Front side: background: black; B96 the "Killer Bee" logo.
Back side: B96 the "Killer Bee" wear promotion.
WBBM-FM (96.3 MHz) is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station in Chicago. It is known on the air as B96 and it is owned by Entercom. The station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 3,300 watts, broadcasting from a transmitter atop the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).
In 1990, B96 adopted the "Killer Bee" slogan and was officially recognized by the Nielsen Broadcast Data System as a Rhythmic Top 40 station, as there was now a bigger emphasis on R&B, Hip Hop, and dance-leaning pop rather than rock-based pop on B96’s playlist. Billboard also took notice of B96’s more rhythmic direction and on its March 10, 1990 issue, the magazine moved B96 from its Mainstream Top 40 Panel to its Top 40/Dance panel after revising and expanding its Top 40 and Hot 100 charts based on the Fall 1989 ratings. The decision focus on dance-based hits would soon pay off as by the fall 1990 ratings report, B96 suddenly became one of Chicago's hottest radio stations, ranking at #3 only behind urban contemporary WGCI-FM and talk station WGN-AM 720. This was unexpected as B96 and Top 40 rival Z95 often traded victories in the past four years with neither station gaining much traction overall in the ratings war. Just a year earlier, B96 had to fight off rumors that it would abandon the Top 40 format as Z95 was beating them in the ratings at the time. In addition, it was also rumored that 95.5 WNUA (now WEBG "BIG 95.5" with a country music format) would flip from its smooth jazz/new age format to top 40 to compete not only against B96 but also Z95 and Q101 but its parent company at the time denied such rumors and WNUA maintained its smooth jazz format for the next 20 years.
Front side: background: black; B96 the "Killer Bee" logo.
Back side: B96 the "Killer Bee" winner sticker promo, Beeline and B96's program schedule.
B96 program director Dave Shakes, who joined the station in January 1990 after the departure of Buddy Scott a year earlier, described the station's path to success in what he had called a "Three-M Path": Music, Mornings, and Marketing. Shakes acknowledged that the dance-leaning pop records and the Chicago house scene were key factors in B96's newly found ratings success. Furthermore, he added that many of the rock-leaning pop records were not catching on to the station's core audience due to the large size and ethnic diversity of the Chicago market thus taking a longer time to discover hit records in comparison to smaller markets. Shakes also wanted B96 to increase its audience by serving Hispanic listeners more aggressively than black listeners as he felt that the black audience was already served well in Chicago with the successes of WGCI and V103 (formerly WBMX). The results would pay off as B96's audience became more racially diverse than Z95's audience as Hispanics made up about 34% of B96's total listeners and black listeners made up about 10% while Z95's audience was mostly white. Secondly, Shakes cited the success of B96's morning show "Eddie and Jobo" as another key ingredient in the station's success. Thirdly, Shakes described B96's aggressive marketing and established the "Killer Bee Culture" to distinguished B96 from its rival Z95 due to the similarities of each station's nickname. For example, B96 listeners would be encouraged to put a finger to their lips and make a buzzing sound, which moves into a stuttered "B-B-B96" when the B96 personality says "Gimme a B" rather than the traditional question of "What is your favorite radio station?" after a listener wins a radio contest. Other ways B96 would market throughout the Chicagoland area included putting out "Killer Bee" bumper stickers inside newspapers, sending its DJs and personalities to public events, and reaching out to various communities in the Chicagoland area. As B96’s ratings skyrocketed out of nowhere, Z95, which by then had transitioned from a rock-leaning top 40 to a more adult top 40 station, would start to collapse in the ratings. Q101, now an adult top 40 station, had drop the dance-leaning pop songs that were becoming popular on B96, thus becoming a lesser threat to B96 than Z95 was.
Front side: background: black; B96 logo, 2 small: B96 logo and Beeline phone number, B96 logo and concert line phone number.
Back side: white.
Notable B96 on-air personalities during the dance-leaning Killer Bee era included George McFly, Coco Cortez, Gary Spears (one of WBBM-FM's original DJs when it launched its Top 40 format in 1982), Karen Hand, Todd Cavanah (who was later promoted as B96’s program director in 1993) and the popular morning duo of Eddie & Jobo. One local program that B96 aired was "Street Buzz", which allowed listeners to socialize about anything that was going on in Chicago, such as what was the hottest trends in the club scene.
B96 also aired nationally syndicated weekend programs, such as “Casey’s Top 40”, a pop music countdown program hosted by legendary radio personality Casey Kasem from 1989 to 1998 although B96 would stop airing the syndicated program in July 1993. B96 was one of the first two affiliates of Kasem's new countdown show after he had left "America's Top 40" in 1988, the other being mainstream top 40 station WHTZ "Z100" in New York. Coincidently, WBBM-FM had also aired Kasem's previous countdown program "American Top 40" in 1979, back when the station had a soft rock/adult contemporary format. WBBM-FM aired the program until April 3, 1982 (just a month before WBBM-FM flipped formats from AC to Top 40/CHR), when it moved to WLS-AM 890 after AT40’s parent company, Watermark, was bought by ABC, which decided to put the program on its radio affiliates instead. Furthermore, rival Z95 had aired "American Top 40" from June 28, 1987, which was hosted by Kasem at the time before he was replaced by Shadoe Stevens a year later, until October 20, 1991 when the station (then known as Hot 94.7 instead of Z95) flipped from Top 40 to simulcasting Talk radio WLS 890 AM.
Another syndicated program that B96 aired for a while was “American Dance Traxx”, a weekend dance music countdown that also aired on many Rhythmic CHR/Top 40 stations such as Hot 97 New York, Power 106 Los Angeles, WIOQ-FM "Q102" in Philadelphia, and WLUM-FM in Milwaukee (which has since shifted towards alternative and modern rock beginning in 1994). Although "American Dance Traxx" started in 1987, B96 did not air the program until 1991 when the station was a full-fledged dance-leaning Rhythmic Top 40 station. By the time the program ended in 1993, B96 stopped airing the program.
Radio analysts likened the ongoing war between B96 and Z95 to the Top 40 battle between Z95's predecessor WLS-AM "The Big 89" and now-defunct WCLF AM 1000 from 1965 to 1976. At the same time, they were skeptical that Z95's tactics would actually work as one reporter pointed out that attacking a rival station's program director on air was practically meaningless as radio listeners would have no idea who that person is compared to a radio station's on-air personality or DJ. Nonetheless, the onslaught by Z95 had little effect on B96, which continued to dominate in the ratings. For the most part, B96 would ignore Z95's constant assault on them other than declaring itself the "Killer Bee" and its rival as a "wannabe", referencing to Z95 copying B96's successful dance-leaning format.
*source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBBM-FM, wiki.classicb96.com/B96_History_Summarized
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