Media
Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, both of which are owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. The Philadelphia Inquirer, founded in 1829, is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States.
The first experimental radio license was issued in Philadelphia in August, 1912 to St. Joseph's College. The first commercial radio stations appeared in 1922. WIP, then owned by Gimbel's department store, became the first on March 17. Also launched that year were WFIL, WOO, WCAU and WDAS. The highest rated stations in Philadelphia today include soft rock WBEB, KYW Newsradio, and urban adult contemporary WDAS-FM.
During the 1930s, the experimental station W3XE, which was owned by Philco Corp, became the first television station in Philadelphia. The station, which would later become KYW-TV (CBS), became NBC's first affiliate in 1939. By the 1970s WCAU-TV, WPVI-TV, WHYY-TV, WPHL-TV, and WTXF-TV were founded. In 1952 WFIL (now WPVI), premiered the television show Bandstand, which later became the nationally broadcast show American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark.
Philadelphia has a competitive rock radio market, especially between WMMR and WYSP, which both specialize in playing modern and classic rock. The two stations enjoy a very intense rivalry with each station's listeners being faithfully loyal to their favorite station in most cases. Since 2005, WMMR now plays more music due to a shift in WYSP's programming from a rock station (which also carried controversial shock jock Howard Stern) to a Free FM station (which now carries the syndicated Opie and Anthony morning show),And The Kidd Chris Show Afternoons. Despite the change over to a hot talk format (which, since May, 2007, now plays music only on weekends), WYSP is the only radio station that carries live radio broadcasts of all Philadelphia Eagles home and road games. WMMR, though, has the top rated morning show in the Philadelphia area, The Preston and Steve Show. The show has been at the top of the ratings for 3 years running, since leaving former rock station Y100.
Philadelphia's four urban stations (WUSL ("Power 99"), WPHI ("100.3 The Beat"), WDAS and WRNB) are popular choices on the FM dial. WJJZ is the city's smooth jazz station. When WJJZ was discontinued in August 2006, it caused an uproar among listeners, but it was revived three months later, under new ownership (Greater Media) and with a new frequency (97.5). The former WJJZ is now WISX, "Philly's 106.1".
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
