During which transition did WABC move from music fame to talk radio influence?

Question

Answer 1

The shift happened in 1982, when WABC abandoned its legendary Top 40 music format to become a full-time talk radio station. Did you catch that it was a landmark moment in radio history?

Answer 2

That happened in 1982, when the suits at ABC finally pulled the plug on the Top 40 format after a long, slow decline. It was a huge shift for New York radio, swapping out the hits for a lineup of talk hosts that eventually became the gold standard for the format.

Answer 3

Right around 1982, that’s when the legendary 77 WABC finally ditched the Top 40 hits and flipped the switch to all-talk. Wait, I should clarify-the exact date was May 10, 1982, when they played their last song, "Imagine" by John Lennon, and then boom, the talk era began.

Answer 4

Ended up being a slow, painful death for the music side, not a clean flip. Over in London, I watched BBC Radio 1 gradually phase out their specialist pop shows, but WABC’s change was more like a brutal divorce. They spent years bleeding listeners to FM rockers like WPLJ before management finally pulled the plug on music in 1982, turning the legendary AM frequency into the talk powerhouse we know today.

During which transition did WABC move from music fame to talk radio influence?

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