• My Account
  • Your Profile
  • Member Archives
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Cart / $0.00

No products in the cart.

Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links
No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
No Result
View All Result

NorthEast Radio Watch 5/15/2023: Philly Vet Retires, TDY Relaunches

Scott Fybush by Scott Fybush
May 15, 2023
in Free Content, Northeast Radio Watch
1

In this week’s issue… Audacy tweaks TDY – Philly’s DeBella plans retirement – Will Toucher and Rich split? – Remembering NYC’s Roland – More Canadian AMs head to FM

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

*Is there any bigger artist in the world right now than Taylor Swift? The native of eastern PENNSYLVANIA (who made her first radio appearance ever on Reading’s WEEU, we’re pretty sure) was back home in Philadelphia for a string of sold-out shows, and as radio stations have been doing around the country, Audacy’s top-40 WTDY (96.5) jumped on the bandwagon by turning itself into “Ninety-Swift-Five TAY” for four solid days of nonstop Swift tunes.

Clever stunt, sure – but worthy of leading off the column on a Monday morning? In this case, yes, because change was already in the air at WTDY after last month’s exit of PD Nathan Graham and morning co-host Raven Brinson. And so just after 9 AM, after promoting a new “Era” of 96.5 (it’s the “Eras” tour, after all), Swift gave way to Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good,” a promise of “feel-good music,” and a new name of… “The New 96.5, Feel Good Variety,” with a logo that just crops the “TDY” off the bottom of the previous version.

The new “New,” ironically, ends up being less “new” than its predecessor – so far, it seems to draw from sister station WNEW (102.7) up the road in New York and from the format adjustment Audacy made last month at Chicago’s WBBM-FM (B96), reaching back a few years in the top-40 playlist alongside newer music. Will it be enough to give 96.5 a lane of its own alongside its more successful clustermates, AC WBEB (B101) and classic hits WOGL (Big 98.1) and against iHeart’s mainstream top-40, WIOQ (Q102)? We’ll be listening.

*Over at Beasley’s WMGK (102.9), it’s almost the end of the road for Philadelphia radio veteran John DeBella.

Just 30 when he came to Philly in 1982 to do mornings at WMMR (93.3) following successes at Pittsburgh’s WPEZ and Long Island’s WLIR, DeBella is now 71. His contract with Beasley ended in December, but in his retirement message to listeners, he said he and the company agreed to keep him on in mornings for six more months – but when that ends at the end of June, he’ll be ready to start sleeping in.

“When I came to Philadelphia in 1982, I would never have believed that I could have gone as far as I have here. I’ve been blessed with a magical life and a career beyond my wildest imagination,” DeBella said.

Known for his flamboyant mustache and his long-running feud with Howard Stern in the days when Stern’s show aired across town on the former WYSP, DeBella has also made a name for himself as an indefatigable fundraiser for charities, including veterans groups.

“I’m going to pack as much fun as I possibly can into the next 8 weeks and I’m hoping for the biggest Veterans Radiothon EVER!,” DeBella said. There’s no word yet on who might replace him beginning in July.

SPRING IS HERE…

And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!

If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!

This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.

And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future. 

Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).

We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.

The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?) 

Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too! 

 

Log In

Join Now | Lost Password?

Share this:

  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
Previous Post

Site of the Week 5/12/2023: Sinclair Telecable, Norfolk VA

Next Post

Site of the Week 5/19/2023: Norfolk, Virginia’s Tower Farm

Scott Fybush

Scott Fybush

Editor/Publisher, NorthEast Radio Watch and Tower Site of the Week

Related Posts

NorthEast Radio Watch 5/19/2025: WRGB’s Bishop Retires
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 5/19/2025: WRGB’s Bishop Retires

In this week’s issue… WRGB's Bishop to retire - CT "tower" coming down - Remembering Robin Marshall

by Scott Fybush
May 19, 2025
Top of the Tower Podcast #062: Keeping Students in Broadcasting
Free Content

Top of the Tower Podcast #062: Keeping Students in Broadcasting

In this week's episode - It was a longer hiatus than we intended, but Top of the Tower is back with a new spring season of conversations with some of the most interesting people in radio. This week, we continue bringing...

by Scott Fybush
May 14, 2025
NERW 12/15/2014: CRTC Drains Niagara Simulcast
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 5/12/2025: New Owners For Two AMs

In this week’s issue… Catsimatidis, Shula add signals - Radiodays rocks Toronto - Ex-Bell, Evanov stations rebrand By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME - NH - VT - MA - RI - CT - NY - NJ - PA -...

by Scott Fybush
May 13, 2025
Top of the Tower Podcast #061: Rob Bertrand at NAB/PREC 2025
Free Content

Top of the Tower Podcast #061: Rob Bertrand at NAB/PREC 2025

Top of the Tower talks with Inrush Broadcast's Rob Bertrand about the future of broadcast engineering as a service

by Scott Fybush
May 6, 2025
Next Post
The tower farm

Site of the Week 5/19/2023: Norfolk, Virginia's Tower Farm

Please login to join discussion

Log In

Join Now | Lost Password?

Get Fybush.com Updates

Get Fybush.com updates emailed directly to your inbox!

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.