For the station that was once WBZW, please see WFXN-FM in Loudonville, Ohio

For the current WBZW AM station, please see WBZW in Altamonte Springs, Florida

For the station that took the WRKZ call letters, please see WRKZ in Columbus, Ohio

For the station that was once KDKA-FM, please see WLTJ in Pittsburgh.

KDKA-FM (93.7 FM), branded as "SportsRadio 93.7 The Fan", is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by CBS Radio, the station operates at 93.7 MHz with an ERP of 41 kW. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh. The station currently programs a sports radio format. It is currently dark on its HD2 subchannel, while HD3 simulcasts its AM namesake, KDKA.

History[link]

The 93.7 frequency in Pittsburgh began its life as WKJF-FM in the 1950s, an independently-owned FM station. For a brief time, there was a co-owned UHF TV station, WKJF-TV (channel 53; now occupied by WPGH-TV), which operated in 1953-54.

During its early incarnations as WKJF, WKOI, and WJOI, the station programmed a beautiful music format.

The first "B94" years[link]

Debuting on April 2, 1981, WBZZ (B94) was the city’s number one Top 40 music station, tailoring their programming to not only a younger audience, but also a Pittsburgh audience. The first song played after the format switch was "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel.

B94 featured local morning shows such as “Quinn and Banana" (featuring Jim Quinn and "Banana" Don Jefferson) in the 1980s and “John, Dave, Bubba, Shelly” (with some minor personality changes) in the 1990s through 2004.

In 2000, Clear Channel Communications unveiled a new CHR format, KISS-FM, on WKST-FM. The new station began to take a large chunk out of B94's audience. With more syndicated programming featuring famous national on air talent and focusing more on the younger audience, B94 for the first time, saw itself slipping into second place. Also not helping matters was sister station WZPT switching to a Hot AC format at the same time, which, while it played a mix of 80's and 90's music with current hits, otherwise had a similar format to B94.

Early in 2003, WBZZ tweaked its name by calling itself “93-7 BZZ”. This was done because the station did want any confusion of exactly where they were on the radio dial, especially considering that the only station in Pittsburgh actually on the 94 range (WWSW-FM) had an oldies format. It was also done to re-image their station to compete with its new rival, WKST. Later, in mid-2004, the station would tweak its name again, calling itself this time "B93-7".

The "K-Rock" years and "The Zone" experiment[link]

In 2004, Clear Channel yanked Howard Stern from all of their owned stations that aired his show, including the local WXDX-FM. In response, WBZZ operations manager Keith Clark and other station officials decided to flip the station’s format after 23 years, and not only pick up Howard Stern (which they saw as a golden opportunity to improve their ratings) but unveil a new active rock format known as "93-7 K-Rock" to compete with Clear Channel’s other rock stations.

On June 30, 2004, at 10 AM, WBZZ’s on-air talent gathered to say goodbye to Pittsburgh, thanking them for their support throughout the years. B94 ended with "Move This" by Technotronic, while K-Rock's first song was "For Those About To Rock" by AC/DC. Listeners that had liked B94 but didn't like the new rock format were encouraged on-air to listen to sister station WZPT. The WBZZ call letters would be replaced by WRKZ on July 7, 2004. Ratings for the station improved initially after the switch, but began to decline before Howard Stern's departure for Sirius Satellite Radio.

To replace Stern, the station carried David Lee Roth's radio show as his replacement. However, due to low ratings, Roth was replaced by Opie and Anthony less than three months after his debut.

The afternoon drive show of Kidd Chris, from co-owned WYSP in Philadelphia, aired on 93.7 from August 28, 2006 until March 19, 2007.

On April 2, 2007, K-Rock became "93.7 The Zone," and changed call signs to WTZN-FM in the process. The station, although not carrying the "Free FM" name in its branding, was considered to be part of CBS's hot talk network by that name, the only station to affiliate with the network after the initial launch. Joining the lineup were Opie and Anthony, Pittsburgh native Dennis Miller, and former WDVE personality Scott Paulsen.^[1] The station also carried programming from Sporting News Radio. Miller and Paulsen were displaced to KDKA when the format was abandoned. The mainstream rock format remained absent from Pittsburgh until rimshot station WKVE acquired the format in 2009, although WDVE does play select new rock tracks to its classic rock format.

The return of B94[link]

On Monday, October 1, 2007, at 10 AM, after Opie and Anthony, WTZN began stunting with Christmas music, in anticipation of a format flip scheduled for later that week.^[2] The station made some fairly obvious hints as to the future of the station, advertising "Something's missing in 'Pitts-urgh'," prompting visitors to go to a message board at http://www.pitts-urgh.com/ where there is a message board asking "What do you miss the most about Pittsburgh?," among the choices being "B94 Radio."

B94 returned to Pittsburgh the following Friday at 5 pm, with its first song being Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack." This marked CBS Radio's first top 40 station launch of the late 2000s; it would later launch the format in Houston (KKHH), San Francisco (KMVQ-FM), New York City (WXRK), Los Angeles (KAMP-FM), and Detroit (WVMV).

The return of B94 was apparently part of a CBS Radio initiative of resurrecting radio stations that had been killed off for other formats, such as WCBS-FM in New York and KFRC-FM in San Francisco. However, unlike those stations, which carry classic hits formats, B94 played current hits.

On November 27, 2007, WTZN switched its call sign to WBZW-FM to reflect its new format. B94's former call letters, WBZZ, were in use by an Adult Contemporary radio station in Malta, New York called Buzz 105.7. That station is now known as WQSH, and CBS has indicated an intention to reacquire the call signs for use on one of its properties (which would later be at WZPT).

In the wake of WAMO-FM's departure from the Urban Contemporary format in September 2009 after it was sold to a Catholic-based organization, WBZW have managed to take advantage of the situation by adding current R&B/Hip-Hop tracks to pick up the displaced WAMO listeners, even at the expense of the more Rhythmic-heavy WKST, but at the same time stay within the Mainstream Top 40/CHR realm due to WKST's Rhythmic direction.

Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan[link]

On January 19, 2010, it was announced that CBS Radio would drop B94 for sports talk, launching February 15, 2010 under the name "Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan".^[3] Again, the change was part of an initiative by CBS to establish FM sports talk stations; often displacing heritage music stations in the process (WBZ-FM in Boston was another example of this). The station will focus on local sports programming while going head-to-head with WEAE and WBGG, which are owned by ESPN Radio and affiliated with Fox Sports Radio, respectively. Much like the previous abandonment of B94, the station's format was merged into WZPT ("Star 100.7"). Bubba and Melanie from the former B94 morning show have both moved to Star 100.7, with Bubba joining JR and Shelly on the morning show and Melanie Taylor taking the midday shift. Former WZPT midday jock Scott Alexander slides to afternoons, prompting the exit of former Star afternoon personality Jonny Hartwell. Kobe, B94's afternoon jock and Music Director, and Flick, B94's night jock, were both released. Flick eventually wound up at WKST. Midday guy Sean "Coop" Cooper was transferred to nights at WYCD in Detroit.^[4]

The station also adopted the call sign KDKA-FM on February 15, 2010, to reflect the recent trend for CBS Radio all-sports stations in markets with a heritage CBS-owned station to have matching call signs, in this case KDKA-TV and the historic KDKA Radio.

As with both the new format and when it was WTZN-FM, the only other FM talk station in Pittsburgh is WPGB.

References[link]

1. ^ [1],
2. ^ Radio station 93.7 dumps talk format after six months
3. ^ http://www.wpxi.com/news/22273461/detail.html
4. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10020/1029443-67.stm

External links[link]

• Official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KDKA
• Radio-Locator information on KDKA
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KDKA
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article
• Paulsen's Departure from WDVE
• Article on B94's return from Edison Media Research (October 10, 2007)

Coordinates: 40°26′28″N 80°01′31″W / 40.4412°N 80.0253°W / 40.4412; -80.0253

Richard Burden MP
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Roger King
Majority	2,782 (6.7%)
Personal details
Born	(1954-09-01) 1 September 1954 (age 57) Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of York, University of Warwick
Website	www.richardburden.com

Richard Burden (born 1 September 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield since 1992. Together with close friend and fellow ex-Young Liberal Peter Hain MP, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the ill-fated Alternative Vote system in the May 2011 campaign.

Early life[link]

Burden was born in Liverpool. He attended the Wallasey Technical Grammar School; Bramhall Comprehensive School; St John's College of Further Education, Manchester; the University of York, where he obtained a degree in Politics and was the president of the Students' Union in 1976; and then to the University of Warwick where he received a Master's Degree in Industrial Relations.

On leaving university he was appointed a branch officer in North Yorkshire in the National Association of Local Government Officers in 1979, becoming the district officer for the West Midlands in 1981, a position he held until his election to Westminster. He is a member of the Transport and General Workers Union which he joined in 1979.

Political career[link]

Entering Parliament[link]

He contested the parliamentary seat of Meriden at the 1987 general election, where he was defeated by the sitting Conservative MP Iain Mills by a margin of 16,820. He was then selected to fight the Conservative-held marginal seat of Birmingham Northfield at the 1992 general election. Burden defeated the sitting Tory MP Roger King by just 630 votes and became a Labour MP. He made his maiden speech on 19 May 1992.^[1]

After Labour formed the government following the 1997 General Election, Burden was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and fellow Birmingham MP Jeff Rooker, and he remained Rooker's PPS when he became the Minister of State at the Department of Social Security.

On the Backbenches[link]

Following the 2001 general election Burden became a member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, and after the 2005 election moved to the International Development Committee. He is now chairman of the Regional Select Committee for the West Midlands and on his election said (quote) "People in the West Midlands can sometimes feel that the world of politics and of government is remote from their everyday lives: that they don’t have real influence over the decisions that affect them and their family. I want to see the new West Midlands Regional Select Committee help to address that. All of the MPs on the Committee live in the West Midlands and represent local constituencies. The issues our region is facing are real enough – real issues and they affect real people. We know that right now businesses in the West Midlands are facing a really challenging time. That’s why one of our first actions will be to look at the availability of bank credit and how the support that Government is making available to business is working here in the region. The new Regional Select Committee has the potential to have a real impact in the West Midlands. We will show that people’s concerns about their jobs and their families’ futures are at the centre of our concerns here in Parliament.”

His Birmingham Northfield constituency has long been dominated by the local car manufacturer MG Rover, which went into administration after negotiations with Chinese car manufacturer Shanghai Automotive failed in April 2005.^[2] The site has since been sold to Chinese car company Nanjing Automotive.^[3]

He was present at the meeting in Birmingham with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and Tony Woodley on the same day as the Pope's funeral in Rome in 2005, when the future of MG Rover was apparently decided. The decision made not to further support MG Rover resulted in the company going into administrative receivership, and 6,500 employees being made redundant in addition to many other employees of its car dealerships and component suppliers in the U.K.

Burden has repeatedly raised the issue in Parliament, in relation to the local economy, jobs and skills.^[4][5]

Burden is not a particularly frequent Labour rebel, but has voted against the government on a few occasions, most notably on the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the 2005 anti-terror bill, which included provision to hold terrorist suspects for 90 days without trial.

He was re-elected at the May 2010 general election.^[6] He was not invited to the Chinese Premier's visit to Longbridge in June 2011 and complained bitterly to the local press at being excluded; it is not known why he was 'excluded', when other leading local politicians were invited.^[7]

Interests[link]

Burden is Chair of the Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group and frequently asks questions of ministers on issues relating to the Middle East conflict. He is one of the most prominent parliamentary critics of Israeli policy in the region, particularly with regard to its expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

He also speaks French and is an avid motorsport fan. In 2002 he became the special advisor to the Minister of Sport, Richard Caborn on motorsport. He appeared on the Top Gear Season 2, Episode 2 special to find the fastest political party.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Richard Burden MP official site
• Richard Burden on Twitter
• GuardianUnlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Richard Burden MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Richard Burden MP

Fred Honsberger (May 15, 1951 – December 16, 2009) was a radio personality for News Radio 1020 KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His show most recently aired from noon–3 pm weekdays, between Marty Griffin's The Inside Story and the KDKA Afternoon News. The station reported that Honsberger died at home following a lengthy battle with medical issues.^[1][2][3][4]

Personal[link]

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Radio broadcasting career at KDKA[link]

In 1979, Fred Honsberger joined the KDKA team as a reporter. Fred was later promoted to News Director of the station in 1984 and remained in the role until 1989, when he began his career as a talk show host in the drive time slot of 3-5 PM weekdays. Fred underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2004 and during his rehab stint he broadcast from his home studio until he was able to return to the KDKA studios. He suffered a broken leg in 2007. While he was undergoing physical therapy he was covered for by Kevin Miller until December 16, 2008 when KDKA officially fired Miller.

The Fred Honsberger Program[link]

Airing on KDKA-AM Monday to Friday between 12 and 3 PM, Fred talked about local and national news and politics and opinion. He also took callers and conducted interviews during the show.

The last segment of the show (usually around 2:50 PM) featured "The Honz Honk Off Line" which consisted of select listener voice mail messages that were called in from the day before or earlier and replayed over the air.

Thursdays were "Honzman text it Thursdays" in which a yes or no question was posed to the audience. A number was given to send a text message to and the results are shared usually before the last segment of the show.

Fridays were "Beatle Bumper Fridays" in which all of the bumper music consisted of The Beatles or one of the members' solo works. In addition to the Beatle bumper music, Fred also was known to play "Thank God It's Friday (song)" by the disco group Love and Kisses as the bumper music at the top of each hour on Fridays.

Every show ended with Honsberger signing off over The Beatles' "Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" followed by Pittsburgh Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange saying "Ladies and gentlemen, the Honz has just left the building!"

KDKA Radio named Mike Pintek as the new host of the 12-3PM weekday time slot on Thursday, January 28, 2010. After the announcement, Honsberger's longtime friend and coworker had this to say about being named the new host for the time slot, "A lot of people have asked me, 'Who's going to replace Fred? Who's going to fill his shoes?' I'm filling the slot. I'm not going to even try to fill his shoes. Nobody can."

The show was produced by a collection of producers including Greg Jena, Heather Richmond Zambito, Amy Muntean Mauk and "The Big Show Producer" Robert Suhr.

Fred's final live show was on December 8, 2009. He was not on the air between then and his death due to using a number of vacation days that he had saved up.

WQED-TV and PCNC[link]

Fred appeared on the panel of WQED-TV's "OnQ" and its Spin-Off "OffQ" programs since the show began in 2000. He also hosted PCNC's "Honsberger Live", his own live TV call-in program, between 1999 and 2009.

Awards and achievements[link]

Along with a team of reporters, he was given the Dupont Award for his in-depth coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in 1979. Mr. Honsberger was a two-time winner of the Radio and Television News Director Association's award for excellence in radio news; he has won a Golden Quill Award for his radio special about the Pittsburgh police under cover drug squad; he has been named Best Talk Show Host by the Achievement in Radio awards in 1997, 2003 and 2005; and the Associated Press named his show the Best Radio Talk Show in Pennsylvania in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Following his death, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette described him as a "Pittsburgh icon" with "affectionate yinzer spirit" on par with Fred Rogers and Myron Cope.^[5]

See also[link]

• List of people from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area

References[link]

Carmine John Cigna (December 11, 1935 – May 20, 2011) was an American radio personality. He spent 28 years at KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, starting in 1973 until his retirement in 2001.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early years and career[link]

Cigna was born in 1935 in Brooklyn, New York.^[1] He attended the Cambridge School of Broadcasting and Brooklyn College and worked at radio stations in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana^[2] before moving to Pittsburgh in 1969 to take up a position at WJAS as the sports anchor and morning news director.^[2][1]

KDKA career[link]

Cigna moved to KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh on March 11, 1973, when he hosted a talk show from 9:00 PM to midnight until 1983, where he moved to the morning slot after previous morning host Jack Bogut moved to WTAE-AM.^[2] The show, dubbed "John Cigna and the K-Team" consisted of Dave James, Fred Honsberger and sportscaster Nellie King. Cigna was paired with Honsberger in 1996 to do the morning show, now dubbed The Morning News with John Cigna, but Honsberger was moved back to his afternoon slot 6 months later.^[2] On his 25th anniversary at KDKA on March 11, 1998, Cigna received a congratulatory letter from president Bill Clinton, citations from the state and county government, and the proclamation of "John Cigna Day" in Pittsburgh. Upon his retirement in September 2001, Cigna's on air absences had been getting more frequent. One anonymous listener had stated of Cigna, "It sounds like he's phoning it in." ^[2] He was succeeded by Larry Richert as host of the morning show.

Personal life and death[link]

Cigna was married to Patricia, and had four sons, Tony, John, Mike, and Chris.^[2] Cigna was also an avid motorcyclist, often taking motorcycle trips on his Harley Davidson during his retirement.^[1] He had been injured in a motorcycle accident in March 1999.^[1]

Cigna died on May 20, 2011, in McCandless, Pennsylvania. He had experienced failing health and had recently experienced suffered a stroke and effects of emphysema.^[3][1] His wife, Pat, of 53 years had predeceased him by four months, dying in January.^[1] Upon his death, Michael Young, senior vice president and Pittsburgh market manager for CBS Radio, stated "Pittsburgh lost an icon. He was just full of life."^[1] Cigna had requested that his motorcycle be displayed next to his casket during his funeral.^[1]

References[link]