WMMR

WMMR tag line

WMMR's tag line, which appears on station advertising and is mentioned periodically by station DJs, is: "93.3 WMMR: Everything That Rocks" and, sometimes, "Philly's First Rock Station", or "MMR Rocks". In the past they have used: "WMMR, the home of rock and roll." as well as "MMR Means More Rock!" They used to go by the slogan "The Big Murmur in the Heartbeat of Philadelphia.". In the 1970s, during its early years as a free form "progressive rock" station the dominant slogan was simply "At 93 point 3 FM, You're listening to WMMR, Philadelphia...The Radio Station." Vintage station IDs with "The Radio Station" slogan can still be heard from time to time on WMMR. This series, along with the overnight hours of programmed music known as "OPUS" (2 a.m. - 6 a.m.), was produced by then Production Director, Paul Messing.

History

The station signed on for the first time with the W49PH call sign on April 20, 1942, broadcasting at 44.9 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM band. Owned by Pennsylvania Broadcasting Corporation, it simulcast the programming of sister station WIP (AM), which was middle of the road (MOR) music. On November 1, 1943, the station was assigned the WIP-FM call sign. After the FCC created the current FM band on June 27, 1945, the station moved to 93.9 MHz, then 97.5 MHz, before finally moving to 93.3 MHz.

The station's call sign was changed to WMMR in July 1966, reflecting the name of the station's owner, MetroMedia Radio. (The WMMR call sign had previously belonged to a student radio station at the University of Minnesota.[1]) The MOR format was still being used, but with different programming than the AM side, although the AM disc jockeys' announcements were used for both stations.

Beginning in 1968, WMMR began adopting a progressive rock format, similar to that of several Metromedia-owned stations including New York's WNEW-FM (these two stations had a close relationship, ran the similar promotions, and sometimes featured each other's disc jockeys on the air) and Cleveland's WMMS. KMET in Los Angeles and KSAN in San Francisco were also part of the Metromedia chain and followed similar paths in the 1960s.

Dave Herman was WMMR's first rock DJ. His show, dubbed The Marconi Experiment, debuted on April 29, 1968. Before Herman's arrival WMMR ran an automated "beautiful music" format during the day featuring programs like Sinatra and Company. The Marconi Experiment was very much an experiment for the station, one that succeeded. The first song played on the show was "Flying" by The Beatles over the intro of which Herman recited these words: "Arise my heart, and fill your voice with music. For he who shares not dawn with his song, is one of the sons of ever darkness". This was known as the incantation and continued as the regular show open for The Marconi Experiment on WMMR.

Michael Cuscuna, from University of Pennsylvania's WXPN, replaced Herman in 1970, but was quickly hired away by WABC-FM (now WPLJ) in New York. Michael Tearson, also from WXPN, replaced Cuscuna and remained a mainstay at WMMR for over 20 years. Herman went on to WABC-FM and then to WNEW-FM where he remained for over 30 years. Tearson worked at WMGK, also in Philadelphia, from April 2002 until January 2013. He currently works on Sirius XM Deep Tracks and does various online radio programs.

WMMR's major Philadelphia area competitors in the late 1960s were WIFI (92.5) and WDAS-FM (105.3). Neither station stayed with the rock format. WIFI later switched to a Top-40 format, followed by a change to a country music format with an accompanying change in call sign to WXTU. WDAS-FM changed format around 1971.

Later in the 1970s, two other Philadelphia radio stations became competitors: WYSP (formerly WIBG-FM) and WIOQ. WYSP later became classic rock before it switched to a sports format and call sign change to WIP-FM in the Fall of 2012, while WIOQ is now a Top 40 (CHR) radio station.

One of WMMR's most influential disc jockeys during the 1970s was Ed Sciaky, who was known for playing and boosting the careers of new artists such as Billy Joel and Yes. Most of all, he introduced Bruce Springsteen to Philadelphia, and decades later, the city remains one of Springsteen's strongest fan bases and the scenes of many of his best-received concerts. Other alumni include two National Public Radio hosts: David Dye, still a local radio personality and host of the syndicated World Cafe, and Nick Spitzer, now a New Orleans resident and host of American Routes. John DeBella was the morning drive disc jockey of most note, alongside news man and sidekick Mark "The Shark" Drucker (later of KYW AM), while some WMMR jocks such as Dave Herman and Carol Miller would later become more famous on New York stations. Late 1970s morning and midday personality Dick Hungate would in 1981 create and implement the nation's first classic rock format at WYSP, another Philadelphia station.

In early 2006, WMMR launched its digital HD2 sidechannel with the "WMMaRchives" format, expanding the main channel format with the station archive of live and studio performances.

On July 19, 2016, Beasley Media Group announced it would acquire Greater Media and its 21 stations (including WMMR) for $240 million. The FCC approved the sale on October 6, and the sale closed on November 1.

A breakthrough station

Throughout its existence, WMMR has broadcast live rock music shows and interviewed leading rock music stars. In addition to the role it played in expanding the mainstream audience of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Yes, the station has helped elevate many other leading rock bands. It was one of the first East Coast stations to play acts such as Grateful Dead, U2, and Van Halen. The station also has featured local, Philadelphia-area rock music acts, such as The Hooters and George Thorogood, helping promote them to national status within the music industry. The station also has heavily promoted the grunge rock band Pearl Jam; at 10pm every night during the week it played a set of Pearl Jam songs in what the station called "The Ten Club." While Pearl Jam is known as a Seattle band, WMMR was one of the stations that gave it broad, East Coast exposure and played a role in the band's breakthrough popularity. It was a very popular WMMR segment among listeners.

The station also is closely associated with the band The Grateful Dead. Routinely, before playing a Grateful Dead song, WMMR disc jockeys will say "God Bless the Grateful Dead," a station saying that has endured over two decades. Most major rock bands and musicians have recorded tag lines for the station, including Mick Jagger and others. Springsteen once recorded a version of his song "Growin' Up", intermixing the lyrics "Growin' up in Philadelphia," and referencing WMMR in the song.

As with most rock radio stations, over time, WMMR morphed into an album-oriented rock format, and in the early 1990s leaned towards classic rock. WMMR's current format is simply called Rock, which is a blend of energetic classic rock and up-tempo current rock. Though more oriented toward the heavier end of the music spectrum today than in its earlier days, WMMR remains true to its heritage, playing new and old music, exposing local music, broadcasting with live, local personalities 24 hours a day and staying heavily involved in the community. As of today, WMMR is an active rock station since January 2007 because of Mediabase and Nielsen BDS moving them to the active rock panel, and forcing existing active rock competitor WYSP to go all-talk. This is due to most of the classic rock disappearing from the station as its sister station is classic rocker WMGK. WYSP returned to active rock later that year, although WMMR was still an active rock station. WMMR became the only active rock station in Philadelphia again when WYSP went to classic rock in 2008.

Events

WMMR holds annual events and concerts, including:

Rival stations

Because the Philadelphia marketplace is the seventh largest in total population in the U.S., and also because the city and its suburbs comprise one of the largest and most passionate rock music regions in the nation, WMMR has typically reported exceptional ratings in its core demographic audience, but several other successful rock and contemporary rap stations also thrive in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas.

The Philadelphia rock radio landscape changed drastically in the year 2005, when most of the stations that competed with WMMR for listeners changed formats. One of WMMR's primary competitors was WYSP, which broadcasts at 94.1 MHz FM. WYSP played slightly more heavy metal music than WMMR, while WMMR prominently featured leading rock, grunge acoustic and heavy metal.

With the departure of Howard Stern in 2006, WYSP then changed to the hot talk-based Free FM format by parent company CBS Radio, making it less of a head-to-head competitor with WMMR. This made WYSP an all-talk station during the week, although the station still played rock on the weekends. Though the stations still tended to attract from the same demographic, WYSP's format meant it could no longer properly be considered a competitor of WMMR. WYSP dropped its talk format and became a rock music station yet again. Still, at some times, especially during the evening and weekend listening hours, there was a sense of competition. WYSP, for instance featured its "Mandatory Metallica" broadcast each weekday evening at 10:00 p.m., while WMMR has countered with its "Ten Club" broadcast at the same time, which is a Pearl Jam set, with listeners at that hour forced to choose between a series of popular grunge songs on WMMR and a series of heavy metal music songs on WYSP by two very popular rock bands.

As of September 2, 2011, WYSP's parent company CBS ended WYSP's existence and the frequency is now WIP-FM, a sports radio station.

WMMR's new direct competitor is new alternative rock station, WRFF, Radio 104.5, and is a competitor for new music.

The station also competes in the Philadelphia marketplace with sister station WMGK, which broadcasts at 102.9 MHz FM. WMGK plays classic rock, though its listening demographic tends to be older than that of WMMR.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the Radio & Records magazine Active Rock station of the year in a top 25 market award. Other nominees included WIYY in Baltimore, WAAF in Boston, KBPI in Denver, WRIF in Detroit, and KISW in Seattle. In 2010, the station was honored by the National Association of Broadcasters with the Marconi award for Rock Station of the Year. They have also been honored as the major market radio station of the year by the rock community RadioContraband in both 2011 and 2012. In the late 1980s, WMMR was recognized as one of Rolling Stone's best rock stations in America. In 2014 WMMR was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in the "Heritage Rock Stations-Sill Rocking" category.