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wwl 101.9 SIGN ON DATE.

T

thebeach33445

Hey Guys:

I saw on wikepida that WWL 101.9's beautiful music format signed on in the 60's but when I did my research in the Broadasting Yearbooks it says WWL signed on in 1970. Can anybody tell me which is correct?

Thanks

T.J.
 
Remember that wikipedia is a user inputted encyclopedia and can be corrupted easily with bad info and on some, purposely wrong info. The books online are from that era and would be more correct as it would be recent history.
 
I think WWL-FM played Easy listening when they first signed on before switching to the Rampart 102 top 40 format in 1973.

They went back to Easy Listening in May 1976 before going to a very soft AC on December 26, 1980 as WAJY.

A letter writer to the Times Picayune on May 27, 1974 complains about how little choice there is on the FM dial in New Orleans. He says you have 3 easy listening stations: WEZB, WBYU and WQUE and 4 stations doing some form of rock: WRNO, WNOE, WIXO and WWL-FM. He didn't mention WXEL which I assume was R & B.
 
TJ, I can tell you that I (along with input from others who were there at the time or worked there at some point, etc.) have contributed to the "WEZB Wiki."

After getting some input from Jack Da Wack at our last radio reunion, I decided that putting on what he had told me was the only way I could get that info across about WEZB's history, mainly B-97, which is STILL on the air today. 30 years as a Top 40 (CHR) format! A short-lived attempt at Hot Talk is the only thing that interrupts their CHR longevity.

Jeremy
 
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the late and lamented (well, maybe not so lamented) "Disco 97" which flourished for about 10 minutes in 1979 or thereabouts on B-97's frequency. Anyone care to claim "credit" for this flash of programming brilliance?
 
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the late and lamented (well, maybe not so lamented) "Disco 97" which flourished for about 10 minutes in 1979 or thereabouts on B-97's frequency. Anyone care to claim "credit" for this flash of programming brilliance?
Click to expand...

I looked up the history of WEZB-FM in the Storer books, but in the years 1979-1981, they are the same. It reports them as Beautiful Music, but according to Jack Da Wack, the station debuted as Top 40 "B-97FM" sometime in November of 1979; early November 1979 he seems to think. He was there.

So the books should say WEZB's format as "Top 40" from 1980, or at least 1981, onward. They don't.

As far as "Disco 97" is concerned, y'all are correct. The format didn't last a year because the books report them as Beautiful Music. So, the assumption I came up with is that the station was Beautiful Music, then on Thursday, February 8, 1979, it became the short-lived "Disco 97." It stayed that way until EZ Communications realized their first big disaster was flipping it to that mess, so they corrected it by going back with Beautiful Music until they can come up with a better format idea for that frequency. They later flip to "Top 40" as B-97FM. That would live on until summer of 1995 when EZ again decides to flip it to Hot Talk. Second disaster.

Jeremy

BTW, the PD at the time of Disco 97, etc. is a fella by the name of Michael Jackson (not to be confused with the singer). Haha :D
 
Did anyone even aircheck the Hot Talk era or "planet B" weekends? I enjoyed both of those formats, though obviously by the comments on that talk format, I'm in the minority.
 
JimmyJames, I can tell ya I didn't. I was so devastated that they took our music station away from us, that I couldn't even bare thinking about turning the radio on to hear what they flipped it to. A lot of people were. I thought it was all a bad dream every time I did! B-97 was the only Top 40 left here in New Orleans and EZ Communications took it from us. I know the Top 40 format was suffering from an identity crisis around the early/mid 90's; ratings were slowly falling, but that forced us listeners to tune to Lite 105, a Hot AC station here in NOLA.

Each time I turned on the radio and went to 97.1 FM, I would hope to hear the return of Top 40. It never did, until one day I turned it on cause someone told me they thought the station was going country. I tuned in to hear Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" playing in it's entirety, in a loop, over and over and over. ::) That was when B-97 was about to return, but I didn't know that then and it wasn't going CHR again, just yet. They went Hot AC as well. I don't know, however, what the very first song that played was as Hot AC B-97, but I later tuned in to hear the Billy Ray again, only to hear Jon Secada's "Just Another Day" playing. I kept the radio on. Indeed, it was Hot AC; a mix of songs from that point in time (1995), as well as older stuff. Silly me didn't run to the tape player and put a blank in and start recording. I wish I had!

As far as Planet B is concerned, that was an odd mix of music. It was supposed to be Top 40 Rock, but it was a trainwreck. The whole music/talk format was confusing in itself. If I remember correctly, the schedule was:
Stern in the morning
Scoot middays
Don't remember afternoon drive
7p-midnite - Love Phones

Jeremy
 
By the way, when B-97 returned to the full-time music format as a Hot AC station, they reused an old 1980's jingle package (I think from Jam Jingles in Dallas). That was a hoot to hear! "More Music, B-97FM!"

Jeremy
 
briancraig said:
I think WWL-FM played Easy listening when they first signed on before switching to the Rampart 102 top 40 format in 1973.

Hey Briancraig: Would you know when in 1973 Rampart 102 started?

Thanks

T.J.
Click to expand...
 
JasonReed said:
...If I remember correctly, the schedule was:
Stern in the morning
Scoot middays
Don't remember afternoon drive
7p-midnite - Love Phones

Jeremy
Click to expand...

Afternoon drive was Steve & Gary (Steve Johnson of the on-hiatus-at-the-time Walton & Johnson show, paired with Gary Spears, later of KIIS-FM Los Angeles)
 
thebeach33445 said:
Hey Guys:

I saw on wikepida that WWL 101.9's beautiful music format signed on in the 60's but when I did my research in the Broadasting Yearbooks it says WWL signed on in 1970. Can anybody tell me which is correct?

Thanks

T.J.
Click to expand...


WWL-FM 102 stereo did indeed hit the airwaves as of October 21, 1970.
 

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  • WWL-FM 102 stereo 10-21-1970.jpg
    WWL-FM 102 stereo 10-21-1970.jpg
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The FCC Posted the history cards for WWL-FM 105.3, WEZB, WLMG-101.9, And WKBU 95.7. Also WZRH(WCKW-FM)92.3, La Place, WFMF And WDGL(WAFB-WGGZ) 98.1 Baton Rouge. This might answer some questions.
 
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