WBEN-FM

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This article refers to WBEN-FM, the Philadelphia radio station. For the former WBEN-FM of Buffalo, New York, see WTSS.

95.7 Ben FM - WBEN
City of license	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Delaware Valley
Frequency	95.7 MHz (Also on HD Radio) 95.7 HD-2 for Rhythmic AC/Classic Dance
First air date	March 14, 1949
Format	Adult Hits
ERP	8,900 watts
HAAT	350 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	22308
Owner	Greater Media
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.957benfm.com

WBEN-FM, known as "95.7 Ben FM," is an adult rock, hit radio station stressing hot adult contemporary. It replaced WMWX "Mix 95.7" on March 21, 2005. The station plays a mix of 1970s, 1980s and 1990s hits, with some current hot adult contemporary rock singles. Named after Ben Franklin, the station pioneered a "Playing Anything We Feel Like" radio format, which has been replicated at radio stations in many other markets with names such as Jack FM. Like most other stations with a similar format, the station broadcasts without a disc jockey. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The voice of actor John O'Hurley is used for station IDs.

[edit] History

The station was founded as WFLN by civic leaders as a "fine arts" station, and first went on the air in March 1949 with a classical music format. The station was sold in 1988 to Marlin Broadcasting. The new ownership added more news elements, sports reports, and traffic reports. From 1995 to 1997 it was bought and sold five more times, and each time cutbacks were made and the station adopted a more commercial sound.

Finally, in September 1997, when the station was bought by its current owner, Greater Media, an executive from that company announced that the station's classical recordings would be sold to WRTI (Temple University); the stated rationale was that classical music is best presented in a non-commercial format. The station immediately became WXXM "Max 95.7", playing "adult modern rock" similar to, but slightly softer than, the station then known as Y-100 WPLY. The first song it played in its new format was Sheryl Crow's "A Change Will Do You Good." The station reported as a hot adult contemporary station to trade publications. The format didn't last long, and in May 1999, the station became WEJM "Jammin' Gold", playing a blend of R & B Oldies from the '60s to the '80s, disco, classic dance tunes, and some '70s pop hits.

This format also did not last long, and on June 15, 2001, WEJM became WMWX "Mix 95.7", another incarnation of Hot AC. At some points, the station (as WMWX) leaned toward adult modern rock; at other times, toward adult contemporary. Mostly, though, the station was a mainstream Hot AC outlet similar to WPLJ in New York City. The station continued to be plagued by mediocre ratings.

Meanwhile, Infinity/CBS Radio was in the process of flipping some of its FM stations to a broad-based adult rock and pop format known as Jack FM, with its famous moniker of "We play what we want!!" and playlists of up to two thousand songs. Stations that adopted the format were mostly underperformers at the time of the format change, but a few were decently rated oldies stations.

With rumors circulating that there were plans to switch Oldies 98.1 WOGL to such a format, in March 2005 the station became "95.7 Ben FM", with a format they describe as "playing anything we feel like." The call letters were finally changed to WBEN-FM on May 9, 2005. This format is very similar to the "Jack" stations in terms of playlist size and the character of the songs played (format and decade of original release).

Ben FM has found its place in the Philadelphia market, being the only adult-oriented hit radio station. Their playlist consists of thousands of songs spanning three decades of hit music. With no repeats between 9am and 5pm, listeners can expect an unpredictable play list synonymous with an iPod on shuffle.

[edit] Club Ben (WBEN-HD2)

In 2006 WBEN added an HD2 subcarrier to carry a commercial-free hybrid Rhythmic AC/Classic Dance format under the name "Club Ben."

[edit] Trivia

• Both the current and original call letters invoke the name of Ben Franklin; the original WFLN stood for its owner of the time, Franklin Broadcasting.

• Buffalo radio station WBEN-AM (which was named for the Buffalo Evening News), is owned by Entercom Communications. Entercom is based in Philadelphia, even though they have no station holdings in the market.

[edit] External links

• 95.7 Ben FM Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WBEN
• Radio Locator information on WBEN
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBEN