WQCD
This article is about the New York City radio station WQCD, formerly named WPIX-FM. For the NYC television station called WPIX, see WPIX.WQCD, known on-air as "
CD 101.9", is a
New York City radio station located at 101.9
FM. The station has a
smooth jazz format.
The station first went on the air in
1945 as
WGHF, named after its original owner,
William
G.
H.
Finch, and moved to the 101.9 frequency in
1947. In
1955, its then-owner,
Muzak, changed the call letters to
WBFM. After the station was purchased by the
New York Daily News in late
1963, it adopted the
WPIX-FM call letters, as the station was co-owned with Channel 11
WPIX-TV.
In the years that the station used the WPIX-FM call letters, it was famous for not being able to settle on a format for any real length of time, and was derisively nicknamed "The format of the month station" by many in the New York City radio industry and general public. During that time, the station went through the following formats:
* Early to late
1970s:
Top 40, rock,
disco*
1978-
1980:
Punk/
New Wave Rock
*
1980-
1981: Rock-based
adult top 40*
1981-
1982:
Album-oriented rock* January-March
1982:
CHR * March
1982:
adult contemporaryFew of its
disc jockeys were notable during this stretch, with possible exceptions of
Mark Simone, Meg Griffen and
Carol Miller. Another of its disc jockeys, Jerry Carroll (a.k.a. "Dr. Jerry"), would gain fame as
commercial spokesperson for the
Crazy Eddie retail chain.
The station gave up on quickly on both the Disco and Punk/New Wave formats to see both
genres of music become popular several years later.
WPIX-FM then stayed as an adult contemporary station for a few years, as its ratings during this period were pretty good. By
1985, the station began mixing a number of eclectic songs into its adult contemporary format, and was known as "the ballads and the beat of New York."
Also in
1985, the station was running a nightime show called "The PIX Penthouse", which played
R&B and
soul songs. ("The PIX Penthouse Party" had been originally used as a program title during WPIX-FM's Punk/New Wave era and was notable for playing
1960's music that influenced Punk and New Wave Rock.)
By
1987, the station started to play contemporary jazz at night, as its ratings were on the decline. Then, on
August 10,
1988 the station adopted a full-time
smooth jazz format, as it rebranded to
"CD 101.9" with the call letters
WQCD. The station has more or less stayed with the format since the change, despite eventually adding some songs more suited for an
adult contemporary format.
WQCD also ran an experiment from
November 22,
2004 until
August 2005, when the station's playlist included
chill music, a form of relaxing music based on the music found in the beaches of
Ibiza. Their ratings were not satisfactory, and the experiment ended. The station still retains the tagline,
CD101.9, Your Chill-Out Station.
WQCD was owned by
Tribune Broadcasting until the late 1990s, when it was sold to
Emmis Communications.
* (Change of call letters from WGHF to WBFM) â€"
The New York Times, November 17, 1955.
*
WPIX Buys Radio Station â€"
The New York Times, December 10, 1963.
*
CD 101.9
