WOGL

WOGL (98.1 FM, "98.1 WOGL") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Entercom and broadcasts a classic hits radio format. The broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of the city at (40°02′30.1″N 75°14′10.1″W).[2] Studios and offices are on East City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd.[3]

For the former WOGL (AM), see WPHT.
WOGL
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaDelaware Valley
Frequency98.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding98.1 WOGL
SloganNobody plays more '80s!
Programming
FormatClassic Hits
HD2: Vinyl Tap (Oldies)
HD3: Talk (WPHT simulcast)
Ownership
OwnerEntercom
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsKYW, WBEB, WIP-FM, WPHT, WTDY-FM
History
First air date1942 (as W73PH)
Former call signsW73PH (1942–1943)
WPEN-FM (1943–1947)
WCAU-FM (1947–1987)
Former frequencies47.3 MHz (1942–1946)
99.5 MHz (1946–1947)
Call sign meaning"Old GoLd" (spoonerism for "Golden Oldies")
Technical information
Facility ID9622
ClassB
ERP9,600 watts (analog)
459 watts (digital)[1]
HAAT339 meters (1,112 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°02′30″N 75°14′10″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Websitewogl.radio.com

WOGL uses HD Radio, and broadcasts a '70s music format on its HD2 subchannel. The talk radio programming of sister station WPHT is simulcast on its HD3 subchannel, while the programming on its HD4 subchannel is all Philadelphia Phillies baseball.

Starting in 2018, the station no longer plays Christmas music during the Holiday season now that the parent company, Entercom owns an Adult Contemporary station, WBEB "B101.1" in the market to take care of the Holiday music.

History

Early years

On January 13, 1942, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the William Penn Broadcasting Company a construction permit for a new FM station on 47.3 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band, with the call sign W73PH. Beginning the next month the station was issued a series of special authorizations to operate commercially with a temporary antenna, followed by its first full license on March 2, 1943.[4]

William Penn Broadcasting also operated AM station WPEN (now WKDN) in Philadelphia, and on November 1, 1943 W73PH was assigned the WPEN-FM call sign.[4] After the FCC created the current FM broadcast band on June 27, 1945,[5] William Penn Broadcasting applied to the FCC for a construction permit on January 21, 1946 to install a new transmitter and antenna for operation on 99.5 MHz, and the FCC approved this application on October 24, 1946.[4]

The station's license and construction permit were voluntarily assigned to the Philadelphia Record Company, owners of AM station WCAU (now WPHT) in Philadelphia, on November 28, 1947. This was effective December 18, 1947, and the station's call sign was changed to WCAU-FM the same day. On December 23, 1947, the FCC reassigned the station to 98.1 MHz, modifying the construction permit. The FCC granted a licensee name change from Philadelphia Record Company to WCAU, Inc. on March 3, 1948. The commission granted WCAU, Inc. a new license for the station for operation on 98.1 MHz on September 27, 1949.[4]

On December 4, 1953, the FCC granted WCAU, Inc. a construction permit to relocate the station's transmitter and antenna to the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The station's license was renewed by the FCC with the new facilities on October 19, 1954. The FCC granted a voluntary assignment of the station's license to Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. on July 23, 1958.[4]

Until 1966, WCAU-FM simulcast the Middle of The Road music heard on AM 1210 WCAU. Along with other CBS FM stations, WCAU-FM began airing "The Young Sound," a prerecorded format of instrumental easy listening songs based on contemporary hits.

Switch to oldies, then disco

In the fall of 1970, WCAU-FM replaced "The Young Sound" with an automated oldies format.[6] For prerecorded announcements, the station used the voice of Jim Nettleton, a disc jockey on top-rated WABC in New York City. Prior to working for 77WABC in New York, Jim Nettleton was a very popular DJ on Famous 56 WFIL in Philadelphia from 1966 to 1969 before he was heard on WABC in late 1969 in New York. Live air personalities were eventually heard, with Nettleton moving from New York to host middays. The station played the hits from 1955 up to and including some current product.

At the end of 1975, the oldies format was replaced by disco music, a hot trend at the time. As disco cooled, the station called its format "Fascinatin' Rhythm." When the 1970s came to a close, the music became more diversified with the addition of jazz, pop and R&B. The station experimented briefly with a format called "Mellow Rhythm" at this time, hosted primarily by Dr. Perri Johnson (now a music therapist in Los Angeles).

Hot hits "98 Now"

Program consultant Mike Joseph was brought into WCAU-FM in April 1981 to develop a new format to replace the struggling "Mellow Rhythm." Joseph recommended that the station go Top 40. On September 22, 1981, at Midnight, the new format at WCAU-FM debuted: an all-current-hits, high-energy, jingle-intensive Top 40 sound dubbed "Hot Hits." Joseph first put Hot Hits on the air in 1977 at WTIC-FM in Hartford, Connecticut, with a significant increase in ratings. Joseph called the station "98 Now." WCAU-FM's ratings showed an immediate improvement, and subsequently, FM stations in major radio markets such as Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore and San Francisco picked up the "Hot Hits" format.

WCAU-FM found a great deal of success with this programming for much of the mid-1980s, although the original "Fusion" jingles from TM were dropped in the summer of 1982 and replaced with a package from JAM to increase appeal to older listeners. Some notable DJs on the station in this period included Paul Barsky, Rich Hawkins, Billy Burke, Terry Young and Christy Springfield.

Return to oldies

In 1987, WCAU-FM found itself with stiff competition in the CHR/Top 40 format from WEGX, "Eagle 106." CBS decided that WCAU-FM could be more profitable appealing to an older, more desirable demographic of 25-to 54-year-olds. On November 9, 1987, at 7 p.m., after playing "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, WCAU-FM returned to the oldies format as WOGL (which stood for "Old Gold"). The first song on WOGL was "Good Golly, Miss Molly" by Little Richard. Eleven hours later, however, 102.1 WIOQ shifted to oldies as well. WOGL had a deep playlist, playing a larger number of songs than most oldies stations.[7] For the next year, the WOGL and WIOQ competed for Philadelphia's FM oldies audience, until WIOQ dropped the format early in 1989. Scott Walker, who programmed Hot Hits WCAU-FM, remained as Program Director.

Originally, WOGL was known as "Oldies 98." By 1992, WOGL incorporated more soul oldies. The station still played artists such as Elvis, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but in addition, it focused on soul, including Philadelphia-only hits. The mix was about 2/3 R&B and 1/3 rock and pop. The rock and pop songs played were the big hits typically heard on oldies stations. But WOGL also capitalized on Philadelphia's love of R&B. WOGL played about 15% 1950s, 15% early 1960s, 55% mid-to-late 1960s, 13% 1970s, and 2% 1980s.

WOGL aired specialty shows such as the "Hot Lunch Special" request show, "The Weeknight Hall Of Fame," "Top 20 Oldies Countdown," "Elvis & Friends," "The Saturday Night Dance Party," "Brunch With The Beatles," and "Street Corner Sunday" (a Doo Wop music program). In 2001, all the specialty shows were purged. The playlist was moved away from soul and Philadelphia-only hits (though a few remained), and moved towards a more traditional playlist as found on other oldies stations. The music was about 70% 1960s, 10% 1950s, 15% 1970s, and 5% 1980s. Scott Walker left the station in 2001.

By 2002, some of the specialty shows were brought back. A modified version of "Street Corner Sunday" was heard. While it was strictly doo wop in its previous incarnation, it was updated to play all types of pre-1964 oldies. More 1970s music was added and even some 1980s tracks were heard. In 2003, the name "Oldies 98" was downplayed and the station became known as "Motown Soul Rock & Roll: 98.1 WOGL". At that point, the station cut to one 1950s song per hour and one pre-'64 song per hour. It also played a couple of 1980s songs per hour. The rest of the music was roughly 50% mid and late 1960s and 50% 1970s music. In 2004, the playlist was tightened to about half 1960s and half 1970s. Their slogan also changed to "Greatest Hits of the '60s and '70s." In late 2007 and early 2008, more 1980s music was added to the rotation, and effective July 6, 2008, WOGL's slogan was changed to "The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s and 80's," which is also used on sister station WCBS-FM when it returned to an Oldies/Classic Hits format in July 2007.

In late 2016, morning co-host Valerie Knight was fired after 14 years with the station. [8] In 2017, Frank Lewis and Bill Zimpfer, co-hosts of WOGL's morning show "The Breakfast Club", were let go.[9]

As of 2018, WOGL no longer plays any music from the 1960s and is mostly focused on songs from the 1980s, with a moderate amount of 1970s and a few 1990s hits.

On January 21, 2018, "Street Corner Sunday" was discontinued after 29 years in favor of regular programming.

Jingles

From the late 1980s through the early 1990s, WOGL used jingles from Frank Gari Productions, Otis Connor, and TM Studios. From the mid-1990s through the early 2000s, the station used the Do It Again jingle package by JAM Creative Productions and the Super Hits package by Tony Griffin, both of which were also used by sister station WCBS-FM. From 2003-2017, the station used jingles from a variety of different JAM packages, most of which were resings of 1970s-80s top 40 station jingles. Since late 2017, the station has been using jingles from Reelworld Productions.

Entercom ownership

On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to merge CBS Radio with Entercom.[10][11] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[12][13] Though CBS shareholders own 72 percent of Entercom, the latter is still its own public company, effectively separating WOGL and its sister stations from KYW-TV and WPSG-TV.[14][15]

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References
  1. "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WOGL]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. April 26, 2011. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  2. "FM Query Results for WOGL". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  3. WOGL.Radio.com/contact-us
  4. "History Cards for WOGL (covering W73PH / WPEN-FM / WCAU-FM from 1942-1981)". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  5. "In the Matter of Allocation of Frequencies to the Various Class of Non-Governmental Services in the Radio Spectrum from 10 Kilocycles to 30,000,000 Kilocycles (Docket No. 6651)" (PDF). fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. June 27, 1945. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  6. "WCAU-FM Shifts to Solid Gold Automated Format", Billboard, October 10, 1970.
  7. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1987/RR-1987-11-13.pdf
  8. https://www.phillyvoice.com/breakfast-clubs-valerie-knight-out-wogl/
  9. http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/celebrities/breakfast-club-co-host-frank-lewis-out-at-wogl-20170628.html?arc404=true
  10. "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  11. "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  12. "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  13. Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  14. http://www.insideradio.com/cbs-shareholders-bought-into-entercom-but-will-they-stay/article_faa93df4-cdc7-11e7-b667-df85c49e2501.html
  15. "Post-Merger, CBS Radio Shareholders Will Own 72% And Entercom 28% Of Combined Company". All Access. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
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