an earlier owner, the Atlantic Broadcasting Company. On November 1, 1946, WABC (AM) changed its call sign to WCBS, and the FM station became WCBS-FM.

In 1957, several years after WJZ's callsign change to WABC, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired WAAM-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, and applied to change the calls to WJZ-TV, in honor of its former pioneer radio station. The FCC waived existing rules and granted this request to restore a three-letter callsign years after being retired on an unrelated station in a different market, albeit with a "-TV" suffix (perhaps because Westinghouse was highly regarded as a licensee by both the industry and the FCC at that time), and the Baltimore TV station, now owned and operated by CBS, retains the call letters to this day.

WABC's first era (1953–1960)

Although WABC continued to air ABC programming during this time, ABC Radio – like the other major radio networks of that era – began to drop significant amounts of long-form comedy and dramatic programming, many of which migrated over to television. In response, WABC began using deejays playing recorded music in greater frequency. Some programs featured middle of the road music, including Broadway and Hollywood showtunes and popular music, while other portions of the schedule included ABC Radio's remaining long–form newscasts and dramatic program lineup, in tandem with CBS Radio's WCBS and NBC Radio's WNBC.

(This would continue until 1960, as the Musicradio 77 era formally began, but WABC was still required to carry several of ABC Radio's non–music and entertainment shows, including the long–running Don McNeill's Breakfast Club during the 10:00 am hour, and a long–form news block in the afternoon–drive period. While this was not an issue prior to 1960, such commitments created a programming clash with the Top 40 format up until the network was dissected into four sub–networks in 1968.)

In 1958–1959, legendary rock'n'roll disk jockey Alan Freed hosted a daily evening show on WABC, which was similar in format and musical policy to the early rock shows he had gained fame with on WJW in Cleveland, and later WINS in New York. Freed's time at WABC ended when he was caught up in the investigation of the "payola" scandals of the era; he was terminated in November 1959. Although payola was not illegal at the time, the termination occurred because Freed had refused to sign a statement admitting that he had accepted bribes.

At different times in the pre-top-40 era, famed comedian Ernie Kovacs and dean of early disc jockeys Martin Block were heard on the station.

The Musicradio 77 era (1960–1982)

When Harold L. Neal, Jr. was named general manager of WABC, he was charged with making WABC successful in terms of both audience and profits. Neal had been at WXYZ in Detroit. By 1960, WABC was committed to a nearly full-time schedule of top-40 songs played by upbeat personalities. Still, WABC played popular non-rock and roll songs as well, provided they scored well on the Top 40 charts. WABC's early days as a Top 40 station were humble ones.

WINS was the No. 1 hit music station and WMCA, which did a similar rock leaning top 40 format, was also a formidable competitor, while WABC barely ranked in the Top Ten. Fortunately for WABC, the other Top 40 outlets could not be heard as well in more distant New York and New Jersey suburbs, since WINS, WMGM, and WMCA were all directional stations. WABC, with its 50,000-watt non-directional signal, had the advantage of being heard in places west, south, and northwest of New York City, a huge chunk of the growing suburban population and this is where the station began to draw ratings. Early in 1962, WMGM, owned by Loew's, which then owned MGM, was sold to Storer Broadcasting. Upon its sale, WMGM reverted to its original WHN call letters and switched to a middle of the road music format playing mostly non-rock artists such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Andy Williams.

Sam Holman was the first WABC program director of this era. Under Holman, WABC achieved No. 1 ratings during much of 1962, after WMGM reverted to WHN. By the summer of 1963, WMCA led the pack among contemporary stations, with WABC at No. 2 and WINS slipping to third place. It has been said, but is difficult to verify, that WMCA dominated in the city proper, while WABC owned the suburbs. This would be consistent with WMCA's 5,000-watt directional signal.

Hal Neal hired Rick Sklar as WABC's program director. He would go on to become a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame and be credited as one of the pioneering architects of the Top 40 format. Under Sklar, the station went to the shortest playlist of any contemporary music station in history. The number one song was heard about every hour during the day and every 75 minutes or so at night. The other top 5 songs were heard nearly as often. Other current songs averaged once to twice per airshift. The station played about 9 current hits per hour and several non-current songs. The non-currents were no more than 5 years old and the station played about 70 of them in total. In his book Rockin' America, Sklar said he was sensitive to payola concerns and advanced airplay. Through the years, WABC was known by various slogans, "Channel 77 WABC" and later "Musicradio 77 WABC". Due to the high number of commercials each hour, WABC played no more than two songs in a row and there was frequent DJ talk and personality between every song. The station averaged 6 commercial breaks per hour but they were no more than 3 ads in a row. Often the air personalities delivered live commercials in their own humorous style, so that listeners would consider the spot part of the entertainment.

The NewsTalkRadio 77 era (1982–present)

Initially after the format change, the station ran satellite talk shows from corporate ABC's "Talk Radio" network. Initially, WABC's lineup consisted of Ross and Wilson until 10 am, Owen Spann from Satellite until noon, Art Athens and News until 1 pm, Money Management talk until 2 pm, Los Angeles-based host Michael Jackson (no relation to the pop star) from satellite until 4 pm, another advice show with Dr. Toni Grant from satellite until 6 pm, and ending with a half-hour of news at 6. Sports Talk began at 6:30 p.m. and remained on until 9 pm. Doctor Judy remained in her time slot. Overnights were hosted by Alan Colmes, who played some music initially, but stopped doing so by mid-1983. At that time, Colmes was less politically based and more entertainment-based. Weekends had Child Psychology advice shows (Dr. Lawrance Balter), Home and Garden shows, talk about religion (Religion on the Line), and of course, the Yankees.

Ross and Wilson stayed on and continued to play 4 songs per hour (mostly 1960s and 1970s hits but also some currents) throughout 1982. In 1983, they stopped playing music as well. Ross and Wilson split up in 1983 when Ross went over to WHTZ. While the station's final ratings as a music station were mediocre, its talk ratings initially were even lower. Jay Clark was terminated and replaced with then assistant program director, Mark Mason.

Still, the station stuck with the new format. After Brian Wilson left in 1984, Alan Colmes moved to mornings. Mark Mason left for a similar post at All-News WINS. He was replaced by John Mainelli and at that point they dropped satellite programming. They added more issues-oriented talk shows, with an increasing number of conservative talk show hosts, although several liberals, including Colmes and Lynn Samuels, also hosted shows. The ratings grew and by the late 1980s, they were a very successful talk station.

From 1984 to 1996 WABC broadcast the popular Bob Grant, a controversial, early "right-wing" talk radio host. After years of what many considered inflammatory remarks, he was fired in 1996 for a controversial comment regarding the death of United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. After a number of years at competitor station WOR, Grant returned as a host as of July 2007, was removed again in December 2008, and returned again as a weekend host in September 2009. Alan Colmes would leave in 1985 and by 1987 he emerged at WNBC on overnights, where he played moderate amounts of music. He would move to afternoons on WNBC and eventually drop music there as well. He was on the air at WNBC's sign off in 1988. Colmes eventually returned to WABC.

Programming

Weekdays

The station features a lineup of conservative talk shows, including WABC personalities Sid Rosenberg, Rita Cosby, Dominic Carter, Bo Snerdley, Anthony Cumia and station owner John Catsimatidis. The station also airs Brian Kilmeade, Greg Kelly, Bill O'Reilly and The Mark Levin Show.

In July 2020, Frank Morano began hosting a self-titled program on Sunday evenings, and began hosting an overnight show, The Other Side of Midnight, in October 2020 (replacing Westwood One's overnight show Red Eye Radio). In January 2021, WABC revamped its daily lineup, with Morano and Juliet Huddy co-hosting the 77 WABC Early News at 5 a.m, and The Ben Shapiro Show replaced by local hours hosted by former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, the station's editorial manager Lidia Curanaj, and Catsimatidis. In March 2021, Curtis Sliwa was placed on hiatus to comply with equal-time rules after launching a mayoral campaign; his show was replaced by a noon-hour show hosted by Dominic Carter, and an afternoon show hosted by former WNYW personality and current Newsmax TV host Greg Kelly. John Batchelor's show was also cancelled by Westwood One, with Rita Cosby rejoining WABC to host a new nighttime show in his place. In April 2021, Carter's noon hour was replaced by The Charlie Kirk Show. On August 23, 2021, Curanaj was replaced by James "Bo Snerdley" Golden.

In February 2022, Curtis Silwa returned to WABC, hosting the new weekend show The Left vs. The Right with former New York congressman Anthony Weiner. In February 2023, Cosby joined Catsimatidis's 5 p.m. show Cats at Night as a co-host, with the show becoming Cats & Cosby. In March 2023, Noam Laden returned to WABC as news director and host of the 5 a.m. WABC News Hour.

On May 10, 2024, Guiliani was dropped by WABC for continuing to discuss conspiracies regarding the 2020 presidential election in his show, despite repeated warnings by Catsimatidis to not discuss the topic on-air. In June 2024, WABC announced that Dominic Carter would become the new host of the 3 p.m. hour, replacing Guiliani. In February 2025, Morano and Silwa's shows were pulled from WABC's local lineup after they launched campaigns for city council and mayor respectively, but continued to air in syndication. That month, WABC also hired Roger Stone to host the new weeknight show The Stone Zone, and former Opie and Anthony co-host Anthony Cumia to host a weekend show. In March 2025, former governor David Paterson became a new permanent co-host for The Left vs. The Right. In June 2025, Morano was succeeded by Lionel as host of The Other Side of Midnight.

Sports programming

WABC currently does not carry any sports programming. The station's most recent sports contract, with the United States Military Academy for Army football games, expired at the end of the 2015 season. In addition to the aforementioned Yankees coverage, the station served two separate stints as the flagship for the New York Jets and was also the home of the New Jersey Devils beginning in 1988. WABC also previously carried Seton Hall University men's basketball, and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the original XFL football league.

Early in its Top 40 incarnation, WABC served as the original radio flagship of the New York Mets upon their establishment in 1962. A notable aspect of WABC's Mets coverage was Howard Cosell and former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca handling the pre- and post-game shows. The station lost those rights to WHN following the 1963 season.

The Jets first called WABC home in the 1980s, but left toward the end of the decade for WCBS. The team would return to the station in 2000 after spending the previous seven seasons on WFAN. After then-sister station WEPN became the Jets' flagship, WABC began simulcasting the games over its airwaves due to its stronger signal. The arrangement ended in 2008 as WEPN began simulcasting all its programming on two other stations.

In December 2001, broadcast rights to the Yankees were lost after 21 years to WCBS. WABC also lost the radio rights to the Devils in 2005, as New Jersey's hockey team moved to WFAN to substitute for the station's loss of the New York Rangers to WEPN. WABC served as an overflow station for the Rangers from 2005 through 2009, and also served the same purpose for the New York Knicks when their games moved from WFAN to WEPN, but those rights moved to WNYM in 2009. The loss of evening sports programming has forced WABC to attempt to solidify its evening talk lineup.

In April 2025, the station signed longtime New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling to host a one-hour sports talk show on Saturday afternoons, marking a return to sports-themed programming after a 16-year hiatus. The show aired through the end of 2025.

Music programming

In 2020, the station began to add a block of oldies music programming on Saturday nights; the first program, Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party, premiered on September 5, 2020, featuring veteran WABC DJ Bruce Morrow. In late October 2020, the station announced that Tony Orlando would host a two-hour show. Orlando's show was later relaunched through syndication in 2026 as Rockin' the Decades with Tony Orlando,

In December 2020, Joe Piscopo began hosting a Sunday-night adult standards show, Sunday Nights with Sinatra.

Previous programs

WABC was where the nationally syndicated programs hosted by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity got their start, although those programs are now heard on WABC's talk radio rival in New York, WOR. Limbaugh's show was produced at WABC from 1988 until the early 2000s, when he started doing the program from Premiere Radio Networks and a studio in his home in South Florida (even then, until WABC dropped the program, substitute hosts for Limbaugh still used the WABC studios, and Limbaugh on occasion had hosted from WABC).. The station also served as the flagship for Imus in the Morning with Don Imus from 2007 to 2018. Imus' producer, Bernard McGuirk, co-hosted the WABC morning show following Imus's retirement until his own death in October 2022.

Although the station had good ratings, it underperformed in terms of total revenue, an example being WABC billing $21.3 million in 2008, not even close to industry giant KFI in Los Angeles at $54.4 million.

Phil Boyce departed as program director in October 2008, eventually replaced in February 2009 by former XM Satellite Radio programmer Laurie Cantillo. Laurie Cantillo resigned on October 31, 2011. Chuck Armstrong was named interim program director in November 2011. Craig Schwalb was named program director in January 2014.

From its first day as a news/talk station until the end of 2014, WABC aired top-of-the-hour news from ABC News Radio. For the next five years after that, WABC affiliated with Westwood One News for hourly headlines, after which it joined Fox News Radio.