Emmis Corporation resumed operating 98.7 WEPN-FM New York following the expiration of their 12+ year LMA of the station to ESPN Inc. and later Good Karma Brands.
With the end of the LMA, Emmis launched Hot AC “TJ 98.7 – The Pop Up Radio Station” anchored by United Stations’ The TJ Show hosted by TJ Taormina. A New Jersey native, Taormina previously was part of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show at iHeartMedia CHR “Z100” WHTZ starting as an intern in 2002, rising to co-host in 2010 until moving to Boston to anchor mornings on CBS Radio’s “103.3 Amp Radio” WODS for its entire run as a CHR from 2013 until 2020 with Loren Raye. The TJ Show launched in syndication in February 2023 and recently crossed the 70 affiliate mark.
The station is powered by Radio.Cloud’s cloud based playout system allowing for customized local and national content with imaging provided by Steve Kamer and Jai Kershner.
United Stations COO Charles Steinhauer commented, “I want to thank Emmis Corporation for helping us continue our long standing commitment to fun and new ideas in the audio space. The TJ Show has been growing in each market of operation – it’s unique and joyful, and I’m looking forward to the reaction of the NYC audience.”
At cut-off from ESPN Radio at midnight on Saturday, the station joined Walk The Moon “Shut Up And Dance” in progress followed by a first hour of Rachel Platten “Fight Song”, Christina Aguilera “Beautiful”, OneRepublic “Counting Stars”, Benson Boone “Slow It Down”, The Weeknd “I Will Die For You”, All American Rejects “Dirty Little Secret”, Teddy Swims “Lose Control”, Taylor Swift “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”, Hozier “Too Sweet”, Michelle Branch “All You Wanted”, Coldplay “Higher Power”, Chappell Roan “Good Luck Babe”, Fall Out Boy “Thanks Fr The Mmrs”, Lorde “Royals”, Green Day “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, and Miley Cyrus “Flowers”.
Listen to the launch of “TJ 98.7” on FormatChange.com.
Could Bloomberg lease or buy 98.7 ?
I knew it, Tj made the most sense also because he worked with Elvis. The gold direction reminds me of PLJ. Tj is a good dude. if they actually built the brand around his ideas, it will be a very great adult friendly format.
The new station is a great showcase not just for TJ, but for Radiocloud, which gets a shout-out at :00. (I’ve never heard anybody shout out their playout system before). It’s one reason the station ought to stream, which it isn’t presently, although the launch is available on this page.
One amusing radio-geek moment: on Tuesday morning, TJ aired a call to his grandfather on-air to share his excitement about being on the radio in New York. When he told him it was 98.7, the older man pegged it as the former WOR-FM, something it hasn’t been since the early ’70s, since shortly before becoming 99X (and eventually Kiss 98.7).