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| Broadcast area | Delaware Valley |
| Frequency | 96.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | The New 96.5 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Hot adult contemporary |
| Subchannels | HD2:Channel Q |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1948; 77 years ago (1948) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | "Today" (previous branding) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 51434 |
| Class | B |
| ERP |
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| HAAT | 337.8 meters (1,108 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°2′30.4″N75°14′9.6″W / 40.041778°N 75.236000°W /40.041778; -75.236000 (WTDY-FM) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WTDY-FM (96.5MHz) is a commercial radio station inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned byAudacy, Inc. and broadcasts ahot adult contemporary format.[2] WTDY-FM features programming fromPremiere Networks.
WTDY-FM's studios are co-located with located within Audacy's corporate headquarters inCenter City, Philadelphia,[3] while itstransmitter is situated off Domino Lane in theRoxborough section of Philadelphia, a site where other local FM and TV towers are located.[4]
Independence Broadcasting Company, the owners ofWHAT (1340 AM), applied to theFederal Communications Commission for a construction permit for a new FM station on 103.5 MHz on October 5, 1945. The FCC granted the permit on July 10, 1947, while reassigning the station to 105.3 MHz. The FCC granted permission on December 2, 1948, for the station to begin broadcasting, by which time it had been assigned the WHAT-FM call sign.[5]
In 1956, a young disc jockey known asSid Mark took the airwaves for the first time in Philadelphia on WHAT-AM-FM, beginning a multi-decade career.
On July 24, 1957, Independence Broadcasting applied to the FCC for a construction permit to change the station's frequency to 96.5 MHz. The FCC granted the permit on October 30, 1957, followed by a new license effective September 26, 1958.[5]
WHAT-FM became a full-timejazz station in 1958, the first of its kind on the FM dial. On November 18, 1968, thecall sign was changed to WWDB,[5] referring to the brother and sister owners of the station, William and Dolly Banks. In the early 1970s, WWDB experimented with playingadult contemporary music, but eventually went back to jazz.
In 1975, the station's format was changed toall talk, making WWDB the first full-time talk station in the United States that was exclusively on the FM dial.[6] On-air talk personalities includedIrv Homer, Bernie McCain,Frank Ford,Phil Valentine,Tom Marr, and Bernie Herman. The station called itself "WWDB, The Talk Station". Originally, the station carried nosyndicated shows, but came to air the syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show in the early 1990s. Nearly all twenty-four hours a day of talk radio programming with local and national news updates, came from the WWDB programming staff. Meanwhile, WHAT continued on as one of Philadelphia's radio stations aimed at the local African-American community.
After her brother William died in 1979, Dolly Banks took over as general manager. William Banks had no children, so several distant relatives filed lawsuits, fighting for ownership of twin stations WWDB/WHAT. In 1985, Dolly Banks retired after the African-American employees of sister station WHAT, along with the Black Media Caucus in Washington, D.C., sued the estate, receiving millions of dollars and forcing an estate sale of WWDB. The sale, which was overseen by theU.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), required the stations to be sold to a Black owner. WWDB was sold to Ragan Henry, a Black Philadelphia attorney, for an undervalued amount of $6 million. Henry's law firm had worked for the Banks family. Irv Homer had to testify before the FCC.
After a few months of ownership, in 1986, Regan Henry flipped WWDB, selling it to the decidedly not Black Charles Schwartz, who ran it under the name of Panache Broadcasting. Ten years later, Mercury Broadcasting purchased WWDB for $48 million.
After having been nearly 100% local programming, WWDB under Mercury ownership, added more nationally syndicated personalities such asRush Limbaugh andDr. Laura.
Beasley Broadcasting of Florida purchased WWDB for $65 million from Mercury Broadcasting in 1997. At first, Beasley said that the talk format would continue, but the high salaries earned by the veteran talk hosts became an expense the new owners did not want to pay. To earn extra money, the station began airing extendedinfomercials. After lawsuits filed by the Gay Alliance of Philadelphia, Beasley decided to change the format with no notice given ahead of time. On November 3, 2000, Beasley registered the new call sign WPTP for the station. At 9 a.m. on November 6, the day before theU.S. Presidential Election, the station beganstunting withMicrosoft Mary's computer-generated voice counting down to 5 p.m. that day.
At that time, WWDB's format was changed to1980s hits, branded as "96-5 The Point". The first song was "Don't You (Forget About Me)" bySimple Minds. The buyout of the WWDB hosts' contracts is said to have cost Beasley $5 million.[7][8][9] The WPTP call sign went into effect on November 22, 2000. Due to low ratings, WPTP shifted tohot adult contemporary in early 2003. The format tweak did little to improve the station's ratings. (WPTP's closest rival with the format,WMWX, also had low ratings during this time.)
On November 17, 2003, at 7:50 am, WPTP began stunting withChristmas music as "Snowy 96.5". At 5 p.m. that day, after a bit with then-morning host Paul Barsky, WPTP changed torhythmic contemporary as "Wild 96.5", and changed call signs to WLDW.[10] The station launched with "Get Low" byLil Jon & the East Side Boyz;[11] however, Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia), owners of thecopyrighted "Wild" moniker, threatened Beasley with a lawsuit forcopyright infringement. To avoid this, in February 2004, WLDW became "Wired 96.5" and the call sign changed to WRDW-FM. (The -FM suffix was necessary because of the existence of AM stationWRDW inAugusta, Georgia, which was also owned by Beasley.)
During its tenure as "Wired", the station would occasionally shift back and forth between Rhythmic andMainstream Top 40, while still placing an emphasis on Rhythmic and Dance currents/recurrents, and avoiding most rock-leaning product.
On October 2, 2014, Beasley Broadcast Group announced that it would trade five radio stations located in Miami and Philadelphia (including WRDW-FM) toCBS Radio in exchange for 14 stations located inTampa andCharlotte. Because CBS already owned two AM stations in Philadelphia, Beasley would acquire WIP, which today isWTEL.[12] The swap was completed on December 1, 2014. Shortly after the trade was consummated, WRDW-FM shifted to a more Mainstream Top 40 direction, though still favoring Rhythmic and Dance currents/recurrents.
During and after the trade, rumors abounded online that CBS would flip the station toall-news, this time as a simulcast ofKYW. This was partially due to WRDW-FM's continued low ratings; in the February 2015 Philadelphia PPM ratings report, WRDW-FM held a 2.4 share of the market, as compared to direct competitorWIOQ's 4.1 share. In the spring of 2015, CBS registered domain names towards a possible rebranding as "96.5 AMP Radio", joining similar stations inNew York,Detroit,Boston,Orlando andLos Angeles with the "AMP" name. On April 5, 2015, WRDW-FM began running without airstaff and promoting a significant change using the hashtag #965Friday5PM to come at 5 p.m. on April 10. At that time, after playing "Motownphilly" byBoyz II Men, the rebrand to "AMP Radio" took place. The first song on "AMP" was "Get Low" byDillon Francis andDJ Snake. The changeover also resulted in morning host Chunky and afternoon host/program director Buster being released.[13][14] On April 20, 2015, WRDW-FM changed its call sign to WZMP to match the "AMP" moniker.
During its tenure as "AMP", the station's ratings improved, mostly to a low to mid-3 share of the market, but did not dethrone WIOQ. In the December 2016 Philadelphia PPM ratings report, WZMP held a 3.0 share as compared to WIOQ's 3.6 share. Around Christmas of 2016, morning host Jason Cage and afternoon host Mike Adam left the station.
On January 5, 2017, at 10 am, after playing "Time of Our Lives" byPitbull, WZMP flipped to mainstreamadult contemporary asToday's 96.5, launching with "Raise Your Glass" byDoylestown nativeP!nk. At launch, the new format would compete against market leaderWBEB, as well as hot-AC formattedWISX.[15] (WISX suffered low ratings against the newly formatted WZMP later in the year, leading WISX to make a format switch torhythmic AC five months later.)[16] On January 13, 2017, WZMP changed its call sign to WTDY-FM to better match the new format.
On February 2, 2017, CBS announced that it would merge its radio division (which included WTDY-FM) withBala Cynwyd-basedEntercom.[17] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[18][19]
On March 16, 2018, the station rebranded as96.5 TDY, shifting to a hot adult contemporary format with a larger emphasis on current music. The switch also restored a hot AC-formatted station to the market for the first time since WISX's aforementioned flip, and returned the format to the 96.5 frequency since the flip to rhythmic in 2003.[20]
On November 12, 2018, WTDY-FM launched a new morning show,Coop & Casey in the Morning, hosted by Sean 'Coop' Tabler and Casey Reed.[21] The station also shifted back to a Top 40/CHR format, a move that followed Entercom's acquisition of former AC competitor WBEB.[22]
In March 2020, in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic and cost cutting measures, Casey Reed ofCoop & Casey in the Morning was let go, with longtime radio and morning show host Sean "Coop" Tabler remaining.
For the weekend of May 11 through 15, 2023, the station temporarily rebranded as "96.5 TAY" (pronounced "Ninety-Swift-Five T-A-Y"), playing only music byTaylor Swift ahead of herEras Tour stopping in Philadelphia for that period, promoting that the station would broadcast on site from her performances atLincoln Financial Field. WTDY-FM also began running sweepers announcing that at 9 a.m. on May 15, "96.5 will begin a new era."[23] At that date and time, WTDY-FM shifted back to hot adult contemporary and re-branded as "The New 96.5", with "I'm Good (Blue)" byDavid Guetta andBebe Rexha being the first song played.
In 2007, WRDW added anHD2 subchannel, carrying non-stopdance music under the moniker "Hot Wired". The music and imaging was similar to co-owned Miami rhythmic stationWPOW's HD2 channel, now defunct. In 2012, the format changed to foreign language programming as "VDC Radio". In May 2013, Hot Wired returned, while VDC moved toWXTU-HD3. "Hot Wired" was later renamed "WirEDM", referring toElectronic Dance Music. In 2015, the WirEDM name was phased out with the rebranding to AMP Radio, with the HD2 subchannel rebranding as "Pulse". The format aired mainly dance music from 2005 to 2012 with a few current songs in the mix. In November 2017, the HD2 format flipped to acoustic rock with a few alternative songs mixed in as "Alt 96.5 HD2". Roughly a year later, the format was shifted to a more traditionalalternative rock playlist. The HD3 format soon moved over to HD2.
In September 2015, WTDY-HD3 airedPopecast, a temporary station produced byKYW to coverPope Francis's visit to North America (which concluded in Philadelphia).[24][25][26]
In August 2019, WTDY-HD3 began airing programming from "Channel Q", Entercom'sTalk/EDM service for theLGBTQ community. Previously, it aired atravelers' information loop as "Hear Philly". The HD3 subchannel has moved to HD2 and has since been turned off.
