After nearly 60 years, WCBS 880 signed off on Sunday evening with Wayne Cabot being the final voice heard on the Audacy New York station.
Earlier this month, Audacy announced that it had struck a deal with Good Karma Brands to lease the 880 AM signal as ESPN New York moves away from its 98.7 FM signal. With the decision to end WCBS Newsradio 880, Audacy will now focus all of its all-news power on 1010 WINS, which features an FM simulcast on 92.3.
The station re-aired its WCBS Magazine program that showcased the station’s long history and standing in the market, including a look at some of the breaking news events and station jingles and sounds throughout the decades.
In the final 15 minutes, longtime anchor Wayne Cabot helmed the station’s farewell, pointing on the names of dozens of on-air anchors and reporters, as well as leaders of the venerable all-news station.
In the station’s final two minutes, Cabot shared a poignant story of how listening to the station as a youngster led him to join it decades later, and what serving as a morning news anchor in the city has meant to him.
“To paraphrase a CBS News legend, good night and good luck,” Cabot said. “You will ask, ‘Why does this radio station mean so much? Why is the reaction the way it is?’ And I really can’t speak for others, I can speak for myself. My parents split when I was 11. We split Christmas, and when I was at dad’s house, he gave me a clock. And this one had a beam at the top that shined the time onto the ceiling. I wanted to make sure it was set correctly, so I went to the station I heard in the back of the car at WCBS to make sure the time was exactly right.
“And I listened and listened, and before long, I became hooked as a 12, 13-year-old. When I was 14, my dad drove me to the radio station in New York City during morning rush hour traffic, and he introduced me to the place I’m now signing off in 2024.”
Cabot then played a portion of The Beatles song “Imagine,” shouting out WCBS 880 producer Ray Martell in the process. He then thanked station leadership for allowing a send-off of the station.
“Chris Olivero, Ben Mevorach, Ivan Lee, our bosses, pushed for and got the authority to let us have our goodbyes, to have a last show. That’s something very rare,” Cabot admitted. “I thank them for that. I thank my dad for driving me into New York City in 1978. Parents, you never know what impact these random acts of love and attention may have on your children.
“I’m Wayne Cabot and for the final time, this is WCBS New York,” Cabot concluded.
And with that, the final chapter of the nearly 60-year history of WCBS 880 as a New York all-news station was finished.
