WNEW returns at new address - HD
By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 15th 2008, 4:00 AM
Roca/News
Scott Muni
WNEW-FM is back. Again.
Only this time it's not on "regular" radio.
As of Monday, it's on the 102.7 FM frequency of HD radio, which requires
buying an HD radio receiver. It's also being streamed on the Web at
_www.wnew.com_ (http://www.wnew.com/) .
But otherwise, says _Norm Winer_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Norm+Winer) , _CBS Radio_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/CBS+Radio+Inc.) vice
president of adult rock programming, it is designed to bring back the full WNEW
experience, with high-tech 21st-century twists.
The programming is basically rock, as reflected in the revived "Where Rock
Lives" slogan. It will go back to 1967, when WNEW-FM signed on with its famous
"free-form" style, and continue to the present.
"One reason WNEW had problems in the past," says Winer, "is that it stopped
evolving. We want to present the station the way it would have sounded today
if it kept to its original philosophy of also looking for great new music -
the bands that would have opened at the _Fillmore_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Fillmore) ."
New music will be heavily mixed with material from the WNEW-FM archives,
which hold thousands of hours of live concerts and interviews by deejays like
_Scott Muni_ (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Scott+Muni) with artists like
_John Lennon_ (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/John+Lennon) , _Stevie Wonder_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Stevie+Wonder) and the _Grateful Dead_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Grateful+Dead) .
"This material is just amazing," says Winer. "You hear _Elton John_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Elton+John) saying this kid _Bruce
Springsteen_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bruce+Springsteen) is going to be a star,
and he hopes to meet him someday.
"There's a popular phrase in radio, 'unique content.' You can't get any more
unique than the WNEW archives."
Winer was also among those who tried to ensure the archives would stay intact
when WNEW dropped rock: "I called [Vice President] _Scott Herman_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Scott+Herman) and told him to be sure he
put a lock
on the tape library."
The past secured, parent _CBS_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/CBS+Corporation) has also designed wnew.com
for the interactivity of the future. The
station will have no deejays, but Winer says he expects listeners will step in
regularly and help guide the station.
"Just like in the old days, we have the room to do some of this by feel. If
listeners don't think _Arcade Fire_
(http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Arcade+Fire) works next to Elton John, we
want them to tell us.
"Too many radio stations now don't respect or trust their listeners. We're
trying not to make that mistake."




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