FIRST OFF . . .

Another bit of airwave history died Friday when WNBC-AM, once the New York flagship station of the NBC Radio Network, signed off after 62 years on the air. Its 50,000-watt, clear-channel 660 slot on the AM dial was promptly taken over by all-sports WFAN. WFAN is owned by Emmis Broadcasting, which bought WNBC-AM and four others from General Electric--NBC’s new owner--for $121.5 million. GE got $55 million last year when it sold all four of NBC’s radio networks to Westwood One, including the original one that in network radio’s heyday aired the likes of Fred Allen, Bob Hope and a symphonic orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscannini. WNBC-AM’s death, according to the Radio Bureau of Advertising, leaves New York without a single Top 40 pop-music radio station on the AM dial. FM stations have largely captured the audience for that kind of music.