Editing Jack FM (section)

===2004–2005: Introduction to United States and controversies===
In 2004, SparkNet Communications, the owner of the Jack FM and "Playing What We Want" trademarks outside of Canada, started to license the Jack FM trademark in the United States. NRC Broadcasting's [[KJAC]] in [[Denver]] was the first U.S. station to adopt the "Jack FM" format on April 14, 2004.  (It has since switched to a [[public radio]] [[adult album alternative]] format.)

The success of Jack caused a cloning effect, with some stations using the names of famous local figures, landmarks, or symbols to promote their version of the format. These variations have included [[WTAX-FM|WABZ]] "Abe FM" in [[Springfield, Illinois]], named for [[Abraham Lincoln]]; [[WBEN-FM]] "Ben FM" in [[Philadelphia]], named for [[Benjamin Franklin]]; "100.5 FM Louie" in [[Louisville, Kentucky]]; "96.7 Steve FM" [[WLTY]] in [[Columbia, South Carolina]], named after [[South Carolina Gamecocks football|University of South Carolina football]] coach [[Steve Spurrier]]; [[WREE|WCFF]] "The Chief 92.5 FM" in [[Champaign, Illinois]], named for the controversial symbol of the [[University of Illinois]], [[Chief Illiniwek]]; [[WARH]] in [[St. Louis]], known as "106.5 The Arch," named for the [[Gateway Arch]], and even a body of water like "106-5 The Lake" [[WHLK]] in [[Cleveland]], named for [[Lake Erie]].

On July 29, 2005, [[Rawlco Communications|Rawlco]]'s [[CKCK-FM]] in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]], became the first non-Rogers station in Canada to directly license the Jack FM brand rather than adopting an alternate name.

On May 4, 2005, at 11 a.m., [[WQSR]], an [[oldies]] station in [[Baltimore]], changed its format to Jack FM. Listeners and staffers alike were surprised by the sudden change because many of the station's long-time air personalities were considered Baltimore institutions. WQSR received a large amount of negative publicity regarding the format change. Popular former WQSR personality Steve Rouse later became the morning show host at [[sister station]] 101.9 [[WLIF]].

[[File:Jack SMALL.png|Logo used on Cumulus and iHeartMedia owned stations.|thumb|right]]

The introduction of Jack FM in [[New York City]] generated the most negative publicity of any market that switched a station to the format. On June 3, 2005, at 5:00&nbsp;p.m., [[WCBS-FM]], an oldies station in New York City, flipped to Jack FM without any prior warning. The switch to the format, with no DJs and few songs before 1980 was termed ''The Day the Music Died'' by some New Yorkers and has drawn criticism even from non-listeners of the station.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/opinion/nyregionopinions/19LIgoldman.html|title=The Day the Music Died|first=Kevin|last=Goldman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 19, 2005}}</ref>  The sudden firing of DJs of historic renown such as [[Cousin Brucie]], [[Ron Lundy]] and [[Harry Harrison (DJ)|Harry Harrison]] was noted in the press. In a partial nod to this controversy, on June 14, 2005, the station announced that it would tweak the format to include a handful of 1950s and early 1960s songs as well as performers such as [[Frank Sinatra]] — elements not typical of the Jack format. However, a later update retracted this and songs from before the late 1960s were no longer played.

One prominent reaction to the format change came in the form of a derogatory comment from the city's mayor. According to the ''New York Post'', mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] responded to the change by declaring he would "never listen to that fucking CBS radio ever again" (the quote was censored in the newspaper). The new Jack station quickly picked up on this, using its trademark sarcasm: "Hey, Mayor Bloomberg. I heard you took a shot at us in the ''Post''. What's with all the swearin' like a sailor? [[Fleet Week]] is over. It's just music." Initially, [[Arbitron]] ratings showed a sharp decline and while ratings did improve, they never surpassed the levels that WCBS-FM had before the format switch.

As a result, on July 6, 2007, WCBS-FM announced it would drop Jack FM and restore the station's old format on July 12 with an updated [[classic hits]] approach, a move attributed mostly to the newly appointed CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction%3DArticles.san%26s%3D63620%26Nid%3D32050%26p%3D407397 |title=MediaPost Publications - Mag Rack: The 2005 Edition - 01/03/2005 |access-date=2007-07-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227064523/http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san |archive-date=2007-02-27 }}, Retrieved on 2008/06/12</ref> Three of the fired DJs and staff (Dan Taylor, Bob Shannon, and Mr. G) returned to the station, along with newsman Al Meredith (who had stayed at the station during Jack FM doing his Sunday morning public affairs show), as well as DJ [[Pat St. John]] who had previously left CBS-FM for Q104.3 about a year before the flip to Jack. Steve O'Brien, a weekend and fill-in DJ at the time of the format change, also returned in a similar capacity in 2008.  For a time, the Jack FM format WAS renamed ToNY.  It was available through WCBS-FM's [[HD Radio|HD2]] subchannel, and via an internet stream.

On the same day that WCBS-FM flipped to Jack FM, another station owned by CBS, [[WBMX (FM)|WJMK]], an oldies station in [[Chicago]], changed formats to Jack FM as well. The change at [[WBMX (FM)|WJMK]] didn't attract as much attention as the WCBS-FM flip, but it still drew the ire of its listeners.  Just as with WCBS-FM in New York, WJMK Chicago ended the Jack FM format and reverted to [[classic hits]] in 2011.

On July 5, 2005, it was announced that Bohn & Associates Media and Wall Media formed SparkNet Communications L.P. as the exclusive international licensor and owner of the Jack FM format. SparkNet has, in turn, licensed the format to [[Dial Global]] for satellite-based syndication to stations in U.S. markets outside the 40 largest. This satellite-fed Jack became active in October 2005, and now serves many of the smaller Jack stations, such as those in [[Evansville, Indiana]], and [[Knoxville, Tennessee]].

In late September 2005, [[CKIS-FM|CJAQ-FM]] in [[Toronto]], announced that it would become the first DJ-less station in Canada. Pat Cardinal, general manager and program director of the station, said "The move came as a result of listener feedback.  The audience has been telling us that they want no DJs on Jack. They want more music." When it first launched, 92.5 Jack FM operated without disc jockeys in an effort to establish the "Playing What We Want" concept, which was new to Toronto. DJs were introduced within weeks. In November 2005, Cardinal defended his decision in an interview with [[Michael Hainsworth]] of [[Report on Business Television]] and stated why he doesn't see commercial-free iPods and satellite radio as a threat to a non-DJ format.<ref>[http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Jack_FM_-_History/id/5173186 History Of Jack FM] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408090751/http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Jack_FM_-_History/id/5173186 |date=2009-04-08 }}</ref>

In October 2005, Entravision Radio launched a [[Spanish language|Spanish-language]] version of the Jack format dubbed "José" with the "We Play What We Want" tagline translated into Spanish as "Toca lo que Quiere". "José" went live on six FM and AM stations in [[KRCX-FM|Sacramento]], [[KCVR (AM)|Stockton]], and [[KCVR-FM|Modesto, California]]; [[KRZY (AM)|Albuquerque, New Mexico]]; and [[KMXA (AM)|Denver, Colorado]].<ref>Leila Cobo, "José Is The Latin Jack," ''Billboard'', 11/12/2005, Vol. 117 Issue 46, p. 32.</ref> The "José" stations have no affiliation with Jack, SparkNet Communications, or Bob Perry.

On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting, part of [[CBS]], announced that it would be replacing [[Howard Stern]] with Jack FM on some of its stations. Stern left terrestrial radio for [[Sirius Satellite Radio]] in late 2005.