I’m home sick today, and was awoken by the midi tones of U2’s “The Fly” - Wooly was calling. Apparently, 94 WYSP in Philadelphia, a rock station for as long as I can remember, has now become “FreeFM”, an all-talk station.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
David Lee Roth to replace Stern; Barsky back
By Michael Klein
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Rock-and-roller David Lee Roth will replace morning-radio giant Howard Stern on WYSP-FM (94.1) and at least six other cities, Infinity Broadcasting announced this morning as it also rehired Philly radio veteran Paul Barsky to host middays with Vinnie the Crumb.
Stern’s last live show will be Dec. 16 as he heads to Sirius Satellite Radio in January.
Roth will start at 6 a.m. Jan. 3.
With today’s announcement, WYSP and six other Infinity stations changed format to “Free FM,” a personality-based talk hybrid.
WYSP will be talk-based from 6 a.m. through 7 p.m. and will play rock at other times.
Today also marks the return to Philadelphia of Barsky, last heard here in November 2003 when the station at 96.5 FM changed format. His show will run from about 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sports guy Vinnie the Crumb, a Barsky protege who later was heard on WMMR-FM (93.3), will be part of the show.
Kidd Chris, a recent arrival at WYSP, will take the 3-to-7 p.m. slot.
Other veterans will remain in the rock portion of the schedule: Couzin Ed will move to 7 to 10 p.m. Matt and Huggy will move to 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Overnighter Rick Allen will keep 2 to 6 a.m.
WYSP also brought in as operations manager Tom Bigby, former program director at WIP-AM (610). Bigby had spent a year at a station in Dallas.
WYSP also promoted assistant program director Gil Edwards to program director.
Infinity, which carries Stern in 27 markets, will put Roth on the air at Stern affiliates in New York, Dallas, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and West Palm Beach, and Philadelphia.
Radio and television personality Adam Carolla (”The Man Show”) will take Stern’s slot in Los Angeles.
Now, admittedly, I don’t listen to much radio anymore, thanks to my iPod, but when I do, I’m much more likely to listen to the other rock station in Philly, 93.3 WMMR, or one of the public radio stations, 88.5 WXPN, or WHYY 91 FM.
While I haven’t listened to WYSP in years, I do find it sad that rock stations are a dying breed. I suppose with the rise of satellite radio, it’s all just a matter of time before FM goes the way of AM.
2 comments ↓
I did not listen to ‘YSP much but the rivalry with MMR has always been great. An odd move considering the numbers that YSP pulls.
I still remember one of your communication profs at Syracuse mentioning the competition between YSP and MMR.
That’s true. He claimed that they were two of the best rock stations in the country. However, this was 13 years ago.
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