Despite Shuttering WCBS 880, Audacy Leaders Deserve Praise for Station’s Swan Song

To say I had no connection to WCBS 880 might be the understatement of the century. I had listened to the Audacy New York station exactly once before joining Barrett Media in 2022.

It was on a random summer night when I was 21 years old. I was driving home after dark, scanning through the radio stations. After not finding anything on the FM dial, I flipped over to the AM band in my 1997 Dodge Intrepid. As I hit seek, my radio said 880 AM. I knew absolutely nothing about what was coming out of the speakers, other than it was a baseball game. After I continued to listen, I was enthralled by the fact that — in Western Ohio — I was listening to the New York Yankees.

There’s something about those late night drives, sunroof open, windows down, feeling the breeze hit your hand out the window, with the worry of the world finally in the rear-view mirror instead of out the windshield, that makes radio the intimate medium we all know and love.

But that ever so slight connection to WCBS pales in comparison to the role it held in the lives of millions of listeners in the New York metro.

As I listened to the final hour of the station’s existence before ESPN New York took over the venerable signal, I sat and listened to the stories told by the anchors. I was especially struck by the final 15 minutes helmed by longtime anchor Wayne Cabot. To be frank, I knew who Cabot was before this moment, but I had never actually heard him on the air. I quickly realized why he became a friend to so many during his tenure with the station.

With the clock ticking toward midnight on the brand’s illustrious history, Cabot said something profound. Truthfully, Cabot said many things that were profound during the final moments of the station’s existence, but one thing especially stood out. In the station’s final minute — literally — Wayne Cabot took time to mention his appreciation for the Audacy New York leaders for allowing the station to have a farewell period.

“Chris Oliviero, 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.”

He’s right.

He’s absolutely right.

It is something maligned by radio hosts when they are unexpectedly cut. In fact, it was the biggest sticking point Cleveland radio legend Jimmy Malone shared when he was part of nationwide cuts at iHeartMedia earlier this month: He wished he had gotten to say goodbye.

And that’s not a regret that WCBS 880, its anchors, reporters, or station personnel will ever have to confront.

I believe Wayne Cabot when he said Oliviero, Mevorach, and Lee “pushed” for allowing the station to have a quasi-wake, viewing, and funeral period. It’s an extreme rarity these days. Most radio managers are entirely too worried that the outgoing employees may say something that could jeopardize the FCC license — or worse, say something bad about management!

But I’ve always been of the mindset that if you believe someone is professional enough to represent your brand day-in, day-out, during the good times, you should rely on them to be professional enough to represent your brand, and more importantly themselves, when the Titanic is sinking.

I saw firsthand the power of the brand and the connection it had with listeners. As the station signed off the air on Sunday evening, I captured the final minutes, knowing Barrett Media would want to publish a story on the end of the heritage brand on Monday. I published the video of the sign-off just after midnight. My phone notifications kept my wife up to the point that she asked me to turn my phone face down on my nightstand because every couple of seconds, it would light up with another like, retweet, or quote tweet from an interested party.

In total, the video of the station’s last breath — that I published to social media as more of a selfish act of putting something where I’d remember it than an attempt to give longtime listeners a look at its last gasp — has been viewed more than 225,000 times, features more than 800 likes, and has been retweeted more than 300 times.

That speaks to the level of importance the brand has in the lives of so many, and why millions were sad to see it go.

I couldn’t help but feel the pain that those listeners — who had decades of connection with the station — felt as I heard “I’m Wayne Cabot and for the final time, this is WCBS New York.”

Is there blame to go around? Certainly. Should those all-news radio consumers feel angry about the situation? Yes. Should the employees of the brand feel resentment to their corporate overlords for selling them down the river? Absolutely.

But the reaction doesn’t always have to be negative. We don’t always have to be outraged. Is there room for that in this story? 100%. But there’s also a tiny sliver of sunshine peaking through the clouds to remind us why we love this industry, why we grew to love stations like WCBS, and why we do what we do each and every day.

It was a fitting end for a heritage news station. One that felt appropriate for the unfortunate situation.

So a tip of the cap to Chris Oliviero, Ben Mevorach, and Ivan Lee. One, for understanding that a station of the magnitude of WCBS 880 deserved a farewell period, not only for station personnel but for listeners, too. But also for allowing some incredibly talented radio professionals like Steve Scott, Michael Wallace, Anita Bonita, Wayne Cabot, and an incredibly long list of employees who have spent countless years pouring their hearts and souls into a brand and creating truly powerful radio to have the opportunity to say goodbye.

Garrett Searight

Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.