Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

KYW Newsradio launches a new jingle. The video features shots of Pat’s Steaks, Love Park and Gritty.

Listeners will hear the updated tunes throughout the programming, including the transitions for traffic, weather, and breaking news.

Entercom Communications is now based in Bala Cynwyd but is expected to relocate into Philadelphia.The company KWY Newsradio, which has redone its jingle.
Entercom Communications is now based in Bala Cynwyd but is expected to relocate into Philadelphia.The company KWY Newsradio, which has redone its jingle.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photograp

KYW Newsradio is unveiling a new jingle, which the station describes as “a modern update."

The refreshed sounds throughout the hour feature more live instruments, including local string musicians, trumpets, piano, guitar and brass. They will pop up as the new transitions for traffic, weather, and breaking news.

In a KYW Newsradio video showing how the jingle was made, shots of Philadelphia flash on the screen. There’s the Philadelphia Museum of Art, both Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks, LOVE Park, the Liberty Bell, and of course, Gritty, who is dancing with a baton and the KYW logo.

The station worked with Philadelphia native Larry Gold, who was the arranger, New-York-based production company Man Made Music, and actress Deidre Goodwin to create the new sounds. The station also released a new logo.

Lucas Murray, from Man Made Music, said: “This piece has soul to it, just like Philadelphia."

KYW is one of six radio stations in the Philadelphia market owned by Bala Cynwyd-based Entercom Communications Corp. Revenues for Entercom, the nation’s second largest radio group, increased 3 percent in the first quarter, according to the company’s latest earnings report. The company’s best performing market were New York, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Denver and Sacramento, David Field, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said on the call.

>>READ MORE: NPR’s morning show music change has a downside for stations like WHYY

There are about 200 full-time employees and 100 part-time employees across the six Philadelphia stations, said David Yadgaroff, the senior vice president and market manager at Entercom Philadelphia. He declined to share how much this redesign cost the company.

Although KYW updates its jingle every several years, it’s been more than 10 years since the station revamped all of its audio elements, Yadgaroff said. The station brought in a new program director Silverman, in September and with new leadership, the company re-evaluated its audio production.

“Audio is hot,” Yadgaroff said. “You can’t go a minute without anyone talking about a podcast or a smart speaker.”