WCBS/880 AM to celebrate its legacy with three-hour special

WCBS/880 AM will wrap 57 years as a beloved all-news New York broadcast institution Monday morning at 12:01, but those six eventful decades will first be celebrated in a three-hour "commemorative special" to air Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Neither the station nor its owner, Audacy, have offered many details about Thursday's program other than that it will be live and anchored by the veteran 880 trio of Wayne Cabot, Paul Murnane and Brigitte Quinn. Audacy initially described the program as a "special edition" of Quinn's midday show, "Newsline," but it now appears to have evolved into a much deeper dive into 880's legacy.

And if perhaps only by osmosis, Thursday's live special should also reflect some of the bereavement listeners and staffers have shared since the Philadelphia-based radio giant announced that the 24-hour news format will be replaced by sports talk ESPN New York on Aug. 26 and the station renamed WHSQ.

Murnane and Cabot will also anchor another special — expected to air over the weekend — on the long history of WCBS itself. Just before the 12:01 changeover early Monday, Cabot — who became an anchor here 36 years ago — will offer a personal farewell message. 

In a phone interview late Wednesday, Cabot said of Thursday special, "imagine living in a house for 57 years and you have six hours to pack up and get out. We're sorting through our trove of an archive and will slam, cram and jam as much as we can in three hours, and those [station alumni] who haven't flown the coop to Florida or New Mexico will be making a bee-line to the studio, with some on the phone or by Zoom."

He added, "we want to do as much as we can, and in an up-beat way. This isn't mourning, but a celebration."

 Murnane — who joined 880 as a reporter in 1994 and became morning co-anchor in 2016 — said "we have a very rough sketch of what we anticipate will be a huge amount of archival material" for both commemorative programs. "We have some special guests coming in, but I don't want to promise specific names because you know how things go getting to a studio in Manhattan. But so many people have things they want to say about WCBS, including people in government who have relied on this station to get the word out in good times and bad. It's really been such an overwhelming response."

He added, "We also want to do something that pays tribute to all the constituencies inside the organization because we stand on the foundation built by so many great broadcasters and writers."

In radio history, that foundation is indeed legion. WCBS launched on Sept. 20, 1924 as WAHG (for owner Alfred H. Grebe), later renamed WABC (for "Atlantic Broadcasting Company"). William S. Paley bought the station in 1928 as the flagship for his fledgling CBS radio network. The all-news format launched Aug. 28, 1967, two years after WINS/1010, also now owned by Audacy, switched from rock music to all-news.

WINS  has traditionally been a stronger station in New York City, while 880's stronghold has been Long Island, Connecticut, and suburbs north and out east (the WCBS antenna, set on a small rock outcrop off City Island, broadcasts an especially powerful 50,000 watt "clear channel" signal). WCBS featured a direct, sober, and authoritative style, in sharp contrast to 1010's scrappy, staccato "you-give-us-22-minutes-we'll-give-you-the-world" approach.

The competition largely ended after Audacy — then called Entercom — bought the CBS-owned stations in 2017, then began to simulcast 1010 on 92.3 FM in 2022. The move was designed to introduce younger listeners to 1010 and to boost that listenership beyond the five boroughs. It worked but at 880's expense: Since then, 1010's ratings have improved dramatically, while 880's have dropped.

In a phone interview Wednesday, former news director Tim Scheld said "we wanted to own breaking news. If there was a blackout, flood or snowstorm, our staff was very aggressive but the delivery was calm, steady, informative. You saw that on 9/11, the pandemic, Superstorm Sandy, Jan. 6, the Miracle on the Hudson, Sandy Hook, but the legacy of the place was built on the legacy of those legendary broadcasters from before. When you walk into this radio station you do feel the weight of them."

Murnane said "I am grateful to have been a small part of that tradition and that legacy — and it does seem to have had a cast of thousands — but I may not really be able to reflect on my role until after I'm out the door. I do feel gratitude for the people who gave me and Wayne their time and I don't think you can get more than that from people in New York given all the choices.

"My plan for my first day outside of WCBS is to start going through all the [social media] messages and offering a personal thank you. There are so many of them that could turn into my next career."