WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee, it broadcasts EMF's Christian adult contemporary formatted programming service, "K-Love".
WPLJ is a Class B FM station, with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 6,700 watts, transmitting from atop the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan. WPLJ broadcasts on several HD Radio digital subchannels in addition to its analog transmission. It is also heard on three FM translators around the New York metropolitan area: 94.3 MHz in Pomona, 94.9 in Hauppauge and 104.5 in Selden.
History As WABC-FM
The station went on the air on May 4, 1948, under the call sign WJZ-FM."WJZ-FM in New York operating at 95.5 mc." Broadcasting - Telecasting, May 10, 1948, pg. 80. In March 1953, the station's call letters were changed to WABC-FM following the merger of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) with United Paramount Theatres."Ambitious ABC planning initiated under new merged ownership." Broadcasting-Telecasting, February 16, 1953, pp. 27–29."It's now WABC-AM-FM-TV; ABC also changes slides." Broadcasting-Telecasting, March 2, 1953, pg. 70.WABC-AM-FM-TV advertisement. Broadcasting-Telecasting, March 2, 1953, pg. 37. As most FM stations did during the medium's formative years, 95.5 FM simulcast the programming of its AM sister station, WJZ/WABC (770 AM).
In the early 1960s, however, WABC-FM began to program itself separately from WABC (AM). During the 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike, the station programmed news for 17 hours daily."Strikebound N.Y. depends on air news." Broadcasting, December 17, 1962, pg. 44WABC-FM advertisement. Broadcasting, December 24, 1962, pp. 38–39 Two-and-a-half years before WINS launched its own around-the-clock, all-news format in April 1965, it was the first such attempt in the New York market. This was followed by stints with Broadway show tunes and general freeform programming, including broadcasts of New York Mets baseball games."Baseball tops $31 million." Broadcasting, February 19, 1968, pp. 40–49. WABC's AM personalities, such as Dan Ingram, Chuck Leonard, and Bob Lewis, hosted programs on the FM side which were the total opposites of the contemporary hit radio–powered sound for which they were better known on AM. WABC-FM continued to simulcast its AM sister station during Herb Oscar Anderson's morning drive program.
At the start of 1968, ABC split its radio network into four distinct components, one of which was dedicated to FM radio."600 stations set for new ABC." Broadcasting, January 1, 1968, pp. 42–44. The following year, WABC-FM and its sister stations—KABC-FM in Los Angeles; WLS-FM in Chicago; KGO-FM in San Francisco; WXYZ-FM in Detroit; KQV-FM in Pittsburgh; and newly acquired KXYZ-FM in Houston—began carrying an automated, youth-oriented, progressive rock format known as Love."ABC Radio sends its 'Love' to FM." Broadcasting, February 17, 1969, pg. 77.
As WPLJ Album rock era (1971–1983)
In late 1970, Allen Shaw, the then-president of ABC's FM station group, announced two big changes to take place in early 1971: ABC dropped Love and installed completely live-and-local, freeform rock formats. The network also applied for call letter changes for the seven stations."ABC puts a new emphasis on FM." Broadcasting, August 10, 1970, pg. 45."ABC asks FCC for ok to change FM calls." Broadcasting, September 14, 1970, pg. 48. The New York outlet was slated to be renamed WRIF, but a clerical error on the part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) resulted in those calls being awarded to the former WXYZ-FM in Detroit—whose own request for WDAI ("Detroit Auto Industry") was itself given mistakenly to WLS-FM in Chicago—leaving WABC-FM to start from scratch for its own rebranding. On February 13, at midnight, the station's call letters changed to WPLJ,"For the record." Broadcasting, March 8, 1971, pg. 59 chosen after Allen Shaw noticed the letter combination as the name of a song on the 1970 Mothers of Invention record, Burnt Weeny Sandwich. The song, "W-P-L-J", was originally performed by the Four Deuces in 1955, and stood for "White Port and Lemon Juice". On the air, the station hired John Zacherle, Alex Bennett, Vin Scelsa, Jimmy Fink, and Michael Cuscuna (from WMMR and WXPN in Philadelphia) as personalities. All seven ABC-owned FM stations also adopted a shared logo styling with the callsign and frequency within a multi-colored oval; WRIF and KLOS (the former KABC-FM) continue to use a form of this logo to the present day.
In September 1971, Allen Shaw and ABC programming executive Bob Henaberry designed and pioneered the very first album-oriented rock (AOR) format on WPLJ, playing only the best cuts from the best-selling rock albums with a minimum of disc jockey talk. Using the slogan "Rock 'N Stereo", the station played artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Elton John, Deep Purple, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, and The Allman Brothers. The station also played pop songs from artists such as James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, and Carly Simon, distinguishing itself from top 40 stations (such as co-owned WABC) by playing more tracks from their albums. The station's Arbitron ratings shot up dramatically, and WPLJ became New York's most listened-to FM rock station for most of the 1970s.
In 1973, ABC transferred Willard Lochridge, the general manager of WRIF in Detroit, to New York to manage WPLJ. The following year, Lochridge brought his Detroit program director, Larry Berger to WPLJ, and adopted a new slogan: "New York's Best Rock". Some of the personalities on the station during this period included Jim Kerr, Pat St. John, Jimmy Fink, Carol Miller, Tony Pigg, John Zacherle, Alex Bennett, Bob Marrone, and Dave Charity. Berger himself hosted a Sunday night call-in show, in which he discussed seemingly any topic with listeners—except the specifics of the playlist. During these call-in segments, some callers suggested that the station sped up (or "pitched up") the music so that they could fit in more commercials while still being able to claim that they played a large number of songs per hour. Berger repeatedly denied that this practice was in use at WPLJ. In the September 20, 1999, episode of Crap from the Past, host Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber suggested that music was sped up on WPLJ to make the same music sound less dynamic on other stations.
Another Sunday night show began in 1973, then-Father Bill Ayres' long-running show, at first called On This Rock and later (after Ayres left the priesthood in the 1980s) titled The Bill Ayres Show.Konig, Susan. "Q&A: Bill Ayres; In Forefront of Fighting World Hunger". The New York Times. March 29, 1998 Known on-air as Father Bill Ayres, the show mixed spirituality and social consciousness together with the music of Harry Chapin, Bob Seger, and others. The show also aired on its sister station WABC on Sunday mornings within the last years of its contemporary hit radio music format. Ayres continued to host the show until the transfer of control of WPLJ to Educational Media Foundation in May 2019.
By the late 1970s, WPLJ tended to emphasize harder rock artists such as Led Zeppelin (there was a nightly "Get the Led Out" segment), Kansas, Boston, and Queen, which all happened to get less airplay than on competing station WNEW-FM. At this point, the station reduced its play of softer pop songs, and their ratings remained competitive. Mark Goodman came to WPLJ from Philadelphia in 1980 and was on the air as word broke out of John Lennon's murder the evening of December 8. Goodman departed the station a few months later to become one of the original VJs for the MTV cable channel."Mark Goodman: Original MTV VJ" The Sands.Sloan, Dave; Cantos, Holly. "John Lennon 1980" What Difference Does It Make. In 1981, Berger hired Marc Coppola, a rock-oriented disc jockey from suburban rival WBAB on Long Island, to do the 10 p.m.–2 a.m. shift Monday through Saturday.
During its AOR phase, the station was noted for its promotional montages consisting of snippets of classic rock songs spliced together by St. John, emphasizing a subject or theme, such as gasoline (during the gas shortages of the 1970s). From the time of Berger's arrival, WPLJ beat main rock rival WNEW-FM in virtually every Arbitron ratings period.
In 1982, WPLJ received a direct competitor in WAPP, which adopted a near-identical AOR format to WPLJ (WAPP launched its rock format commercial-free and remained so for the summer of 1982). WAPP beat WPLJ in the ratings in the fall of 1982, and WPLJ reacted by adding more new wave such as A Flock of Seagulls, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Go-Go's, Elvis Costello, Men at Work, and Soft Cell, mixed in with the usual AOR fare. WPLJ's ratings ended up besting those of WAPP after the latter started playing commercials in the fall of 1982. In early 1983, the station added "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, playing it several times a day (many AOR stations, including WNEW-FM, added that song and it charted on the rock tracks chart). In March 1983, WPLJ added Jackson's other hit "Beat It", which received very positive reaction. While Jackson was not a typical AOR artist, that cut was played by many AOR stations due to Eddie Van Halen's role in the song. The station also dropped most 1960s songs by May and was cutting back on AOR artists while playing more contemporary rockers.
Top 40 era (1983–1992)
In early 1983, the station began a transition from AOR to contemporary hit radio. With word that a top 40 format was coming to WVNJ-FM (100.3 FM), WPLJ moved further in a CHR direction. Though the station began playing artists like Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, Larry Berger stated that he did not make the decision to move to a CHR format until the last week of June; WPLJ adopted a rock-leaning CHR format on June 30, 1983. At that point, the station played predominantly AOR and new wave rock cuts, and mixed in two or three rhythmic pop cuts like "Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara, "Time (Clock of the Heart)" by Culture Club, "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer, and others. The station maintained its "New York's Best Rock" slogan, even though the station moved away from playing predominantly rock songs. Berger discussed the changes on his call-in show in July 1983, to the disapproving reaction from the rock audience. (Competitor WNBC had been a de facto AM top-40 station while WYNY had been the de facto FM hits station throughout the early 1980s, playing many current songs as part of its hot adult contemporary format). WPLJ's airstaff, which stayed on during the early transition months, gradually changed, as WNEW-FM picked up some of the station's best-known disc jockeys such as Carol Miller and Pat St. John. (Jim Kerr and sidekick Shelli Sonstein remained with the station through the end of the decade.) Jimmy Fink, Tony Pigg, and Marc Coppola eventually moved to Infinity Broadcasting's WXRK when it debuted a couple of years later.
In August 1983, at the same time WVNJ had been re-christened as WHTZ ("Z100"), WPLJ became known as "The Home of the Hits", and in October, added top 40-style jingles. In a way, it was "New York's Hit Music Station" just before WHTZ went on the air. The following spring, WPLJ identified itself very briefly as "The New Musicradio PLJ" before segueing to "Hitradio 95" just a short time later. In early 1985, the station became known on-air as "Power 95". Ratings went up after switching to CHR, though they were still just behind Z100 most of the time.