WIP, at 90, Lives On

WIP Philadelphia has a celebrated history of its own, but to many former WNEW staffers, WIP, during years it was owned by Metromedia, was  the other side of a revolving door, through which people came and went to promotions or exile.  Two of the many people who worked both sides of that door, Andy Fisher and Dick Carr, attended  WIP’s 90th birthday party yesterday (March 21) and took notes.  Andy’s note, posted on the  NY Radio Message Board, is also reproduced below 

http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/394271.htm

Andy Fisher — A radio station that has at times served as a farm team for New York talent celebrated its 90th birthday today, at a luncheon sponsored by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia at the Bala Country Club in Philly.  Speakers at the WIP anniversary event included programmers Dick Carr and Dean Tyler and air personality Bill St. James.  Jerry Del Colliano, founder and former publisher of the industry newsletter Inside Radio, and a former news anchor and programmer at Philadelphia stations, was master of ceremonies.
         Speakers recalled WIP’s founding by — and at — the Gimbel department store in center city Philadelphia,  the purchase of the station by Metromedia in the late 1950s and its heyday as a standards station, its acquisition of the rights to Eagles football play-by-play, and its current success in sports talk radio.
After a lifetime at 610 on the AM dial, WIP recently began duplicating its broadcasts on FM and billing  itself as 94 WIP.

Dick CarrDick Carr posted his WIP notes on his Big Bands, Ballads and Blues blog:            www.bigbandsballadsandblues.com