WISX

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WISX ("My 1061" and formerly "Philly's 106.1") is a Hot Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications and its slogan is "Move to the Music" (Formerly "Feel The Energy,") which is used to describe their upbeat mix of mostly Rhythmic hits of the 80's, '90s and today.

[edit] History

Philadelphia's 106.1 began operation in November 1959 was WQAL and was owned by George Voron. The station employed an easy listening format playing mostly instrumental versions of popular songs (Mantovani, Lawrence Welk, Percy Faith, Jon Foxx, Chet Atkins, Richard Clayderman) with an occasional vocalist(Frank Sinatra, Carpenters, Nat King Cole, Anne Murray). The station was sold to United Artists in 1970. The call letters then became WWSH and its brand, "Wish 106." The WQAL call letters are now used by another station, the Hot AC-formatted "Q104" in Cleveland, Ohio.

The station was sold again in 1977 to Cox Communications. Initially the format remained easy listening. In 1980 more contemporary vocalists were added but the format still remained instrumentally based.

Despite the station's popularity, the "beautiful music" format was changed in 1982 to Hot Adult Contemporary. The station was known as "FM 106". In a market already crowded with four Adult Contemporary stations, it didn't go over well in the ratings, and one year later the format was modified to Top 40 to compete with "Hot Hits" WCAU-FM. In 1984, the call letters were changed to WZGO (Z-106). In 1986, the station became WTRK "Electric 106," consulted by Mike Joseph, who had spearheaded the launch of Hot Hits on WCAU-FM five years earlier. Like WCAU-FM in its early months of Hot Hits, WTRK featured a very tight playlist of only current hit songs; unlike WCAU-FM, however, "Electric 106" was a flop, and 106.1 FM's ratings and revenues did not improve. The station's continued poor performance was a source of embarrassment for Cox, which then sold the station to Malrite.

In 1987, the station became known as WEGX (Eagle 106). The station kept the CHR/Top 40 format but gave it a more adult-friendly makeover, designing the station to appeal primarily to women aged 18-24. Research had shown that listeners in their 20s and older scoffed at the more teen-oriented WCAU-FM as the "bubblegum" radio station, and WCAU-FM had had trouble making a profit because of that perception (1). Eagle 106 attempted to combat the teen-oriented image that came with the CHR format by conducting extensive music research with women in its target demographic, eliminating most jingles, and "dayparting" - playing more gold titles during the day to attract more adult listeners while continuing to program for teenagers at night with higher energy and more new music. The move paid off, as WEGX's ratings rose steadily through 1987 while WCAU-FM's fell. In November 1987, WCAU-FM dropped the Top 40 format in favor of oldies as WOGL, leaving Eagle 106 as the only Top 40 station. With the CHR format all to itself, WEGX's ratings climbed even higher, and by the spring of 1988, the station had moved into the top five in Philadelphia Arbitron ratings (1).

In 1988, WIOQ, which had gone through several unsuccessful format changes (including oldies to compete with WOGL), took a dance leaning Top 40 format. This brought Eagle 106's ratings down slightly but the station still was profitable.

In the 1990s Q 102 WIOQ moved further toward Mainstream Top 40. Eagle 106 though still held its own. Then on March 13, 1993, despite the moderate success, at 1:06 PM the format was changed to Smooth Jazz, a growing pheonemon at the time, becoming Smooth Jazz WJJZ 106.1.

At first, WJJZ lacked ratings and success and it seemed 106.1 was headed for another format change. In its early years, WJJZ featured an eclectic mix of Contemporary Jazz, some New Age music, as well as a sprinkling of Adult Contemporary vocals. The Smooth Jazz format evolved however, and by the mid 90s, under the ownership of the Evergreen Media Corporation, WJJZ began to phase out the new age music and broad variety of Contemporary Jazz it played with more Adult Contemporary crossovers and some soft R&B. This coincided with its first strong ratings showings. WJJZ was becoming a fixture in Philadelphia radio, with free Smooth Jazz listener party concerts, and music not heard anywhere else. Also during the period, the station introduced the Vacation-A-Day giveaway, giving away free vacations to different locales. The station tabbed it as the biggest giveaway in Philadelphia radio history.

WJJZ 106.1 Logo

In 1997, Evergreen Media was purchased by Chancellor Media, which eventually was purchased by AMFM and finally became part of conglomerate Clear Channel. During the late 90s, WJJZ saw its finest ratings, reaching into the top 5 of the Arbitrons for Philadelphia. However, like many stations across the country, the effect of cutbacks by owner Clear Channel started to take its toll. 2002 saw the dismissials of afternoon host Deanna Wright and longtime evening host Desirae McCrae. The music on the air began to feature far fewer instrumentals and more vocals, featuring the likes of Stevie Wonder, Al Green, The Police, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Madonna, while still being called Smooth Jazz. Ratings continued to be solid until 2004, which also coincided with the sign-on of Urban Adult Contemporary station WRNB and Gospel station WPPZ, both appearing to be taking a bite out of the station's ratings. The station dropped out of the top 10 in ratings, and this also led to adverse effects on its billing. By the end of 2005, the signs were not looking positive for the heritage Smooth Jazz station. 10-year afternoon host Teri Webb was dismissed before Christmas, and the Vacation-A-Day giveaway was dropped.

2006 brought some promise with the addition of two new air talents, Sherri Lee Stevens and Salina Jones, as well as a less expensive version of the Vacation giveaway. Although ratings were rebounding, rumors began to swirl in July that a format change was imminent. Clear Channel wanted to find a home in Philadelphia for its new syndicated talent Whoopi Goldberg, and it saw the perfect opportunity to blow up the Smooth Jazz format with a new morning show and a format not yet heard in Philadelphia, Rhythmic Adult Contemporary. On Tuesday, August 8, the conglomerate dismissed the airstaff of WJJZ, and on Thursday, August 10, at 12:00 PM, WJJZ's midday host and program director Michael Tozzi bid farewell to 13 years of Smooth Jazz, and the era of Philly's 106-1 began.

Initially, the opinions of Philly's 106-1 were quite dubious. A reader comment section at Philly.com features twenty-one pages of angry former WJJZ listeners infuritated with Clear Channel's decision. The Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format WISX launched with was very repetitive and the airstaff was completely voicetracked. Although the station kept its WJJZ callsign for a month after the flip, it would eventually change its callsign to WISX.

Not long after, the station somehow managed to make a change that was both quiet and extremely obvious: The name changed from Philly's 106-1 to My 106-1. It's not a good idea for any product--particularly a radio station--to change its name after having been marketed for a few months.

Eventually, the station added more songs to the on-air library and moved away from strictly Rhythmic titles in favor of adding Hot Adult Contemporary music (and even a few plain old Adult Contemporary records), and the first hot AC in the market since 2005 when Greater Media flipped WMWX to Ben FM. Clear Channel, owning so many other stations in the market, had no intention of letting a "real" Rhythmic AC station chip away at the ratings for their own WDAS-FM, Q102, and Power 99. But if they hadn't launched a Rhythmic AC format in the market, another company would have and Clear Channel's stations would have been in trouble.

My 106.1 is carving out a fair niche of listeners and is likely close to matching the profitability they enjoyed as a Smooth Jazz station.

After over two months without a Smooth Jazz outlet, rival broadcaster Greater Media announced on October 13, 2006, that its newly acquired property, WTHK, was picking up the Smooth Jazz format and the WJJZ calls. The "New" Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ made its debut on November 17, 2006. The same on-air montage of various Smooth Jazz artists used at the end of 106.1's Smooth Jazz format was played to mark the sign-on of the new WJJZ.

Some of the former 106.1 airstaff has been reincarnated at the new address on 97.5, notably Michael Tozzi. He currently programs the new WJJZ and handles the midday airshift. He has brought on board Gerald Veasley, Teri Webb and Greg Purcell for weekend duties, thus writing a new chapter for Smooth Jazz in Philadelphia. Bill Simpson returned in late December to host an all-new version of Philadelphia After Hours, which had been dropped from the old station shortly before its discontinuation. Frank Childs has reclaimed his role as the overnight host, and Desirae McCrae was the latest former WJJZ personality to return to the new station. Therefore, the new WJJZ's airstaff has some ties to the old station. It also broadcasts two syndicated weekday shows via Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network: Ramsey Lewis hosts the morning show, and Dave Koz handles the afternoon drivetime shift. From November 2006 to April 2007, after a three-month hiatus, the new WJJZ held its Sunday Brunch at Zanzibar Blue, continuing a very popular Philadelphia tradition since the old station's debut in 1993. Currently, the Sunday Brunch is being held at Warmdaddy's, which, like Zanzibar Blue, is owned by the Bynum brothers, Robert and Benjamin.

There are a few noticeable differences between the new WJJZ and the old one. For example, the old station's branding placed the callsign before the frequency; the new station used the opposite arrangement in its branding for a year after its debut. The old station also had a very catchy jazz-themed jingle often sung as "WJJZ 106.1", as demonstrated by this short clip, and many different arrangements were used for it; this is a very common practice used by most Clear Channel-owned smooth jazz stations. The new station introduced a series of new jingles in July 2007, although they differed significantly from the ones that were used by the old station (most obviously, the fact that they were then sung as "97.5 WJJZ"). Since November 2007, the new station has started to play the old one's jingles (with vocals added in December 2007), as a tribute to the Smooth Jazz format's tenure at the 106.1 frequency. It has also reversed its branding practice, and is currently known as "Smooth Jazz WJJZ 97.5." The new WJJZ's jingles are now sung as "WJJZ 97-5" (without the "point," as was the case when it was still located at 106.1), though the announcers still identify it as "WJJZ 97.5."

In June 2007, the new WJJZ relocated its transmitter from Trenton, NJ, to Wyndmoor, PA, a northern suburb of Philadelphia, closer to where all of the major Philadelphia stations' towers are located, including the one that the old WJJZ once used. Coverage for the new station is exactly the same as the old one, but the new signal is directional.

[edit] External links

• My 106.1 Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WISX
• Radio Locator information on WISX
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WISX