WCBS-FM NEW YORK ADDS DICK BARTLEY'S "CLASSIC COUNTDOWN" PROGRAM

New York Area Listeners Hear Dick Bartley Sunday Nights from 7 - 11 pm

New York, NY – July 27, 2009 - United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., (USRN), an independent leader in the creation and marketing of network radio programming, is very pleased to announce that WCBS-FM, New York has become that market’s outlet for Dick Bartley’s weekly series, The Classic Countdown Show.  The program, formerly known as American Gold, is a 4-hour, theme-based program that recaps the hits that dominated the charts in various years and seasons.   The Classic Countdown   became part of the United Stations lineup of Classic Hits programming at that the start of April 2009, the same time at which Dick Bartley’s other weekly program, the 5-hour request show, Rock & Roll’s Greatest Hits joined the USRN roster.

At WCBS-FM (101.1), The Classic Countdown Show with Dick Bartley airs every Sunday evening from 7 – 11 pm.   Each week’s highly-produced, 4-hour program contains a rundown of the Top 20 hits from a specific season or year.   The show is focused primarily on music from the 1970s in keeping with the formats of today’s most successful Classic Hits radio stations.   In addition to the music and charts reviewed in each program, The Classic Countdown Show contains other key components intended to provide audio treats and mental flashbacks for the listening audience.  Those added elements include artist interviews, movie and TV drop-ins, news actualities, sound effects and theme music from the era.

WCBS-FM is the CBS Radio’s legendary Classic Hits/Oldies station serving New York at 101.1 on the FM dial. The popular and award-winning station, currently touting itself locally as “New York's Greatest Hits,” began broadcasting the Oldies format in 1972.    On the addition of The Classic Countdown Show to the station’s lineup, WCBS-FM’s Program Director, Brian Thomas commented, "Besides being a legend and a true radio professional, Dick Bartley is a proven ratings winner." 

Dick Bartley is a three-time winner of the Billboard Radio Award.   He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2000, and has previously produced and hosted programs for the RKO Radio Network, the Westwood One Radio Network, and the ABC Radio Network.

United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., is the nation’s leading independently owned and operated radio network. The company currently distributes and produces dozens of format specific programs and services to nearly 4500 rated radio stations across the country in every major format   The New York-based company was founded in 1994 by radio pioneers Dick Clark and Nick Verbitsky.

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