History of B96 (Revised Version)

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Disman00911
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History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

With the recent news of B96 shifting its format, I decided to revised the "B96 History" and divide them into different posts as the wiki is now defunct. I'm breaking down each section into different posts so that I can easily reedited them should additional information about the station resurfaces.

Wayback Machine
[External Link Removed for Guests]

History of B96
WBBM-FM, known on air as "B96", is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois owned by Audacy (formerly known as Entercom), which merged with the station's previous long-time owner CBS Radio. The station is often referred to as its slogan "B96" rather than its call letters "WBBM" since they are also shared with sister station Newsradio 780 WBBM-AM, which also simulcasts on 105.9 WCFS. B96 has carried the Top 40 format since the spring of 1982 and by the 1990s the station grew to become the city’s heritage Top 40 station, eventually becoming one of the most influential CHR (contemporary hit radio) stations across the United States throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The station has evolved over the years, shifting from a mainstream top 40 format in the 1980s to a dance-heavy rhythmic CHR in the 1990s to a hip hop/R&B leaning rhythmic CHR in the 2000s and returning as a mainstream top 40 format in the 2010s. However, as of April 21, 2023, B96 rebranded as a more older-skewing, Rhythmic Hot AC station and plays a mix of rhythmic-leaning throwbacks of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, alongside the present-day pop hits.

For nearly 20 years, B96 was also the home of the popular morning show, “Eddie and Jobo” from October 1988 to May 1994 and again from January 1997 to November 2008. During much of the 1990s and 2000s, B96 has been competitive in the ratings, often featured in Chicago’s top five most listened to radio stations since 1990. Demographically, the station has done the strongest among females, Hispanics, teenagers, and younger suburban listeners between the ages of 18 and 49. B96 has also acknowledges its gay and lesbian listeners and often participates in Chicago’s annual Gay Pride parade.
Last edited by Disman00911 on Mon May 01, 2023 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Disman00911
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Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:09 pm

Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

WBBM-FM prior to 1982
WBBM-FM began experimental broadcasts at 46.7 MHz in November 1941 as W67C. Originally, the station simulcasted co-owned WBBM-AM 780, which carried the CBS Radio Network schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, game shows, soap operas and big band music. In 1943, the station's call sign was changed to WBBM-FM. In 1946, the station began broadcasting at 99.3 MHz and changed to 97.1 MHz a year later. In 1953, WBBM-FM moved to its current spot on the dial at 96.3 MHz. In the 1950s, WBBM-FM and WBBM-AM carried a full service middle of the road (MOR) format of popular music, news and talk as network network programming moved from radio to television. By 1964, much of the music programming was removed in favor of news and talk. To this day, WBBM-AM 780 remains a news-formatted station.

In 1966, WBBM-FM stopped simulcasting from WBBM-AM and adopted the "young sound" easy listening format, which consisted of instrumental cover versions of recent hits of the time, contemporary pop instrumentals, and contemporary vocal hits. The format was created by John De Witt of WCBS-FM, WBBM-FM's sister station in New York City and featured artists like Herb Alpert and Petula Clark. By 1969, WBBM-FM switched to a progressive rock format but would evolve into an adult top 40 format in 1971. During this period, the station was known as "Stereo 96: Chicago's Favorite Rock" which featured Top 40 hits, album-based rock, and hits from the past. Featured artists such as the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Carpenters.

By 1977, WBBM-FM became known as "Soft Rock 96" and presented the "Mellow Sound of Chicago". The station during this period featured an Adult Contemporary/Album Rock hybrid format which would continue until early 1982. Core artists the station played included John Denver, Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, Roberta Flack, Chicago, and Jim Croce. However, ratings were never impressive due to four other stations that also provided the AC format in some form in the Chicago market: WFYR-FM 103.5 (now WKSC), WKQX-FM 101.1, WCLR-FM 101.9 (now WTMX), and WCFL-AM 1000 (now WMVP).
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

The Beginning of WBBM-FM as a Top 40 Station (1982-1989)

Hot Hits/96.3 Now Era (1982-1983)
In April 1982, it was announced that WBBM-FM would pick up a top 40 format known as "Hot Hits", which was created by consultant Mike Joseph in 1977 for WTIC-FM in Hartford, Connecticut. This early concept of a CHR format was credited for rejuvenating the top 40 format and would play a role in bringing the format to the FM band throughout the 1980s. The concept featured uptempo energy, plenty of jingles and offered only current hits on the top 30 without any re-currents or oldies. The Hot Hits format was already successful in WBBM-FM’s sister station in Philadelphia, WCAU-FM (now WOGL) when that station adopted the format in September 1981.

On May 02, 1982, the newly-renamed "96 Now" made its debut on the air. The original staff on WBBM-FM included Steve Davis, Joe Dawson, Gary Spears, Dave Robbins, Bob Lewis, Frank Foster and Tony Taylor. As a "Hot Hits" station, WBBM-FM played the Top 5 hits every hour and in between other hits on the Top 50 chart. For example, WBBM-FM would play the following five songs once every hour during the week of October 09, 1982: "Jack & Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" by Melissa Manchester, "I Keep Forgettin'" by Michael McDonald, "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne, and "Don't Fight It" by Kenny Loggins & Steve Perry. Reaction would be very positive, and WBBM-FM soon climbed up in the ratings from a dismal 15th in the Winter 1982 Arbitron rating books to 3rd place in the Summer 1982 Arbitron ratings book. The station’s new nickname “96 Now” was also shared with Detroit’s “Hot Hits” station, WHYT (now WDVD) since both stations were on the 96.3 FM frequency in their respective cities.

By December 1982, Mike Joseph was no longer consulting WBBM-FM, and the station had adopted its trademark "B96" name under Program Director Buddy Scott. The station officially rebranded itself as B96 in June 1983, a name which still stands today. Around the same time, many Hot Hits stations, including WBBM-FM, were now adding re-currents from the past several years alongside the current hits, phasing out the original “Hot Hits” format. Out of all the "Hot Hits" stations, WBBM-FM was the most successful for the longest period, as many other stations that carried the "Hot Hits" format, including WCAU-FM Philadelphia (the station that prompted CBS management to bring the Top 40 format coming to Chicago), would eventually change formats as the years go by.

In addition, B96 would accomplish what many stations before it had failed to do since the 1960s: defeat WLS AM 890 as the “Big 89” had been Chicago’s premiere top 40 station for over two decades. In the fall 1983 Arbitron (now Nielsen) Radio Ratings report, the station ranked 4th among all Chicago radio stations in a score of 5.1. More surprisingly, B96 would also finish ahead of WGCI, something that they would not accomplish when they shifted towards a Rhythmic/Dance CHR format in the 1990s. Other notable DJs during the pre-rhythmic CHR era of B96 include Dick Biondi, Zach Harris, and Don Geronimo. Only Gary Spears would be around by the time B96 evolved into a Rhythmic top 40 station towards the end of the 1980s, though in a second stint with the station.

B96's New Rival: WLS-FM becomes Z95 (1986)
As 1986 began, B96 was slowly declining in the ratings compared to where the station was when it first became a Top 40 station four years earlier. On January 20, 1986, WLS-FM 94.7, which had been a partial simulcast of sister station WLS-AM 890 since 1980, was rebranded as "Z95", and would become a serious competitor to B96 for the next six years. WLS-FM also changed its call letters to WYTZ to further distinct itself from its sister station, as the FM brand desired to skew younger thus dumping the famed call letters. Z95’s once-dominant predecessor, WLS-AM, which was declining in the ratings and leaned towards oldies and adult contemporary rather than top 40, would eventually flip to an all-talk format on August 23, 1989, bringing an end to 30 years of "MusicRadio" that dated back to May 2, 1960. B96’s "Hot Hits" approach and the rise of FM stations nationwide playing pop music were factors in WLS-AM’s demise as a music station. Due to the similarities between the names “Z95” and “B96”, B96 program director Buddy Scott added the station’s call letters "WBBM-FM" to its logo to further distinguish itself and its new rival. B96 and Z95 would trade victories in the ratings war although neither would be placed in the top five most listened to radio stations in Chicago for the rest of the 1980s. Around 1988, B96 often used the slogan "Chicago's No. 1 Hit Music Station" even though there were periods during this time where Z95 was beating them in the ratings. As a result, local media critics, such as Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times, criticized B96 for false advertising.

During the first four years as a Top 40 station, B96 had leaned very much towards rock hits and played only a limited amount of R&B and post-disco music, as it was the case for many Top 40 radio stations in the United States. After the mainstream success of artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Lionel Richie, B96 would slowly add more R&B crossover hits. Meanwhile, rock artists like Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, John Cougar Mellencamp, Survivor, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, ZZ Top, & Don Henley were largely featured in the early years of B96. It also wasn't uncommon for B96 play the top hits by hard rock and glam metal acts such as Van Halen, Def Leppard, the Scorpions, Motley Crue, and Sammy Hagar.

During the summer of 1986, B96 would start to phase out hard rock & glam metal artists from its playlist and develop a slight lean towards urban and dance songs for the remainder of the decade. Core artist played on B96 during the late 1980s included Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Jody Watley, Taylor Dayne, Rick Astley, Anita Baker, Madonna, Gloria Estefan, Luther Vandross, Paula Abdul, & New Kids on the Block. Latin Freestyle acts, such as Expose ("Come Go with Me", "Point of No Return", etc.), the Cover Girls (“Show Me”, "Because of You", etc.), Nancy Martinez (“For Tonight”), and Company B (“Fascinated”) were gaining traction on B96 during this time as well although it would be a few more years until the station fully embrace dance music artists. Z95 also played dance-leaning pop that were big hits during this time but also featured songs by hard rock and glam metal groups whose music videos were popular on MTV, such as Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Warrant, Whitesnake, and Poison. However, these artists were virtually absent in B96’s rotation. For example, “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard would rank 5th in Z95’s most requested 95 songs of 1988 yet B96 never played the song at all. Even Bon Jovi was largely absent in B96's playlists as the only track the station ever played frequently was the ballad "Wanted Dead and Alive", whereas "Living on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name" received virtually no airplay. Soft rock acts, such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Huey Lewis & the News, Phil Collins, and Genesis, however, were still heavily featured on B96's rotation. In a 2016 interview with the classic radio and audio website Airchexx, Joe Dawson, who left B96 in September 1986, described the musical direction that the station was experiencing at the time as a hybrid between urban contemporary WGCI and Adult Top 40 station WKQX 101.1 "Q101", the latter of which leaned more towards adult contemporary. Q101 was another competitor alongside B96 and Z95 in the CHR/Top 40 radio wars in Chicago during the 1980s although it would evolve into a Hot AC station by the early 1990s and later flipping to alternative rock in 1992.

For a brief time in early 1987, B96 featured the house track "If You Only Knew" by Chip E, who was a key figure in the growing underground Chicago house music scene. "If You Only Knew" was a staple in the mix sets on both urban contemporary stations, 107.5 WGCI and 102.7 WBMX (now WVAZ) and the song was included on regular airplay rotation on both stations. However, there was conflict between B96's upper management and music director Joe Bohannon, who would be later be known as one-half of B96’s popular morning show duo "Eddie and Jobo", as Bohannon initially wanted more tracks such as "If You Only Knew" included on B96’s playlist whereas upper management was very dismissive towards Chicago house records. As a result, Chip E's song didn't last very long on B96's rotation. Other house records such as "Ain't Nothing But a House Party" by Phil Fearon, "Showing Out (Get Fresh For the Weekend)" by Mel & Kim, and "Pump Up the Volume" by M/A/R/R/S did receive some airplay on B96 but these tracks were far more popular overseas in the United Kingdom, where house music was far more popular in terms of mainstream pop success then it was in the United States at the time. Case in point, "Jack Your Body" by Steve "Silk" Hurley and "Love Can't Turn Around" by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, both of whom were important figures in the Chicago house scene, each surprisingly managed to make the UK Top 40 charts, yet American Top 40/CHR stations, including B96, either ignored or refused to acknowledge underground dance/club records, such as Chicago house, as hit pop records. This was largely due to the backlash over electronic dance music's predecessor, disco music of the 1970s, which ironically enough Chicago would play a key role in the once-popular genre's demise in the United States due to the infamous baseball promotion "Disco Demotion Night", where WLUP-FM radio jock Steve Dahl encouraged Chicago White Sox fans to blow up disco records at Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979. It should also be noted that Dahl had been previously fired at 94.7 FM, which used the call letters WDAI at the time, after the station switched formats from rock to disco in December 1978.
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

Killer Bee/Party Radio Era: The Dance Music Years (1989-1997)

As 1989 progressed, B96 further evolved into a full-fledged Rhythmic CHR, or "Churban", which was a hybrid between a standard top 40 format and an urban format that played R&B and occasionally dance and hip hop. The Rhythmic CHR format proved to be already successful in the two largest markets in the country as KPWR (105.9 FM, "Power 106") in Los Angeles and WQHT (97.1 “Hot 97”) in New York were both highly competitive in their respective cities since the format was introduced on both stations in 1986. Other Top 40 stations that were heavily rhythmic during the late 1980s included now-defunct KHQT Hot 97.7 in San Jose, KMEL 106 FM in San Francisco, WPOW Power 96 in Miami, WIOQ Q102 in Philadelphia, and WPGC 95.5 in Washington, DC. Urban and dance music were increasingly becoming more popular on Top 40 radio as the 1980s ended, especially compared to earlier in the decade. Core R&B and dance-leaning artists featured on B96 during this time included Bobby Brown, Pebbles, Samantha Fox, Stevie B, Information Society, the Jets, Paula Abdul, and the now-infamous Milli Vanilli. With the “Churban” format already popular in the nation’s two largest markets, it seemed inevitable that Chicago, being the nation’s third largest market, would gain a fully Rhythmic Top 40 station. Although B96 had a slight urban-leaning format that contrasted with rival Z95's broader, rock-leaning playlist, it was still relatively tame when compared to what other stations nationwide like Hot 97 New York, Power 106 Los Angeles and Power 96 Miami were putting out as hits during the late 1980s.

Another factor on B96's shift from Mainstream Top 40 to Rhythmic/Dance Top 40 was the demise of urban contemporary station 102.7 WBMX, which was known for its weekend night mix shows, "Friday Night Jams" & "Saturday Night Ain’t No Jive Chicago Dance Party". These mix shows helped popularized Chicago house music on the radio. On October 29, 1988, WBMX had flipped formats to Urban AC and changed its call letters to WVAZ. The newly renamed V103 also eliminated the dance mixes, rhythmic pop and hip hop from its playlist and added more "dusties", a term used to describe older R&B and soul records of the 1960s and 1970s, as the station now targeted an older black audience. In 1988, WBMX had struggled in the ratings against dominant WGCI, which not only won the urban contemporary wars, but also would become Chicago’s most listened to music station for the next two decades. It should be noted that B96 and WBMX/WVAZ were never direct competitors as the two stations targeted different audiences as B96, a top 40 station aimed towards a younger white (and Hispanic as the station grew more rhythmic) audience while WBMX, an R&B station, had focused on younger black audiences but shifted towards an older black audiences after the change to V103. Despite playing primarily R&B artists, WBMX would occasionally play Top 40 pop artists who were popular at the time, such as Madonna, Yaz, the Human League, Wham, and the Thompson Twins. Neither WBMX or WGCI would become factors regarding B96's musical direction until the latter half of 1986, when B96 began to increase the amount of urban crossover hits in its playlist. After WBMX’s demise, several of the station’s mixers, such as Julian “Jumpin’” Perez and Bad Boy Bill, and even the station’s voice-over talent, Mitch Craig, jumped shift to B96 not long after.

The Killer Bee's Ratings Boom (1990-1991)
In 1990, B96 adopted the "Killer Bee" slogan and was officially recognized by the Nielsen Broadcast Data System as a Rhythmic Top 40 station, as there was now a bigger emphasis on R&B, Hip Hop, and dance-leaning pop rather than rock-based pop on B96’s playlist. Billboard also took notice of B96’s more rhythmic direction and on its March 10, 1990 issue, the magazine moved B96 from its Mainstream Top 40 Panel to its Top 40/Dance panel after revising and expanding its Top 40 and Hot 100 charts based on the Fall 1989 ratings. The decision focus on dance-based hits would soon pay off as by the fall 1990 ratings report, B96 suddenly became one of Chicago's hottest radio stations, ranking at #3 only behind urban contemporary WGCI-FM and talk station WGN-AM 720. This was unexpected as B96 and Top 40 rival Z95 often traded victories in the past four years with neither station gaining much traction overall in the ratings war. Just a year earlier, B96 had to fight off rumors that it would abandon the Top 40 format as Z95 was beating them in the ratings at the time. In addition, it was also rumored that 95.5 WNUA (now WCHI with an 80s/90s/00s Mainstream Rock format) would flip from its smooth jazz/new age format to top 40 to compete not only against B96 but also Z95 and Q101 but its parent company at the time denied such rumors and WNUA maintained its smooth jazz format for the next 20 years.

B96 program director Dave Shakes, who joined the station in January 1990 after the departure of Buddy Scott a year earlier, described the station's path to success in what he had called a "Three-M Path": Music, Mornings, and Marketing. Shakes acknowledged that the dance-leaning pop records and the Chicago house scene were key factors in B96's newly found ratings success. Furthermore, he added that many of the rock-leaning pop records were not catching on to the station's core audience due to the large size and ethnic diversity of the Chicago market thus taking a longer time to discover hit records in comparison to smaller markets. Shakes also wanted B96 to increase its audience by serving Hispanic listeners more aggressively than black listeners as he felt that the black audience was already served well in Chicago with the successes of WGCI and V103 (formerly WBMX). The results would pay off as B96's audience became more racially diverse than Z95's audience as Hispanics made up about 34% of B96's total listeners and black listeners made up about 10% while Z95's audience was mostly white. Secondly, Shakes cited the success of B96's morning show "Eddie and Jobo" as another key ingredient in the station's success. Thirdly, Shakes described B96's aggressive marketing and established the "Killer Bee Culture" to distinguished B96 from its rival Z95 due to the similarities of each station's nickname. For example, B96 listeners would be encouraged to put a finger to their lips and make a buzzing sound, which moves into a stuttered "B-B-B96" when the B96 personality says "Gimme a B" rather than the traditional question of "What is your favorite radio station?" after a listener wins a radio contest. Other ways B96 would market throughout the Chicagoland area included putting out "Killer Bee" bumper stickers inside newspapers, sending its DJs and personalities to public events, and reaching out to various communities in the Chicagoland area. As B96’s ratings skyrocketed out of nowhere, Z95, which by then had transitioned from a rock-leaning top 40 to a more adult top 40 station, would start to collapse in the ratings. Q101, now an adult top 40 station, had dropped the dance-leaning pop songs that were becoming popular on B96, thus becoming a lesser threat to B96 than Z95 was.

Dance artists such as C&C Music Factory ("Gonna Make You Sweat", "Here We Go (Let's Rock N' Roll)"), Black Box ("Everybody, Everybody", "Strike it Up"), the 49ers ("Touch Me", "Don't You Love Me"), Cathy Dennis ("Touch Me All Night Long", "Just Another Dream"), and Technotronic ("Get Up Before the Night is Over", "Rockin' Over the Melody") were featured heavily on B96. House tracks such as “Dirty Cash” by the Adventures of Stevie V, “Another Sleepless Night" by Shawn Christopher, "Wiggle It" by 2 in a Room, and "People Are Still Having Sex", by one-time B96 personality Bud LaTour were hits during this time. Latin freestyle was also thriving as tracks like "Together Forever " by Lisette Melendez, "Temptation" by Corina, "Bad of the Heart" by George Lamond. “Dreamboy/Dreamgirl” by Cynthia & Johnny O, and "Louder than Love" by TKA were on heavy rotation on B96.

In addition to the heavy dose of dance acts, B96 also began to play radio-friendly hip hop artists such as Vanilla Ice {"Ice Ice Baby"), MC Hammer (“U Can’t Touch This”, "2 Legit 2 Quit"), Salt N' Pepa ("Expressions", "Let’s Talk About Sex”), LL Cool J ("Mama Said Knock You Out", "Around the Way Girl"), and Naughty By Nature ("O.P.P."), whereas prior to 1989, the station played very little hip hop. Even the 2 Live Crew, whose 1989 album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" was riddled with controversy over sexual content and launched a nationwide debate over censorship, was receiving airplay on B96 as PD Dave Shakes proclaimed that he was proud playing "Me So Horny" on B96. However, the station would avoid playing tracks from gangsta rap artists, such as Ice Cube and NWA, though by 1993 such artists would eventually be included on B96's playlists due to the growing popularity of west coast hip hop. Naturally, R&B artists, such as Bell Biv Devoe, Karyn White, En Vogue, Johnny Gill, and crossover acts, such as Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey, were also featured frequently on B96's playlists. Despite the focus more on Hip Hop and dance music, more traditional pop and adult contemporary artists such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Phil Collins, and Billy Joel were still being featured on B96.

Notable B96 on-air personalities during the dance-leaning Killer Bee era included George McFly, Coco Cortez, Gary Spears (one of WBBM-FM's original DJs when it launched its Top 40 format in 1982), Karen Hand, Todd Cavanah (who was later promoted as B96’s program director in 1993) and the popular morning duo of Eddie & Jobo. One local program that B96 aired was "Street Buzz", which allowed listeners to socialize about anything that was going on in Chicago, such as what was the hottest trends in the club scene.

B96 also aired nationally syndicated weekend programs, such as “Casey’s Top 40”, a pop music countdown program hosted by legendary radio personality Casey Kasem from 1989 to 1998 although B96 would stop airing the syndicated program in July 1993. B96 was one of the first two affiliates of Kasem's new countdown show after he had left "America's Top 40" in 1988, the other being mainstream top 40 station WHTZ "Z100" in New York. Coincidentally, WBBM-FM had also aired Kasem's previous countdown program "American Top 40" in 1979, back when the station had a soft rock/adult contemporary format. WBBM-FM aired the program until April 3, 1982 (just a month before WBBM-FM flipped formats from AC to Top 40/CHR), when it moved to WLS-AM 890 after AT40’s parent company, Watermark, was bought by ABC, which decided to put the program on its radio affiliates instead. Furthermore, rival Z95 had aired "American Top 40" from June 28, 1987, which was hosted by Kasem at the time before he was replaced by Shadoe Stevens a year later, until October 20, 1991 when the station (then known as Hot 94.7 instead of Z95) flipped from Top 40 to simulcasting Talk radio WLS 890 AM.

Another syndicated program that B96 aired for a while was “American Dance Traxx”, a weekend dance music countdown that also aired on many Rhythmic CHR/Top 40 stations such as Hot 97 New York, Power 106 Los Angeles, WIOQ-FM "Q102" in Philadelphia, and WLUM-FM in Milwaukee (which has since shifted towards alternative and modern rock beginning in 1994). Although "American Dance Traxx" started in 1987, B96 did not air the program until 1991 when the station was a full-fledged dance-leaning Rhythmic Top 40 station. By the time the program ended in 1993, B96 stopped airing the program.


B96 vs Z95 CHR War (1991)
In 1991, the rivalry between B96 and Z95 would reach its peak. Two years earlier, in a foreshadowing in how intense the rivalry between the two stations would become, Z95 suspended host Alan Kabel, in a twist of irony would later work for B96 from July 1992 to March 1994, for allowing a caller say that B96 can “Suck His Dick”. As 1990 ended, now-struggling Z95 faced uncertainty about its future as a Top 40 station. In an interview with Radio & Records published on January 25, 1991, Z95 program director Ric Lippincott stated that the station was not flipping to country (which ironically would happen on December 26, 1995 though the top 40 format had been abandoned four years prior) and that there was still room for a mainstream top 40 station in Chicago and viewed B96 as the city's third R&B station after WGCI and V103. Z95 management also admitted that B96's approach towards dance music was a major factor in B96 pulling away from them in the ratings but remained optimistic that their ratings would turn around and dismissed the style of music B96 was playing on heavy rotation as "disco music", believing that radio listeners would grow tired of it.

Yet on January 28, 1991, Z95 had drastically altered its playlist from a mainstream Top 40/CHR to a more dance-leaning Rhythmic CHR to complete with B96 head on, resulting in both stations having near-identical playlists. The ratings between the two stations were going in opposite directions with B96 going up and Z95 going down. For the past year, B96 listeners had complained that Z95 played too much rock and not enough “variety”. In other words, Z95 did not play enough of the dance and R&B songs that were crucial to B96’s rise into becoming Chicago’s #3 most listened to radio station. Despite changing its playlist to mimic that of B96's, Z95 insisted that they were not a "dance music" station and that they were only playing the records that were hits in Chicago and that popular rock acts at the time, such as INXS, Nelson, & Alias, weren't catching on. In addition to change in music on its playlist, Z95 would go also overboard when it came to on-air attacks on B96, taking shots at morning hosts Eddie & Jobo and even program director Dave Shakes. Among the line of attacks used by Z95 including the following: "Eddie Y JoBo Son Estupidos" ("Eddie & JoBo Sound Stupid"); "B96 Chupa" ("B96 Sucks"); and "B96 Es Para Cabezas De Culo" ("B96 is for Butt-heads"). In addition to Spanish liners insulting B96, Z95 also included Polish liners with the same purpose as Chicago has a large Polish-American population. Z95 even demanded on air that both B96 and country WUSN 99.9 FM “US99” (which would become a sister station of B96 a few years later) pay $10,000,000 each in exchange for Z95 flipping into a different format. According to Z95 management, the reason that the station called out B96 by name was to let radio listeners that there was a choice for Top 40 radio in Chicago and that Z95 wanted to make its case on why it was better than B96.

Radio analysts likened the ongoing war between B96 and Z95 to the Top 40 battle between Z95's predecessor WLS-AM "The Big 89" and now-defunct WCLF AM 1000 from 1965 to 1976. At the same time, they were skeptical that Z95's tactics would actually work as one reporter pointed out that attacking a rival station's program director on air was practically meaningless as radio listeners would have no idea who that person is compared to a radio station's on-air personality or DJ. Nonetheless, the onslaught by Z95 had little effect on B96, which continued to dominate in the ratings. For the most part, B96 would ignore Z95's constant assault on them other than declaring itself the "Killer Bee" and its rival as a "wannabe", referencing to Z95 copying B96's successful dance-leaning format. Another promo B96 put out during this time featured listener dedications to the US military and declared that there was "too much negativity in the air over the war," a double meaning referencing both B96 and Z95's ongoing CHR war and the far more serious Persian Gulf war overseas which was going on at the time. Behind the scenes, however, B96 management discovered other ways to take out Z95, such as pressuring dance clubs not to do business with Z95 or its parent company, Capital Cities/ABC Inc., as B96 had developed a strong reputation among the nightclubs in Chicago since shifting to a dance-leaning format.

In early March 1991, public outrage, especially among religious listeners, grew over WYTZ's latest publicity stunt, as the station dropped the "Z95" name and was revamped as “Hell 95”. The newly-branded "Hell 95" began using slogans like "Go to Hell" and "You've Gone to Hell", in addition to taking shots at other big-name Chicago media personalities of the period, such as Steve Dahl, Jonathon Brandmeier, and Oprah Winfrey. However, ratings were still disastrous and after two weeks of “Hell”, WYTZ changed its slogan again to “Hot 94.7” on March 18, 1991. A minor controversy occurred when suburban Waukegan top 40 station WXLC 102.3 FM tried to sue WYTZ over the slogan "Hot" as the former was known as "Hot 102.3" at the time. However, WYTZ would be allowed to use the slogan "Hot 94.7".

WYTZ owner Randy Michaels had tried to employ some of the same tricks that he had used when he was in charge at Tampa Bay’s rhythmic top 40 station WFLZ 93.3 FM, also known as “the Power Pig”, in their battle against WRBQ FM Q-105, a rival top 40 station in Tampa, FL. His "Power Pig" strategy was successful in making WFLZ the top-rated CHR in Tampa and WRBQ would eventually flip to country in 1993. However, Michaels would not repeat his Tampa success in Chicago as B96 PD Dave Shakes had studied Michaels' playbook and succeeded in counter-programming against him. For example, WYTZ would claim that B96 wasn't playing any music and would encourage their audience to “check them out, while they wait”. When the audience flipped over to B96, they would stop their commercial break at that moment and play music, making it seem that WYTZ was lying to them. B96 also had decreased the number of commercials and played more music per hour as a counter-tactic against its rival. WYTZ stayed with its dance-pop format until April 26, 1991, when they returned as a Mainstream CHR (albeit a slight rhythmic lean) although it would retain the name "Hot 94.7." However, the station's ratings would remain poor and future shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, who previously worked at B96 from July 1989 to February 1990 as the station was further evolving into a rhythmic CHR, was hired by WYTZ on August 8, 1991 in hopes to turn things around.

On October 25, 1991, it would be too late for WYTZ as continued low ratings caused the station to flip formats to talk, largely simulcasting its sister station, talk radio WLS-AM 890, although there would be a brief younger-skewing talk format that occurred during 1994. Numerous formats would occur after the station flipped to a holiday music format to conclude 1995, followed by country music as WKXK in 1996, album-based classic rock as WXCD in May 1997 (foreshadowing WDRV 97.1 the Drive, which debuted in 2001), 1980s-based hits as WZZN in November 2000, and alternative rock in September 2001. The final format change to date occurred on September 25, 2005 as 94.7 became an oldies station playing classic hits of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and by 2008 restored the famous call letters “WLS-FM.” As the frequency of 94.7 FM would go through many format changes, B96’s top 40 format would stay largely consistent to this day and after the fall of WYTZ on October 1991, B96 would remain largely unchallenged as Chicago’s top 40 station for the next several years.
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

The "New Sounds" of B96 (1992-1993)
B96 entered 1992 as Chicago's only top 40 station on a major frequency, playing mostly dance, hip hop, R&B, and upbeat pop music. Other top 40 stations in the Chicagoland area during this time included WXLC 102.3 FM (now a Hot AC format) and WBUS 99.9 FM "The Bus" (now WCPQ with a Polish-language format). However, neither suburban station had a strong enough frequency to compete head on with B96. After the demise of WYTZ in October 1991, it was rumored that Q101 would return to a top 40 format and once again compete against B96. The station had added then-recent pop re-currents to its playlists and added the syndicated countdown radio show "Rick Dees Weekly Top 40", which was hosted by popular KIIS-FM Los Angeles morning show host Rick Dees. However, on July 14, 1992, Q101 flipped formats from Hot AC to alternative & modern rock. Although Q101 started out as a female-based Rock AC after the switch, the station would eventually skew towards an edgier, male-dominated audience and slowly grew into one of the most popular alternative rock stations across the country for a good portion of the 1990s and 2000s alongside other stations like XTRA "91X" in San Diego, KITS "Live 105" in San Francisco, and the pioneering alternative rock station KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles. With the growing popularity of alternative and grunge artists, such as Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and the home-grown Smashing Pumpkins, Q101 came at the right time. At this point, one-time CHR rivals Q101 and B96 had very little in common regarding musical taste other than that both stations would compete for younger radio listeners. Some of the tracks that were played on both Q101 and B96 during 1992 included “You Think You Know Her” by Cause and Effect, “Stay” by Shakespeare’s Sister, “Jump Around” by House of Pain, “Temple of Dreams” by Messiah, and “Friday I’m in Love” by the Cure. The last track in significant because it was the first song ever played by Q101 after the switch to alternative.

Around the same time as Q101’s debut as an alternative rock station, B96 would broader it’s playlist by adding a few more rock and adult contemporary tracks as there were concerns that only playing dance, hip hop, and R&B hits was making the station sound too repetitive. B96 wanted to prove that the station was more than just dance music and introduced a "Song of the Day" hour, which allowed listeners to determine whether they wanted to hear more or less of a particular song, usually a pop or rock record that didn’t exactly fit B96’s dance-based format. PD Dave Shakes cited success of the "You Pick the Hits" concept and pointed to an example that the core B96 audience wanted to hear more of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", a hit 1975 rock song which found new popularity due to the success of the 1992 film "Wayne's World”, which featured “Bohemian Rhapsody” in its soundtrack. This “new sound” of B96 consisted of playing hit songs that the core dance-pop audience of B96 at that time would least expect, in addition to wooing fans of former rival WYTZ "Z95", which had leaned towards rock-based pop hits throughout most of its run. For example, “Under the Bridge” by alternative rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers, received a lot of airplay on B96 during the summer of 1992. “Under the Bridge” was a huge hit on many alternative rock stations nationwide, such as Q101 in Chicago, as well as many traditionally rock-leaning top 40/CHR stations in the country. Even rock ballads, such as “November Rain” by Guns N Roses and " Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" by Def Leppard were receiving airplay on B96. However, the station still avoided playing non-ballad, harder-edged rock tracks that were popular on MTV or on several top 40 radio stations, such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Adult contemporary and softer rock hits such as Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway”, Patty Smyth’s “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”, and Celine Dion’s “If You Ask Me To” also received plenty of airplay on B96. However, the station would have a habit of being late regarding non-dance or non-rhythmic hit records as they would play them months after they had peaked in the charts.

Despite the slight tweaks in its playlist, B96 remained heavily committed to rhythmic and dance hits. R&B tracks like “Come and Talk to Me” by Jodeci and “Real Love” by Mary J. Blige received airplay on B96. Crossover artists like Whitney Houston (“I Will Always Love You”), Boyz II Men (“End of the Road”), Michael Jackson (“Jam”, “Remember the Time”), and Mariah Carey (“I’ll Be There”) continued to receive heavy airplay. There were many hip hop hits as well, such as “Jump” by Kris Kross, “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot, and “Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect. Techno and rave songs, such as LA Style’s “James Brown is Dead”, Fargetta’s “The Music is Movin’”, “It’s a Fine Day” by Opus III, and Phenomania’s “Who is Elvis” were receiving heavy airplay on B96. Although most of the techno sound was imported from Europe, there were US-based techno tracks that were hits such as “Speed”, a remix of the theme to the popular 1960s cartoon “Speed Racer” by the home-grown Alpha Team and “Jump” by the Movement, who were based in Los Angeles. Despite being overshadowed by techno records during much of 1992, house records were still represented, from the likes of Lidell Townsend ("NuNu", “Get With U”.) and CeCe Peniston (“Finally”, “We Got a Love Thang”). In addition, B96 mixmaster and personality Frankie Hollywood Rodriguez, under the alias “The FHR Project”, produced two house tracks, “Out of Control” and “Get it Right”, both of which received heavy airplay on B96. Freestyle still hung around with hits such as TKA's "Maria", Giggles' "What Goes Around", and George Lamond's "Where Does that Leave Love". Euro-based dance artists like Snap (“Rhythm is a Dancer”), Technotronic (“Move This”), AB Logic (“The Hitman”), Sound Factory ("Understand This Groove"), and 2 Unlimited (“Twilight Zone”) continued to be big on B96.

In January 1993, B96 premiered a sex-talk show called “Private Lives” that aired every Sunday night from 10 p.m. to Midnight although the show would move an hour earlier by 1995. The show was hosted by news anchor Karen Hand (who had been with B96 morning show as early as 1984) and psychologist Dr. Kelly Johnson. According to Hand, the show was originally designed for teenagers as a safe place to go for any type of useful information. “Private Lives” later evolved into an adult female show about relationships and even expanded to weekday mornings from 1996 to 1999. The main Sunday night program would continue to air B96 until 2002. B96 personality Gary Spears had hosted a Sunday morning show called "The Retro Show", showcasing disco music of the 1970s and early 1980s, replacing Casey Kasem's syndicated countdown program "Casey's Top 40" after B96 stopped airing Kasem's show in July 1993. Spears' show was nationally syndicated on also aired on several Rhythmic CHR stations, such as Power 106 Los Angeles and Hot 97 New York. However, by September 1993, Spears was released by B96 and "The Retro Show" would ultimately be dropped as well.

In March 1993, B96 had changed it slogan from "The Killer Bee" to "Party Radio" although the "Killer Bee" slogan would still be used occasionally throughout the remainder of the year. Nearly all the rock-leaning pop songs, although few compared to the amount of dance and urban songs that the station had added during the latter half of 1992, were suddenly dropped. This meant that songs like "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors and "Ordinary World" by Duran Duran, which were huge hits on multiple mainstream Top 40 stations during 1993, did not receive any airplay on B96, being Chicago’s only top 40 station, since those tracks weren’t considered rhythmic. Instead, B96 remained friendly towards dance music, playing tracks like "I Totally Miss You" by Bad Boys Blue, "I’m Gonna Get You" by Bizarre Inc, "More & More" by Captain Hollywood Project, "What is Love" by Haddaway, "Push the Feeling On" by the Nightcrawlers, and even "Percolator" by Cajmere, the latter being a huge Chicago house anthem.

However, it would be R&B acts that would be the big trend that year. Earlier in the year, B96 seemed reluctant to tilt more towards urban contemporary and originally declined to include the track "I’m So Into You" by female R&B trio SWV as management felt that the track and others like it was too "urban" for the station’s more Hispanic/dance-pop leaning audience. Chris Hensley, who was the regional promotion director of SWV's record label, RCA, hired the Nacho Salaza mariachi band to play the song at B96's studios. The stunt paid off as "I'm So Into You" was added to B96's playlist and SWV's other singles "Weak" and "Right Here (Human Nature)" were soon played on heavy rotation thereafter. More R&B artists such as Toni Braxton ("Another Sad Love Song", "Breath Again"), Silk ("Girl U For Me", “Freak Me”), Xscape ("Just Kickin’", "Understanding"), H-Town ("Knockin’ Boots"), Shai ("Baby I’m Yours", "Comforter", "If I Ever Fall In Love Again"), and Chicago native R. Kelly ("Dedicated", "Bump N Grind"), received heavy airplay on B96. The usual crossover artists like Janet Jackson ("That’s the Way Love Goes", "Again", "Because of Love"), Whitney Houston ("I’m Every Woman", "I Have Nothing"), and Mariah Carey ("Dreamlover", "Hero") continued to be hugely popular on B96. In addition, hip hop continued to grow in popularity, especially west coast artists like Dr. Dre ("Nuthin’ But a G Thang", "Dre Day") and Snoop Dogg ("Who Am I (What’s My Name)", "Gin n' Juice"). Other hip-hop tracks that received heavy airplay on B96 included "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty By Nature, "Informer" by Snow, "I Got a Man" by Positive K, "Ditty" by Paperboy, and "Come Baby Come", by K7, previously a member of the freestyle group TKA.

B96’s decision to increase the amount of R&B and hip-hop artists to its playlist was likely an attempt to better compete against top rated urban contemporary WGCI as B96 still had no major competition in the top 40/CHR market since 1991 and that WGCI was the only music station that was beating B96 in the ratings. In addition, B96 had already been musically closer to WGCI than to alternative rock (and former top 40 rival) Q101, hard rock/glam metal 103.5 "The Blaze" WWBZ (now WKSC), and Hot AC stations 100.3 The Point WPNT (now WSHE) and 101.9 WTMX "The Mix" during this time. Although the two stations were already competitors on the weekend hosting rival mix shows, WGCI for the most part avoided playing dance music outside its mix shows except for the R&B-friendly house hits that were featured on B96, such as “Follow Me” by Aly-Us, “NuNu” by Lidell Townsend, “Show Me Love” by Robin S., "Finally" by CeCe Peniston, & "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" by Crystal Waters. While B96 would never overtake WGCI as Chicago’s #1 overall rated station in the Arbitron ratings reports, it was able to maintain its position as the city's 2nd most listened music station and 3rd place overall among all radio station in the city, although a competitor to Arbitron, Birch Radio Reports, would sometimes have B96 #1 among all Chicago radio stations, beating both WGCI and WGN-AM.

In addition to trying to pass long time ratings leaders WGCI and WGN-AM, B96 also battled future sister station WUSN 99.9 FM "US99" for 3rd place due to the growing popularity of country music artists, such as Garth Brooks and Reba MacEntire, as well as the uncertainty of the standard Top/CHR format during the early-to-mid 1990s when compared to its popularity in the 1980s. Top 40 radio faced many hurdles, ranging from popular music videos on MTV to a lack of established artists, such as Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, as many new artists came and went. Between 1991 and 1992, about 150 former Top 40 stations, including B96's former rival WYTZ which temporarily was renamed back to WLS-FM, had dropped the format. A lack of variety and the ever-growing fragmentation of Top 40 radio was also an issue as Chicago Tribune columnist Dan Kening criticized B96 and other rhythmic Top 40 stations for not playing all the hits regardless of genre and only focusing on a niche selection of songs. Although Kening acknowledged that B96 was popular with its dance-oriented audience and was one of Chicago's top rated radio stations, he wrote that since B96 played only rap, contemporary R&B, dance, reggae, and R&B-leaning pop, it was not a true top 40 station and argued that adult contemporary stations, such as WLIT 93.9 "Lite FM", WPNT (now WSHE) 100.3 “The Point” and 101.9 "The Mix", were more closer to how a vintage Top 40 station sounded like when compared to what B96 was playing. In defense of B96, former on-air personality turned program director Todd Cavanah, who succeeded Dave Shakes in August 1993 after Shakes left B96 to accept the same position at rhythmic top 40 KMEL 106.1 in his native San Francisco, insisted that B96 was still a Top 40 station and clarified that the definition of a Top 40 station changes over time.

It wasn't just traditional top 40 stations that faced uncertainty in the early 1990s. Many rhythmic-leaning top 40 stations were also experiencing changing trends as Power 106 Los Angeles, Hot 97 New York, and KMEL San Francisco, were now focusing primarily on Hip Hop and R&B. As a result, these stations began to phase out dance-pop, house, and Latin freestyle almost entirely from their playlists. In addition, the techno sound that defined 1992 would also lose popularity and would be replaced with Euro-Dance, which, like its other electronic dance cousins, also struggled to gain airplay on Top 40/CHR radio, which was now sharply divided between a Hip Hop/R&B sound or a more modern rock sound. After the fall 1993 ratings report were revealed, B96 program director Todd Cavanah and new music director Erik Bradley soon realize that B96 was overplaying R&B songs and could not afford to alienate its dance-leaning audience which had been crucial to B96’s ratings success since 1990. Cavanah had put the blame on B96’s decision to follow the music industry’s trends, where R&B and hip hop were dominating the charts whereas dance music was struggling to keep up, rather than what was hot in the Chicago streets and clubs. Dance records such as "Give it Up" by The Goodmen, "Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat, the house version of “Dreams” by Gabrielle, and “Yolanda” by Reality, a dance project consisting of hip house rapper Kool Rock Steady on vocals and B96 mixer Bad Boy Bill on production, were soon added to B96’s playlist to provide a better balance between dance and Hip Hop/R&B. Even freestyle acts like Collage (“I’ll Be Loving You”) and the Chicago-based Legacy (“Stay With Me Tonight”, “Girls Do it Just for Fun”) received heavy airplay during a time where Freestyle was experiencing a decline in popularity. Nevertheless, B96 was one of the very few stations across the country that still played freestyle tracks in some faction. B96’s decision to bring its focus back to dance music would pay off as their ratings went up, increasing from 4.7 in the Fall 1993 to 5.4 in the winter 1994 Arbitron ratings report.
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

Party Radio (1994-1996)
As 1994 began, B96 was focusing back to dance music by increasing its amount of house, Euro-dance, and freestyle songs to its playlist, a stark contrast to what many of the other Rhythmic top 40 stations nationwide were doing, playing heavy dosages of R&B, Hip Hop, and very little dance. This was also likely to response to the station’s more urban sound throughout much of the latter half of 1993 and concerns about focusing less on dance music outside the mix shows. B96 also contrasted greatly with the more rock-leaning mainstream top 40 stations nationwide such as Z100 New York and KIIS-FM Los Angeles. For example, one of the biggest hits on B96 that year was the dance track “Another Night” by Eurodance act Real McCoy. Many Top 40 stations nationwide, including the more Rhythmic Top 40 stations that were now focused on Hip Hop and R&B, largely avoided playing Real McCoy and similar dance acts. “Another Night” would eventually peak at #1 on the mainstream pop charts and #3 on Billboard’s "Hot 100" chart. B96 is often credited as being the first major-market Top 40 radio station to play Real McCoy's track on heavy rotation, paving the way for other stations to add the song to their playlists. Other Euro-dance tracks that were played on B96 during this time included “Rhythm of the Night” by Corona, and “Get-A-Way” by Maxx. In addition, house tracks like “I Want You” by Juliet Roberts, "El Trego" by 2 in a Room, "Short Short Man" by 20 Fingers, "Your Love is So Divine" by Miranda, and "Booti Call" by DJ Sneak and Fast Eddie were popular hits on B96. Freestyle also seemed to be on a comeback as tracks such as "I’ve Been Thinking About You" by Jocelyn Enriquez and "Promise Me" by Lil Suzy, received massive airplay on B96, furthering setting itself apart most of the other Rhythmic top 40/CHR stations regarding dance music.

R&B music continued to be well-represented on B96 even as the focus shifted back towards dance. Hits like “Back and Forth” by Aaliyah, “Bump N Grind” by R. Kelly, "Creep" by TLC, and “How Do You Like It”, by Keith Sweat were heavily played on B96. Hip Hop from the likes of Snoop Dogg (“Gin & Juice”), Salt N Pepa (“Whatta Man”), Warren G (“Regulate”), Coolio (“Fantastic Voyage”), and Chicago-based Da Brat (“Funkdafied”) continued to be popular on B96. Although Chicago was neither a West Coast or East Coast city, B96 seemed to favor West Coast hip hop artists, such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 2pac, Warren G, and Coolio over East Coast hip hop artists, such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and the Notorious B.I.G., although the station would eventually add several of the Notorious B.I.G. songs to its playlists, such as “Big Poppa”. As B96 played hip hop almost as much as it played dance, the station somewhat gained a new competitor in June 1994, when WEJM 106.3 switched formats form Urban AC to a hip hop-leaning urban contemporary format since its parent company, Broadcasting Partners Inc., also owned V103 at the time. The new station, now known as 106 Jamz, skewed towards younger black listeners and was much more hip-hop friendly than WGCI, which at the time leaned heavily towards R&B and played limited hip hop outside its weekend night show “Rap Down”. The slogan 106 Jamz used was “Where Hip Hop Lives” and the station was modeled heavily after WQHT Hot 97 New York and KWPR Power 106 Los Angeles, both of which were finding new success as hip hop-leaning Rhythmic Top 40 stations after phasing out dance-leaning pop although 106 Jamz reported as urban contemporary rather than rhythmic top 40. For hip hop fans in Chicago who did not want to hear only the crossover hip hop hits and dance music of B96, the pure R&B of WGCI, or the older-skewing V103, 106 Jamz was much needed. However, there was controversy over the violent image of gangsta rap nationwide as several community leaders, primary in the black community, had threatened to boycott radio stations that played gangsta rap, which was massively popular at the time. Chicago was no exception as B96, WCGI, and 106 Jamz were each faced with boycott threats by several Chicagoland area ministers for featuring songs that had explicit language or sexual content on their playlists. By 1997, a weak signal prevented 106 Jamz from making a big enough impact against both WGCI and B96 and would eventually flip formats to Gospel and later again in 2003 to Urban AC as Soul 106.3, competing against one-time sister station V103. Lost in the shuffle in B96's playlist heavily populated by dance, hip hop, and R&B hits throughout 1994 were ballads like “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb, “The Power of Love” by Celine Dion, and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John. However, such tracks seemed like oddities in a sea of hip hop, R&B, and dance tunes that continued to dominate B96's playlist despite the station’s willingness to have a wider appeal.

On January 02, 1995, B96 partnered with WCIU channel 26, which had recently switched from a Spanish-speaking station to an English-speaking station, to create a new dance program called "U Dance With B96", also known as Chicago's Dance Show for the 90's. The program featured mixes from the five B96 mixmasters (Bad Boy Bill, Bobby D, Julian "Jumpin'" Perez, Tim "Spinnin'" Schommer, and Brian Middleton) and included dancing segments that were also seen on such shows like "Soul Train", "American Bandstand", and MTV’s "The Grind". An additional reason for the creation of "U-Dance" was to give an opportunity for viewers who did not have access to cable TV and thus channels that aired music videos, such as MTV, VH1, & BET, to watch the latest music videos by featured B96 artists. Occasionally, some of the artists that were featured on B96 at the time, such as George Lamond, 2 Unlimited, 20 Fingers, Lil Suzy, Fast Eddie, & DJ Funk would do a performance. However, the show was cancelled on July of that same year. Nonetheless, "U-Dance" was nominated and won an award for "Best Entertainment" in the regional Chicago Emmys in 1995.

Music-wise, B96 remained largely the same as it was in 1994 as many Euro-dance and house music acts continued to dominate the station's playlist. One such track was “Your Loving Arms” by Billie Ray Martin. Although the single was a huge hit on B96 eventually becoming the station’s 7th most requested song of the year, it was often lost in a shuffle where many Top 40 stations nationwide were either rock-heavy or hip hop/R&B heavy. “Fat Boy” by Chicago-based dance act Max-a-Million, was first played by the station around November 1994 yet the song got so popular that it ended up being B96’s most requested song of 1995 whereas the track received limited or no airplay on most Top 40 stations. Max-a-Million’s follow-up singles, “Take Your Time (Do it Right)” and the more reggae-hip hop based “Sexual Healing”, which were both covers of popular songs by the S.O.S. Band and Marvin Gaye respectively, also were heavily featured on B96’s playlists. Real McCoy would continue their dominance on B96 as the follow-up singles “Run Away”, “Automatic Lover” and “Come and Get Your Love”, which was a cover of a 1974 hit song by the band Redbone, each received heavy airplay. Additional Euro-dance records that were popular on B96 during 1995 included "Close to You" by Fun Factory, "Baby Baby" by Corona, and Nikki French's cover of the 1983 Bonnie Tyler song "Total Eclipse of the Heart." House records that B96 played during this time included "Boom Boom Boom", by the Outhere Brothers, “The Bomb” by the Bucketheads, and the Todd Terry remix of "Missing" by Everything but the Girl.

Rap and R&B hits featured on B96 included "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio, "Boombastic" by Shaggy, "Waterfalls" by TLC, and "Action" by Terror Fabulous. Despite the heavy focus on dance and urban hits, B96 would slowly begin to broaden its playlist by adding rock-leaning pop song that were huge hits at the time, such as "Only Wanna Be With You" by Hootie and the Blowfish, “I Believe” by Blessed Union of Soul, “As I Lay Down” by Sophie B. Hawkins, "Dreaming of You" by Selena, and “I’ll Be There You” by the Rembrandts, which happened to be the theme song of the popular TV sitcom "Friends." B96 PD Todd Cavanah added such songs to the station’s playlist due to these songs had more mass appeal to its primarily female listeners than the hardcore dance product the station had been known for at that point, in addition to these songs being too pop-sounding for modern rock/alternative stations like Q101, leaving an opening for B96 to play them as Chicago still did not have a mainstream Top 40 station.

As 1996 began, B96 claimed that the new year would be "the year of B96". The "Flame Thrower Five" most-requested-tracks hour, a staple on B96 as early as 1985 when the station was still a mainstream top 40 station, was expanded and replaced with the "Nine Most Wanted", playing the nine most requested songs of the day every weeknight on the 9 p.m. hour. The station would continue to develop a broader sound by adding more rock-leaning pop songs. For example, Alanis Morrisette was one of the biggest names in pop and rock music in 1996. Even though she did not exactly fit in a rhythmic or dance leaning top 40 station, her hit singles, such as “Ironic”, “You Learn”, and “Head over Heels” received heavy airplay on B96. Additional pop songs that were receiving airplay during the year include “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis and "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. Despite a broader playlist compared to how B96 sounded in 1994 and 1995, dance tracks would remain popular. Some of the biggest dance hits on B96 during 1996 included "Children" by Robert Miles, "Everybody be Somebody" by Ruffneck, “Do You Miss Me” by Jocelyn Enriquez, and “Where Do You Go” by No Mercy. Rap and R&B acts continued to have a presence as artists like the Fugees, Boyz II Men, LL Cool J, Brandy, and Monica were heavily played on B96.

1996 was also the year that B96 and sister station WBBM-AM Newsradio 780 would gain new sisters stations in country WUSN-FM 99.9 ("US99"), WJMK-FM Oldies 104.3 (now a classic hip hop format since 2017), adult alternative WXRT-FM 93.1 ("Chicago's Finest Rock"), classic rock WCKG-FM 103.5 (now WCFS and simulcasting WBBM-AM since 2011), and sports talk WSCR-AM 820 "the Score" (which moved to the 670 frequency in 2000 after the demise of WMAQ-AM) after CBS Radio, which owned B96 and Newsradio 780, and Infinity Radio, which owned the rest of the stations, merged. This was due to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on February 8, 1996, which made it easier for media companies to merge or to buy smaller media companies on the intention of growing larger. A year prior, CBS Radio had merged with Westinghouse, resulting in WBBM-AM and its chief rival, now-defunct WMAQ-AM news 670, under the same ownership.

In October 1996, B96 had changed its slogan from “Party Radio” to “Chicago’s Dance Beat” although the "Party Radio" slogan would still be occasionally used until the spring of 1997. One possible but unconfirmed reason for the slogan change was that it had been rumored that WPNT (now WSHE) 100.3 "The Point" would flip from its then-current Hot AC format to a dance-CHR format modeled after its then-sister station in New York, WKTU. Although the dance/CHR station from New York was only in its infancy that year, it was instantly successful in the ratings and provided a dance-friendly radio station for those in the Big Apple after WQHT Hot 97 had abandoned dance in favor of hip hop three years prior. However, the rumors of WPNT going dance would not come to pass as Evergreen, WPNT's parent company, eventually sold the station to Bonnville since the company, which merged with Chancellor and has since becoming Clear Channel and again to iHeartRadio, owned too many radio stations and was forced to sell three of them. One of those stations was WPNT, which ultimately had flipped to adult contemporary in October 1997 and was rebranded as WNND 100.3 "Windy 100", which resulted in competing against long-time adult contemporary WLIT 93.9 Lite FM instead of B96. Another reason for the change of format for 100.3 FM was that its new sister station, WTMX 101.9 "The Mix", had already provided the female-friendly rock-leaning, Hot AC format in Chicago. Had the 100.3 frequency became a dance station instead, it would have been B96's first direct competition since 1991 and B96's slogan of "Chicago's Dance Beat" would have been seen was a warning to the new station that there was only room for one dance station in the Windy City. It would be another two years until B96 would get actual competition in the Top 40/CHR format.
Last edited by Disman00911 on Mon May 01, 2023 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Disman00911
Posts: 551
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:09 pm

Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

From Chicago's Dance Beat to Hits and Hip Hop (1997-2008)
As 1997 ended, B96 continued to call itself “Chicago’s Dance Beat”. However, the station had quietly begun to phase out many of the dance songs that were heavily featured on the station's playlist for the past seven years. Instead, the station decided to grow into a more broader-based Rhythmic Top 40 format, ranging from dance (such as Real McCoy, Rockell, and Le Click), hip hop (such as Puff Daddy, Busta Rhymes, and Will Smith), R&B (such as Blackstreet, Keith Sweat, and En Vogue), teen pop (such as the Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, and Hanson) and even modern rock (such as No Doubt, Chumbawamba, and Third Eye Blind). Part of the reason for the change was that B96 wanted a larger appeal to the Chicago-land suburbs and not just solely focus on the ethnic-based club scenes in the big city. In addition, the station’s management felt that it could not justify avoiding non-rhythmic artists, such as Jewel, who were having hit records that were being played on other major Top 40/CHR stations across the country. Nonetheless, B96 still insisted that they were still a dance station but added that the broad selection of songs helped to give the station more mass appeal while continuing to serve the needs of their core audience. From a strategic perspective, B96 thought that playing more styles of music enabled them to keep the Top 40 format to themselves without worrying about other stations challenging them in the Chicago market as B96 was still the city's only major Top 40/CHR radio station during this time.

By the end of the 1990s and into the new millennium, B96 continued with its broader-based Rhythmic Top 40 format although it would put a bigger emphasis on hip hop and R&B artists, such as Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, Mya, 112, Will Smith, and Brian McKnight. Dance music was still present, along with dance remixes of pop and R&B songs, on the 12 p.m. Lunch Party and 5 p.m. Traffic Jam mixes, but by the end of 2000, they would be replaced by more down-tempo hip hop & R&B tracks. Meanwhile, B96 also started to embrace the growing popularity of teen pop, which featured artists such as Robyn, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Hanson, the Spice Girls, and Christina Aguilera. Latin-pop artists, such as Ricky Martin ("Livin' La Vida Loca", "The Cup of Life"), Jennifer Lopez ("Waiting for Tonight", "If You Had My Love"), and Enrique Iglesias ("Bailamos", "Be with You") would also become widely popular. In addition, B96 would also continue adding more rock-based pop songs that were popular at the time, such as Jewel's "Foolish Games", Aerosmith’s "Don't Want to Miss a Thing", and the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris". Meanwhile, electronic dance acts that were becoming popular, such as the Prodigy, Crystal Method, Fatboy Slim, and the Chemical Brothers, were non-existent on B96 and other rhythmic-leaning top 40 stations. Instead, such tracks being played on alternative rock stations like Q101, whose predominately male audiences were previously lukewarm towards electronic dance music. In fact, the only dance tracks that had any significance on B96 between 1998 and 2000 included "Music Sounds Better with You" by Stardust, "Around the World" by Daft Punk, "It Feels So Good" by Sonique, "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay, "Blue" by Eiffel 65, and "Believe" by Cher. Despite the slow shift away from dance-based hits, B96’s ratings remain consistent, even seeing an increase to 5.3 in the Arbitron summer 1998 ratings report.


New Competition (1997-2002)
In May 1997, WCBR-FM, known as Cyber Radio 92.7, premiered on a trio of three Chicagoland suburban stations: WDEK DeKalb, WKIE Arlington Heights, and WKIF Kankakee, creating a trimulcast. Not only was the station a dance-leaning CHR format, it was also the first Chicago-based radio station to be broadcast on the internet. Cyber Radio poked fun of B96’s now-ironic slogan “Chicago’s Dance Beat”, featuring liners such as "This is a dance beat, This is Not" (clips of dance songs such as Love Tribe's "Stand Up" or Reel 2 Real's "Jazz it Up" and R&B songs such as Keith Sweat's "Nobody" or Babyface's "This is for the Lover in You" would be used) and “We’ve Got the Beat”, reminding its listeners that down-tempo R&B songs, which were becoming more prominent on B96, did not qualify as "dance beats". In September 1997, Cyber Radio was taken off 92.7 FM and temporary aired Friday Nights on talk/rock hybrid WCKG 105.9 (now WCFS). Since then, Cyber Radio lives on as an internet radio website known as "CyberRadio2000.com" (since renamed to "1club.fm" and again to AddictedtoRadio.com).

In November 1998, the same trio of frequencies that previously aired Cyber Radio just a year earlier would flip to a more traditional top 40 station as “The New Kiss FM 92.7”, giving B96 a competitor and Chicago’s first true top 40/CHR station since 1991. Former B96 host George McFly was one of 92.7 Kiss FM’s on-air personalities. However, the station would be short-lived when in January 2001, Clear Channel (now iHeart Radio), which owned the “Kiss-FM” trademark, threatened a lawsuit against 92.7 FM’s parent company, Big City Radio, when it flipped Jammin' Oldies station WUBT 103.5 “The Beat” to a top 40/CHR station Kiss FM 103.5 WKSC-FM. 92.7 FM would easily give in as it had a much weaker frequency and that Clear Channel was a much larger media company than Big City Radio. WKSC-FM 103.5 would replace the 92.7 FM frequency as B96’s chief competitor. Like the previous Kiss FM before it, the newer Kiss FM carried a more traditional Top 40 format that was modeled after long-time successful sister station KIIS-FM in Los Angeles although it slightly leaned rhythmic. WKSC would occasionally take shots at B96 for not playing Hot AC & Modern Rock hit songs while at the same time taking shots at WMXT-FM 101.9 "the Mix", which had become a successful female-friendly Hot AC station since 1996 after years as a struggling AC station, for not playing the R&B and hip hop tracks that B96 was playing at the time. It should be noted that Randy Michaels, who was previously in charge during the dying days of WYTZ 94.7 "Z95" as a top 40/CHR station, was a consultant for Clear Channel at the time and was instrumental in 103.5 changing from Jammin' Oldies to Kiss-FM.

An interesting note is that prior to Kiss FM and even The Beat, the 103.5 frequency was once home of Rock 103.5 WCRX. The station had been revamped from a hard rock and glam-metal based format (formerly WWBZ "The Blaze") in 1994 and would take shots at other rock stations in Chicago, such as Q101, “the Loop” 97.9 WLUP (now WCKL with a Christian format), and classic rock 105.9 WCKG (now WCFS). Although B96 had not featured a significant amount of rock-based hits since 1986 and had rarely played rock-based pop hits since then, it was not immune from being mocked by Rock 103.5, which poked fun of the station for playing rap/R&B music as well as Europop dance acts that were popular at the time, such as Ace of Base. Interesting enough, WGCI, which would become one of Rock 103.5’s future sister stations, was exempt from Rock 103’s mocking even though it too also played R&B and hip hop. By 1998, falling ratings and the departure of then-popular morning show shock jock Mancow Muller to its rival Q101 caused WCRX to flip formats to "Jammin Oldies'" and three years later, the station flipped again to become the new Kiss FM 103.5 and to this day remains B96’s top competitor.

After losing the Kiss FM slogan, 92.7 FM would return to a dance format as Energy 92.7 & 92.5 on January 26, 2001 and played the popular dance tracks at the time that B96 very rarely if ever played, in addition to also playing classic dance tracks from the 1980s and 1990s. Dance music fans in Chicago were hungry for a dance-friendly CHR after B96 had slowly eliminated much of its dance music from its playlists outside its mix shows beginning in the summer of 1997 and focused more on teen pop, R&B, and hip hop. Despite a limited signal and a lack of respect for dance music by both the music and radio industries, Energy 92.7 developed a cult following both on the radio and on the internet. In retrospect, Energy 92.7 was, in a way, a spiritual successor to B96 regarding dance music, the same way B96 was to now-defunct urban contemporary 102.7 WBMX after that station became V103 in 1988.

In November 2002, Energy 92.7’s parent company, Big City Radio, filed for bankruptcy and sold the station and many of its other entities to Spanish Broadcasting System. On January 5, 2003, Energy 92.7 flipped formats from dance to Spanish, leaving Chicago without a dance-friendly radio station. On November 22, 2004, the Spanish format proved to be a failure and 92.7 flipped formats again, this time simulcasting variety hits station Nine FM 99.9 FM (which since has flipped to a simulcast of liberal talk station WCPT 820 AM in 2008 and more recently a Polish-based station “Polski.FM”). Meanwhile, B96 would add a dance HD-2 channel in December 2005 which followed the fold of the now-defunct Energy although the main 96.3 FM frequency still focused much more on hip hop than dance at that point.
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

Declining Ratings (2002-2008)
Although B96 had quietly celebrated 20 years as a Top 40/CHR radio station in 2002, it would the following year where the station would go through a major rebrand. In January 2003, the “Killer Bee” slogan that was used between 1990 and 1993 and briefly in August 1996 due to a broken transmitter returned to B96 as the station changed its now-outdated slogan “Chicago’s Dance Beat” to “the New Killer Bee B96.3.” The station also added the “.3” to its logo as a reference to its frequency of 96.3 FM. The logo itself presented B96 with an edgier urban image, compared to the station’s more colorful swirly logo that was previously used. Long-time B96 voice-over Mitch Craig was replaced by Pat Garrett, another voice-over veteran who previously did station ID drops for WGCI. In addition to the new changes at B96, morning show duo Eddie and Jobo would play a flashback from the station’s glory years of the 1990s on their morning show. However, dance music, which played a huge role during B96’s success during the original Killer Bee era, was still largely ignored in favor of hip hop and R&B.

Prominent artists that were featured on B96's airplay during this time included Eminem, Ludacris, Nelly, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Eve, and Missy Elliot. Many of the teen pop acts, which were popular on B96 from 1997 to 2001, would see a decline in popularity. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake (after the breakup of 'N Sync) would be exempted as they continued to be popular top 40/CHR acts. Notable on-air personalities on B96 during this period include Roxanne Steele, Dougie Stylz and Justin "J. Roman" Roman, the latter two being known as the duo "Stylz and Roman." Roman was previously a member of the Chicago-based boy band Vi3, whose single "Eyes Closed for Tight" received moderate airplay on B96 in 2002. B96’s long-time musical director, Eric Bradley, produced Vi3’s album which featured the single.

In April 2002, controversy surrounded R. Kelly, whose music had been featured on B96 since 1992, when he was accused of engaging in sexual activity with under-aged girls. Several radio stations nationwide had boycotted his music while others, such as WGCI, stood by him and kept his music in their playlist. Around that time, B96 had stopped playing music from R. Kelly's album "The Best of Both Worlds" (which was a co-production with rapper Jay-Z) but claimed that it wasn't because of his then-recent controversies but rather because the single "Take You Home with Me" had not caught on with its audience. R. Kelly would eventually be acquitted of all charges in 2008 and B96 would resume playing his music on its playlist.

On January 5, 2003, B96 and rival 103.5 Kiss FM both aired commercials on Energy 92.7, trying to woo listeners of that station as Energy 92.7 would flip formats from dance to Spanish the very next day due to the bankruptcy of Energy’s parent company, Big City Radio. Despite dance being viewed as a niche format and a weaker frequency, Energy had attracted enough listeners to prove that there was still room for a dance-friendly radio station in Chicago. To add insult to injury to Chicago dance music fans, B96 would not even bother to alter its hip hop-heavy playlists to add more dance songs that were popular on Energy 92.7 prior to its demise, considering the station’s once-prominent heritage as a dance-friendly CHR. Kiss FM’s playlist was also largely void of dance music, but that station was intentionally a standard top 40 station and did not feature the dance heritage that B96 had.

As 2005 concluded, B96, now realizing it played almost entirely hip hop and R&B, adopted a new slogan “Hits and Hip Hop”. Under this direction, B96 was competing not only against 103.5 Kiss FM but also more directly against long-time urban contemporary 107.5 WGCI and its rival WPWX "Power 92", which debuted in 2001 and could be considered the spiritual successor to now-defunct WEJM 106 Jamz. As a result, B96 would start to collapse in the ratings, dropping to 8th place behind rival Kiss FM. It would be the first time that Kiss FM finished ahead of B96 in the ratings since debuting in 2001. During this time, B96 added more “Hurban” and Reggaeton artists, such as Daddy Yankee and Pitbull, to its playlist to maintain its Hispanic-friendly reputation largely due to new competition from WVIV-FM 93.5 & 103.1 FM, a Spanish Rhythmic CHR known as "La Kalle". Only on a rare occasion would there be a dance song airing on B96, such as Madonna’s "Hung Up" or Cascada’s "Every Time We Touch" yet these songs seemed like oddities in a playlist dominated by hip hop and R&B hit records, which was a stark contrast a decade earlier where dance songs were far more common on B96's playlist.

In 2006, B96 introduced the "Slow Jam Mix Tape" airing every late night except on Friday and Saturday, which were reserved for mix shows. The program aired love songs and was much like the "Quiet Storm" on V103 and WGCI’s "Whispers in the Dark", but played more mainstream CHR ballads from the past, such as Stevie B's "Because I Love You (The Postman song)", Taylor Dayne's "Love Will Lead You Back", Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply" as well as down-tempo R&B tracks that were popular at the time, such as “Slow Down” by Bobby Valentino, “Sexy Love” by Ne-Yo, and “Don’t Forget About Us” by Mariah Carey. However, the "Slow Jam Mix Tape" program would eventually be dropped.
Disman00911
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Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

Current Era: Return to Mainstream Top 40 (2008-present)

In October 2008, B96 changed its slogan from "Chicago's Hits & Hip-Hop" to "Chicago's #1 Hit Music Station", a slogan the station previously used in the late 1980s. The change was to help better promote the station as a rhythmic CHR station and promised that it would not play as much hip hop as before. At the time when B96 was "Chicago's Hits & Hip-Hop", ratings were falling and B96 was making many changes in their air-staff. Since 2009, it seemed that dance-leaning pop was on a comeback, as artists such as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Pitbull, Usher, Nikki Minaj, Black Eyed Peas, and David Guetta had a more "electronic" sound compared to the pop music earlier in the decade, which was heavily influenced by down-tempo R&B and hip hop.

As of 2020, B96 continued to count down the most requested songs every weekday night, though the "Nine Most Wanted" has been replaced by the "Top 8 at 8", airing an hour earlier. In an annual tradition, B96 also continued to close out the year by counting down the top 96 (referencing the station's frequency of 96.3 FM) songs, something the station has done as early as 1990 although the most recent year-end countdown occurred in 2019, indicating that B96 no longer does a year-end countdown. On April 1, 2011, B96 maintained its call letters as WBBM-FM when failing AC station WCFS-FM Fresh 105.9 flipped formats to a simulcast of long-time successful news station WBBM-AM Newsradio 780. In March 2012, music industry service Mediabase moved B96 from its Rhythmic Top 40 chart to its Mainstream Top 40 chart. As a result, B96 returned as a Mainstream Top 40 station for the first time since 1989 as the station now played the same amount pop/rock hits that rival 103.5 Kiss FM featured on its playlist.


New Ownership and Ratings Freefall (2017-present)
Entering 2017, Todd Cavanah & Erik Bradley, who have been B96's program director and music director respectively since the summer of 1993, had remained in their respective long-time roles, although Cavanah has since became vice president of programming for Chicago radio stations owned by CBS Radio, such as B96 and US99, in recent years. On February 02, 2017, B96's long-time parent company CBS radio announced plans to merge with Entercom, a merger that became official on November 17, 2017. B96, including WBBM-FM's earlier incarnations such as "Stereo 96", "Soft Rock 96", and "Hot Hits 96 Now", had remained under CBS ownership even as the media company had merged with other media companies over the years, such as Westinghouse in 1995, Infinity in 1997, and Viacom in 2000. In 2021, Entercom was rebranded and renamed Audacy.

By 2018, B96 had added more pop/rock artists to its playlist, such as Panic in the Disco, OneRepublic, Ed Sheeran, and Shawn Mendes, making it sound closer to long-time Hot AC station "The Mix" WTMX 101.9 FM. Ratings-wise, however, B96 has been free-falling as long-time rival 103.5 Kiss FM has taken a commanding lead in the Top 40/Pop battle in Chicago. In the May 2018 Nielsen Radio ratings report, B96 finished #20 among all Chicago radio stations with a 2.4 rating, possibly the worst the station has been since becoming a Top 40 station in 1982 while Kiss FM was tied with 7th with WSCR 670 "The Score" (one of B96's sister stations) with a 3.6 rating. Some radio insiders see the arrival of classic rhythmic/hip-hop station WBMX 104.3 Jams (formerly WJMK "K-Hits" and one of B96's sister stations) in November 2017 having a negative effect on B96's upper demos in the 18-34 demographics. B96's recent cookie-cutter approach under owner Entercom, when compared to the station's more edgier street promotions during the 1990s and 2000s when CBS owned the station, was also a key factor in the station's fading image among Chicago radio listeners. In addition, the current state of pop music being dominated by electronic-based pop and mumble rap, as well as younger radio listeners going to alternatives to FM radio, such as online streaming services like iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube, are also seen as factors of declining ratings for Top 40/CHR stations nationwide.

On February 2019, B96’s HD-2 station flipped from dance to Channel Q, a talk/dance hybrid format that targets gay and lesbian listeners. The dance format, which was featured on B96’s HD-2 channel since 2005 would be moved to HD-2 station of WCFS 105.9 FM, replacing adult-contemporary Fresh FM, 105.9 FM’s previous format before flipping to a simulcast Newsradio 780 WBBM-AM in 2011. The dance format was also rebranded as "Energy", possibly as a nod to former rival and long-defunct dance station WKIE Energy 92.7 and 92.5.

On April 22, 2023, B96, in hopes to finally turn around its floundering ratings, changed its format from Mainstream Top 40 to Rhythmic Hot AC as the station increased the amount of throwback music from the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s to its playlist. It should be noted that much of the throwback music recently added by B96 is also currently heard on sister station 104.3 Jams. A few weeks earlier on April 4, 2023, long-time B96 PD Todd Cavanah left the station after 33 years, dating back to the station's dance-leaning Killer Bee days.
Last edited by Disman00911 on Mon May 01, 2023 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Disman00911
Posts: 551
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:09 pm

Re: History of B96 (Revised Version)

Post by Disman00911 »

The Mix Shows

A popular feature that had defined B96 since 1989 was the weekend mix shows known as the B96 Street Mix, playing the best of dance and hip-hop music every Friday and Saturday night. The mix show was originally known as the "B96 Dance Party" in 1989 but has been better known as the "B96 Street Mix" since 1993, except for a brief period in the mid-2000s when it was known as the "B96 Afterparty". Many of the DJ mixmasters over the years on B96 included Brian "Hitmix" Midddleton, Bad Boy Bill, Julian "Jumpin'" Perez, Frankie "Hollywood" Rodriguez, Tim "Spinnin'" Schommer, Bobby D, DJ Marski, To Kool Chris, DJ Speed, Maurice Joshua, Mixin’ Marc, DJ Spin, DJ Flipside, & DJ NonStop.

Brian Middleton, a weekend host at B96 since 1985, was that station's first ever mixer and had hosted a Saturday night mix show on B96 that began in the fall of 1986. However, he did not have full control on what songs he could mix with and was limited to just mixing tracks from the hottest pop artists at the time, such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Jody Watley, Taylor Dayne, Duran Duran, Expose, and so on. The edgier Chicago house music sound, featuring the likes of Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Steve "Silk" Hurley, Marshall Jefferson, DJ Pierre, Ralphi Rosario, Mickey "Mixin' Oliver", etc., as well as the house, techno, and freestyle songs that were being put out in other cities like New York, Detroit, Miami, and even overseas in London, was largely off limits on the B96 Saturday night mix show. Instead, such music was heard only on the mix shows at urban contemporary stations 107.5 WGCI and 102.7 WBMX. Nonetheless, B96 management was aware of the popular Chicago house music scene as the station briefly included the song "If You Only Knew" by Chip E, a house music artist from the Chicago-based DJ International label, to its playlist although it did not report it to the radio & music trade magazines, such as Billboard and now-defunct Radio & Records (R&R). In addition, Middleton had remixed the 1987 house track "Communicate" by Full House (another DJ International release) on Hot Tracks, a popular remix service label at the time.

The Forerunner to Dance-era B96: 102.7 WBMX
The dance music predecessor to B96, 102.7 WBMX, introduced its weekend mix show “Saturday Night Ain’t No Jive Chicago Dance Party” in 1981 which consisted of host Armando Riviera and a group of DJs known as the Hot Mix 5: Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Scott "Smokin'" Silz, Ralphi "The Razz" Rosario, Mickey "Mixin'" Oliver, and Kenny "Jammin'" Jason, the latter previously mixed at disco station WDAI 94.7 (now WLS-FM), which was the first Chicago radio station to feature mix sets. These mixmasters would mix disco, R&B, electro, synthpop, hi-NRG, and imported Italo-disco records before eventually creating their own club records which became known as house music. The success of the Hot Mix 5 resulted in WBMX adding a Friday night mixshow and a Hot Lunch Mix hour.

In 1985, future B96 mixer Julian "Jumpin'" Perez joined WBMX as the station’s newest mixer. However, Scott "Smokin'" Silz had already left the station by the time Perez joined the roster. In 1986, Farley would leave WBMX for rival WGCI, which already had its own team of mixers, consisting of Mario "Smokin'" Diaz, Mario Reyes, Mike "Hitman" Wilson, Fast Eddie, and future B96 mixer Bad Boy Bill. The rest of the Hot Mix 5 would soon follow Farley to WGCI the very same year. The departure of the original Hot Mix 5 was a coincidence as WBMX began losing in the ratings to WGCI to the point that the station would not recover. Filling the void left by the original Hot Mix 5 were other mixers, such as Bad Boy Bill, Frankie "Hollywood" Rodriguez, Mike "Hitman" Wilson, Pharris Thomas, and the “Godfather of House” Frankie Knuckles mixing alongside Julian "Jumpin'" Perez although Farley "Jackmaster" Funk would return to WBMX in May 1987. After WBMX’s demise in October 1988, Farley would mix at college station 89.3 FM WKKC before eventually returning to WGCI’s “Club 107.5” mix show and reunite once again with the rest of the Hot Mix 5 in the late 1990s. Despite their great influence on both the WGCI and B96 mixmasters, as well other mixers in the Chicagoland area, none of the original members of the "Hot Mix 5" would do mixes on B96.

The B96 Dance Party (1989-1992)
The demise of WBMX would eventually benefit B96, which was in a process of growing into a dance-heavy rhythmic Top 40 station. Entering 1989, WGCI’s “Club 107.5” was the only mix show on a major, full-signal radio station in Chicago although there were dance-based mix shows that aired on college radio stations or suburban-based stations that had weaker frequencies, such as Columbia College-operated WCRX-FM 88.1, Loyola University-operated WLUW-FM (Energy 88.7), Kennedy-King College-operated WKKC-FM 89.3, Northwestern-operated WNUR-FM 89.3, and WCYC-FM (now WRTE) 90.7. Former WBMX mixer Julian "Jumpin'" Perez would be approached by B96’s management about creating a new mix show. B96 management knew that the positive ratings his show had on now-defunct WBMX and wanted to bring that power to B96. Around March 1989, the B96 Dance Party debuted and would be instantly popular, more than doubling the ratings within the first three months and providing a serious challenge to WGCI’s “Club 107.5”. The success of the new B96 Dance Party would pay dividends for the station, which would lead to an increase of airtime.

Aside from Julian "Jumpin'" Perez, additional mixmasters include Bad Boy Bill and Frankie “Hollywood” Rodriguez, both of whom were with Perez during the last years of WBMX. Bad Boy Bill would soon be the station’s most popular mixer as he was credited for producing a mass amount of legally licensed mix tapes, such as the “Hot Mix” series from 1988 to 1994 and the “Bangin’ the Box” series from 1995 to 2003. Brian Middleton, B96's original mixmaster, remained a member of B96’s revamped mix show. Initially, there were guest mixers on the first year of the B96 Dance Party, such as Mike "Hitman" Wilson, who previously done mixes on both WGCI and WBMX and would continue to do occasional guest mixes on B96 through 1993. Another guest mixer, Tim "Spinnin'" Schommer, would become a regular member of the B96 mixmaster team. Unlike the other B96 mixmasters, Schommer focused more on Latin Freestyle rather than house in order to stand out better since his style of house was largely the same as Bad Boy Bill and Julian "Jumpin'" Perez. Nonetheless, Schommer would also mix house and hip hop in his sets.

The early years of the B96 Dance Party mix show predominately mixed house records with some freestyle and crossover dance-pop thrown in. Each hour featured a 50-minute set from each of B96's mixmasters. Some of the big house tracks during this time include “Big Fun” by Inner City, “Rock to the Beat” by Kevin "Reese" Saunderson, and "I Wanna Have Some Fun" by Samantha Fox. In fact, some of these tracks like “Big Fun” and Inner City’s follow-up single “Good Life” were hugely popular on B96 and were being played outside the mix shows and alongside the tracks by mainstream pop artists such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Phil Collins, and New Kids on the Block as the station continued to evolve into a top 40/dance station. Meanwhile, Hip Hop was almost non-existent on B96 mix sets outside a few up-tempo tracks that were faster than 110 Beat-Per-Minute (BPM), such as “I’m that Type of Guy” by LL Cool J, "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul, “I’ll House You” by the Jungle Brothers, "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc, & "Bust-a-Move" by Young MC. However, hip house, a fusion genre of house and hip hop, was massively popular on the B96 mix sets between 1989 and 1991. Most of the hip house records that were featured in the B96 mixes were Chicago artists, such as Fast Eddie ("Hip House", "Yo Yo Get Funky", “Git it Up”), Mr. Lee ("Get Busy", "Pump That Body"), Kool Rock Steady ("Let's Get Hyped", "You Ain't Nobody") and Tyree Cooper (“Turn Up the Bass”, “Let the Music Take Control”). However, New York-based artists like Two Without Hats (“Try Yazz”, “The Breeze”), and Doug Lazy (“Let the Rhythm Pump”, “H.O.U.S.E.”) would also be featured in the mix sets. Euro-based house tracks, such as the mega-hit “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic and “C’mon and Get Your Love” by D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis, were also popular on B96 during this period.

Around 1991, B96 would air live at the various nightclubs in the Chicagoland area such as Todos, Prime & Tender, and Eric's North Warehouse. By 1992, the B96 Dance Party started to play more techno, breakbeat, & rave records, such as “James Brown is Dead” by L.A. Style and "Who is Elvis" by Phenomania, instead of the usual house product as the hip house sound that defined 1989 through 1991 was declining in popularity. In addition, the length of the B96 mixes was shortened from one 50-minute set by each mixer to two 25-minute sets per hour by each mixer as a commercial break was added in-between mixes although the 50-minute mix format would return briefly both in the early months of 1993 and again in the spring of 1995.
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