stereo rock at the shore and progressive on AM

[eyeconic]

Going back to the 70's, was WMGM the first station in the country to use the stereo rock top 40 format before it caught on and once it did killed all the AM top 40 powerhouses in cities where it launched. Also,was their a station on AM in the Lehigh Valley that had a very loose Progressive rock format which was odd for AM back in the early 70s. I seem to remember these two signals.

 

[EasyBakeOven]

1470 WSAN Allentown was Progressive Rock from the mid to late 1970s. Now, who has WSAN airchecks?

 

[Gregg.]

I'm not sure we can point to one FM station that used the "Stereo Rock" syndicated service, and say that one helped kill AM Top 40. Stereo Rock was on the air in quite a few cities, where an owner could automate it and put it on an FM station, while the co-owned AM station was fully staffed. I remember Stereo Rock on the air on WBEN-FM Buffalo (before those call letters were used in Philadelphia) and WGFM Schenectady (credited as the first full time FM stereo station). They both stayed automated after other FM stations in their cities had hired DJs. The ratings were good, so why pay a staff of DJs? Was Stereo Rock also used on WSTW in Wilmington DE?

And I don't think these stations overtook the AM Top 40 stations in their markets right away. In the 1970s, few cars had FM radios, so even if people started tuning them in at home, in their cars, they continued to hear AM Top 40 outlets. It was only when FM radios were in most cars that FM Top 40 stations pulled ahead of AM Top 40 outlets.

But the Stereo Rock stations really were great. No DJ talking over the intros, fewer commercials than on AM, and a voice always told us the last two songs after they were played. I suppose two songs were always recorded into the automation system back-to-back, so the voice could announce both together.

 

[TheBigA]

Stereo Rock came from TM Productions in Dallas. They were one of a handful of radio syndication companies that started in the 60s. Others included Schulke, Bonneville, and Century 21. Hundreds of radio stations ran automated formats from 10 inch reel to reel tapes, loaded up in racks. The reels usually had reflective strips in them that would trigger the local commercials. This is how radio stations ran before computers. The radio station would receive boxes of tapes every week with paper logs. They played the tapes in order. Then they mailed the tapes back and received a new set. No FedEx. Just regular mail. These companies had a great business, especially in the days when owners wanted to keep their FM stations on the air with no staff. They stayed in business until satellite distribution came along in 1979-80. Then you had companies like TranStar and Satellite Music Network.

 

[gr8oldies]

WPTH in Fort Wayne ran TM Stereo Rock from 1974 to 1980. WMEE remained on AM as a top 40 (as did WOWO with "full service top 40) but in 1979, Federated kicked its long running beautiful music format off FM 97.3 (WMEF) and transferred the WMEE calls and format there, complete with live jocks. WPTH always had board ops who would read news and weather, but took them all live shortly after WMEE flipped to FM. A more polished presentation followed on what would become WFWQ, and the 2 50kW FMs battled it out for a couple of years before WFWQ went A/C...eventually changing calls to WAJI and slogan to Majic 95.1.

I'm not sure we can point to one FM station that used the "Stereo Rock" syndicated service, and say that one helped kill AM Top 40. Stereo Rock was on the air in quite a few cities, where an owner could automate it and put it on an FM station, while the co-owned AM station was fully staffed. I remember Stereo Rock on the air on WBEN-FM Buffalo (before those call letters were used in Philadelphia) and WGFM Schenectady (credited as the first full time FM stereo station). They both stayed automated after other FM stations in their cities had hired DJs. The ratings were good, so why pay a staff of DJs? Was Stereo Rock also used on WSTW in Wilmington DE?

And I don't think these stations overtook the AM Top 40 stations in their markets right away. In the 1970s, few cars had FM radios, so even if people started tuning them in at home, in their cars, they continued to hear AM Top 40 outlets. It was only when FM radios were in most cars that FM Top 40 stations pulled ahead of AM Top 40 outlets.

But the Stereo Rock stations really were great. No DJ talking over the intros, fewer commercials than on AM, and a voice always told us the last two songs after they were played. I suppose two songs were always recorded into the automation system back-to-back, so the voice could announce both together.

 

[eyeconic]

I'm not sure we can point to one FM station that used the "Stereo Rock" syndicated service, and say that one helped kill AM Top 40. Stereo Rock was on the air in quite a few cities, where an owner could automate it and put it on an FM station, while the co-owned AM station was fully staffed. I remember Stereo Rock on the air on WBEN-FM Buffalo (before those call letters were used in Philadelphia) and WGFM Schenectady (credited as the first full time FM stereo station). They both stayed automated after other FM stations in their cities had hired DJs. The ratings were good, so why pay a staff of DJs? Was Stereo Rock also used on WSTW in Wilmington DE?

And I don't think these stations overtook the AM Top 40 stations in their markets right away. In the 1970s, few cars had FM radios, so even if people started tuning them in at home, in their cars, they continued to hear AM Top 40 outlets. It was only when FM radios were in most cars that FM Top 40 stations pulled ahead of AM Top 40 outlets.

But the Stereo Rock stations really were great. No DJ talking over the intros, fewer commercials than on AM, and a voice always told us the last two songs after they were played. I suppose two songs were always recorded into the automation system back-to-back, so the voice could announce both together.

Thanks for the info, an old friend of mine who lived in Claymont contacted me and played me a tape from WSTW it must of been 1978 they called themselves Rock 94 it was the Stereo Rock format there was a morning automated voice Bill Anderson (not the CW-singer) who gave news and weather and that was the only voice. I wonder if WYSP complained about the 94 Rock slogan, guess different market so it must of been OK.

 

[TheBigA]

Thanks for the info, an old friend of mine who lived in Claymont contacted me and played me a tape from WSTW it must of been 1978 they called themselves Rock 94 it was the Stereo Rock format there was a morning automated voice Bill Anderson (not the CW-singer) who gave news and weather and that was the only voice.

WSTW was a TM Stereo Rock affiliate in the early 80s. It wasn't unusual for an automated station to pre-record their local news and weather, because it had to fit an exact time. Some stations had TM provide generic time checks and temperature information from their network voice. By the mid-80s, they replaced the tapes with local staff.

 

[eyeconic]

WSTW was a TM Stereo Rock affiliate in the early 80s. It wasn't unusual for an automated station to pre-record their local news and weather, because it had to fit an exact time. Some stations had TM provide generic time checks and temperature information from their network voice. By the mid-80s, they replaced the tapes with local staff.

are you sure it wasn't 1978, I am positive there was an ad for a place Carmen Ford for a new 1978 Lincoln.

 

[TheBigA]

are you sure it wasn't 1978, I am positive there was an ad for a place Carmen Ford for a new 1978 Lincoln.

According to the 1979 Broadcasting Yearbook, the format of WSTW was listed as MOR.

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1979/C-1 Radio Broadcasting Yearbook 1979-12.pdf

In 1980, the listing changed to Stereo Rock:

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1980/C-1 Radio Broadcasting Yearbook 1980.pdf

 

[JBraddock]

Stereo Rock came from TM Productions in Dallas. They were one of a handful of radio syndication companies that started in the 60s. Others included Schulke, Bonneville, and Century 21.

Another was Drake-Chenault, which provided 4 formats (Hit Parade, Solid Gold, Classic Gold and Great American Country). WJLK(AM) and FM in Asbury Park ran the Hit Parade format in the mid to late 70s. The announcers used 'big' voices (almost pompous) to back-announce, image, and provide station IDs and time checks. They also provided everything from base library, weekly updates and production guidance to market analysis. The station provided the automation system, a production director and a news person. D-C also produced stand-alone programs for its affiliates: The History of Rock 'n Roll, The Golden Years and The Top 100 of the 60s.

 

[TheBigA]

Another was Drake-Chenault, which provided 4 formats (Hit Parade, Solid Gold, Classic Gold and Great American Country). WJLK(AM) and FM in Asbury Park ran the Hit Parade format in the mid to late 70s.

Agreed, and as the OP says, a lot of stations that ran these automated formats got great ratings, and were even more popular than the live & local stations in their markets. All of this flies in the face of critics who claim that radio was all local in the 60s & 70s, and that some modern versions of these automated formats are killing radio today. These automated formats were a cost effective way of bringing top talent and great music scheduling to smaller markets.

 

[davideduardo]

D-C also produced stand-alone programs for its affiliates: The History of Rock 'n Roll, The Golden Years and The Top 100 of the 60s.

IIRC, The History of Rock and Roll was produced by Ron Jacobs (who later produced American Top 40 for Tom Rounds' Watermark) for KHJ where he was the Program Director. Given its success, it was then taken into syndication by Drake-Chennault.

 

[davideduardo]

WSTW was a TM Stereo Rock affiliate in the early 80s. It wasn't unusual for an automated station to pre-record their local news and weather, because it had to fit an exact time. Some stations had TM provide generic time checks and temperature information from their network voice. By the mid-80s, they replaced the tapes with local staff.

The technology for time checks in early automation systems was quite interesting.

Two cartridge playbacks were used to always have the correct time check available. One cart machine had all the even minutes on it, and one had odd minutes.

It took 360 cuts from 12:00 to 11:58 and another 360 cuts from 12:01 to 11:59. This required using the largest of the three cartridge sizes, with nearly a full load of tape.

The announcers for each recorded shift would record all the times for their airtime. A production person would dub all the cuts onto the cartridge, putting each cut on the cart and carefully placing the EOM tone so it would smoothly trigger the proper next event. One error would ruin the whole tape, and require starting over, as carts had no "rewind" and "redo" capacity.

On the air, the cart machines were linked via a controller to the automation. The controller would advance one of the decks each minute, insuring that each was always ready for the right even or odd minute if called on.

In the event of a power failure, the operator had to make sure the time checker was still synchronized. If it had gotten behind, they would push play to bring it up to synch, and if it was ahead, the trick was to unplug it until real time caught up.

 

[davideduardo]

Hundreds of radio stations ran automated formats from 10 inch reel to reel tapes, loaded up in racks. The reels usually had reflective strips in them that would trigger the local commercials. This is how radio stations ran before computers. .

Except for very early automation, syndicated reel-to-reel program service tapes used 25 Hz tones to indicated either the end of tape or the end of a segment on the tape. The 25 Hz tone was recorded on the master, prior to duplication. When played back, a circuit sensitive to that frequency would cause the automation to trigger, and then an additional very narrow notch filter would remove the 25 Hz tone from the audio before it got to the automation system's mix bus.

For some years onward, several methods were sometimes used to do things like stopping the tape, rewinding the tape of some other function (like triggering a "change the tape" alarm for the operator). One system was to rub the oxide coating off the tape to create a tiny transparent window, which would be detected by an optical sensor and light beam. Another was the foil you mention.

Amazingly, the technology was good enough by the mid 70's to make a fully automated station sound totally live if enough care was put into the production.

 

[TheBigA]

One system was to rub the oxide coating off the tape to create a tiny transparent window, which would be detected by an optical sensor and light beam.

Wouldn't that make it impossible to reuse the tape? I know at Bonneville, they bulked the tape and then reused it.

 

[eyeconic]

Wasn''t WIFI 92 and WLEV 96 Hit Parade first then switched to Solid Gold in the early 70's. Also WSAN was the only Progressive AM station at that time and 1480 Z Rock NYC the only Heavy Metal AMer in the 90's.

 

[davideduardo]

Wouldn't that make it impossible to reuse the tape? I know at Bonneville, they bulked the tape and then reused it.

That technique was generally used in very early automation.

Tone control was in use in the late 50's in the first cart machines, so the technology only had to be adapted to reel to reel tape for automation systems.

Bonneville and Shulke had matched flow as well as random play services. The matched flow might have 4 segments on a one-hour tape, with a 25 Hz tone at the end of each set of songs. The random play would have a 25 Hz tone at the end of each song, placed to give exactly the amount of timing between songs.

By the mid-70's, syndicators were promising that no tape would be reused or bicycled. There were too many issues of splices, stretches, and other problems with returned tapes. So they took the reel apart, threw out the plastic hub with the tape, and put a fresh hub with tape in and screwed the aluminum flanges back on.

 

[davideduardo]

Wasn''t WIFI 92 and WLEV 96 Hit Parade first then switched to Solid Gold in the early 70's. Also WSAN was the only Progressive AM station at that time and 1480 Z Rock NYC the only Heavy Metal AMer in the 90's.

Progressive rock began in a couple of markets, like San Francisco, around '67 to '68 as rock music started to splinter into Archies vs. Led Zeppelin.

When the FCC mandated the general end of AM-FM simulcasting for most combo stations (except very small markets or when the AM was daytime-only) AM operators looked for FM formats that would not disrupt their cash-cow AM stations. Progressive rock and Beautiful Music were the two most frequent choices. By 1970, there were progressive rockers all over the country, ranging from markets as small as Monroe, LA, to New York City and LA.

 

[TheBigA]

Progressive rock began in a couple of markets, like San Francisco, around '67 to '68 as rock music started to splinter into Archies vs. Led Zeppelin.

Some radio historians give credit to Tom Donohue who started progressive rock at KMPX San Francisco in April 1967. But Murray The K was doing the same thing at WOR-FM during the summer of 1966. Drake took control of the station in 1967, and Murray left for Toronto. Scott Muno & Rosko, who were also at WOR, left for WNEW-FM.

Donohue left KMPX after the owner got greedy in 1968, moving the format and staff to KSAN. Coincidentally a year or so later, the format found its way to WSAN in Allentown. KSAN was owned by Metromedia, and Donohue convinced the company to switch other FMs to progressive rock. Those stations included KMET LA and WNEW NY.

 

[Gregg.]

I didn't realize 1470 WSAN Allentown was so early into the format. Very unusual for an AM station to go Progressive Rock. In the Allentown market, there were two AM Top 40 stations, 790 WAEB and 1320 WKAP, plus 1230 WEEX in nearby Easton. There was only one MOR station was in the market, 1400 WEST in Easton. I'm sure the temptation was great for WSAN to just do a typical MOR format on AM. It was 5,000 watts fulltime so it had a great signal for a market like Allentown, which could pick up NYC and Philadelphia stations with a good receiver.

I always wondered how WSAN stayed Progressive Rock so long, even after FM stations started to catch on? I suppose the owner was behind it and it made enough money that it remained for quite a few years. I think 95.1 FM had gone to formatted album rock even while WSAN was progressive.