Entercom’s revision of 102.7 WNEW New York is complete as the station drops its “Fresh” moniker for “The New 102.7“.

With a slight musical tweak, WNEW is now positioning itself as “Upbeat Variety For Your Workday” as it takes its expected move against iHeartMedia’s market-leading AC “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW. The station is launching jockless for now and promoting it will have multiple commercial-free hours from 9am to 5pm.

The 6am hour of The New 102.7 featured:
Adele – Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
Zedd – The Middle
Backstreet Boys – As Long As You Love Me
Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
Magic – Rude
Julia Michaels – Issues
Lifehouse – Hanging By A Moment
Liam Payne – Strip That Down
Avicii – Wake Me Up
Taylor Swift – Delicate
Uncle Kracker – Drift Away
Hailee Steinfeld – Let It Go

We know of one staff change so far. Morning co-host Jeffrey Jameson wrote on Facebook over the weekend that he has exited the station.

Entercom, the #1 creator of live, original, local audio content in the United States, today announced the relaunch of Fresh 102.7 as NEW 102.7 FM in New York. The station, 102.7 FM (WNEW), will remain a Hot AC format providing upbeat variety for listeners with a curated playlist including Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Imagine Dragons, mixed with surprise and delight hit songs from as far back as the 1990’s from artists like J. Lo and Aerosmith. The change is effective immediately.

“This is an exciting move that underscores our commitment to offer listeners in New York a top rated content and music experience,” said Susan Larkin, Regional President, Market Manager, Entercom New York. “Feedback tells us that New Yorkers are looking for a Hot AC station that can take them through their workday, and we know NEW 102.7 will deliver.”

Additional announcements regarding the new programming lineup will be made shortly.

WNEW is a part of Entercom, a leading American media and entertainment company and one of the two largest radio broadcasters in the country.

Original Report 7/14: Is Entercom planning a full-out assault on iHeartMedia AC “106.7 Lite-FM” WLTW New York?

Hot AC “Fresh 102.7” WNEW New York began running jockless of Friday afternoon with sweepers promoting something “NEW” coming on Monday, July 16. Among the sweepers heard were: “Lite is Old, 102.7 is New – Monday” and “Your Sleepy Lite Workday is Gone, Starting Monday at 102.7“.

Current WNEW and WCBS-FM Program Director Jim Ryan joined then CBS Radio in 2010 as VP/AC Programming after serving in the same roles for WLTW and Clear Channel from 1996-2008. WNEW ranked 16th in the New York market in the June Nielsen Audio ratings with a 2.4 share, while WLTW led the market with a 7.3 share. The “Fresh 102.7” brand itself launched in January 2007 as a younger leaning AC before evolving to Hot AC in 2011.

Three domains were registered for the station on Friday all pointing to an emphasis on the NEW branding that ties in perfectly with the WNEW call letters. AllNew1027.com, New1027.com, and WNEW1027.com were registered by MarkMonitor, the corporate brand protection service now used by Entercom (and previously by CBS Radio and iHeart).