According to Wikipedia: following the merger of CBS and Infinity, the new entity (CBS) found itself with more FM stations than allowed by the FCC. It chose to sell WYSY – which at the time was offering a low-rated Classic Hits format billed as “Y-107.9” — to SBS (Spanish Broadcasting System). From 4/24/97 through apparently 7/4/97, as the ownership transfer process was underway, the station went into stunt mode. Specifically, someone supposedly named “Bill” claimed to have borrowed “CDs and records” from a group of people and was playing “some of (his) favorite songs”. The concept was essentially identical to the “Jack FM” Variety Hits format that did not become commonplace until some 8 years later.
This montage is a brief sample of the stunt format, recorded 16 years ago today.
Actually WYSY was doing an all 70’s format. It was a huge success….at first.
The station, with its’ 50kw suburban stick and attitude never seemed to crack a 1.0 share in the Chicago market doing variations of AC, Gold and Hot AC.
When the 70’s format debuted, WYSY shot into the top 10, unfortunately a couple of books later, the novelty wore off.