It was like old times again as Howard Stern made his first appearance on the FM dial in about 6 years. Stern was invited to participate in a farewell to CBS Philadelphia rock station WYSP. When Stern was syndicated, WYSP was one of his earliest markets and he has a fondness for the city for the fan following he had there. The WYSP dial position is now simulcasting all sports WIP after more than four decades of playing rock music. Stern told Spike Erwin " It was such an honor to be on WYSP. I'm nostalgic about a station like WYSP. I guess this just points out that people are getting their music somewhere else."
Stern reminisced with Erskin for over 30 minutes about his love for the Philly market. You could tell he was torn between whether to be happy or sad that WYSP is no gone. On one hand he said it was proof the station never really could recover after he left the terrestrial radio scene. But on the other he was sorry to see such a legendary station flip formats. "I'm very attached with the audience in Philadelphia because they did support me. WYSP was a great opportunity for me. We poured out heart and soul into it. I devoted so many years to that station and I will miss it."
Listen to the entire Howard Stern WYSP interview HERE
The station began its final hour with "Long Live Rock" by The Who and the hour included songs like "Keep on "Rockin' in the Free World," "Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone" and "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night." The jocks then got on the mic and announced their names and how many years they were with the station.
Listen to the last hour of WYSP HERE
WYSP Program Director Jeff Sottolano tells Radio Ink his team approached the entire final week on the air with style and grace. "Howard was terrific (aided by an incredible performance by Spike), but I think the real stars were our current staff who rallied around creating a memorable week of radio that did the call letters justice. Jocks who had been released gave up some of their last hours to allow alumni on the air to share their memories. PTers with nothing to gain from it poured themselves into creating memorable last shifts when they could have mailed it in. We learned a lot about WYSP's history and we learned a lot about ourselves. I just got out of the way to let it happen. The website will remain up for the time being with audio, pictures and more." Sottolano will segue over to WIP and become the Program Director for the all sports station.
Read comments from WYSP fans HERE
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