Automated formats other than Beautiful Music

[gr8oldies]

The thread on Beautiful Music was very interesting. I thought I'd ask about formats like HitParade, Solid Gold, Stereo Rock and some of the others,

I saw my first automation system before my first live studio. It was in the back of the Celina (Ohio) Music Store feeding Hit Parade '68 to the WMER transmitter upstairs. The Music Store built the station in 1960 which was really early for a small standalone FM, and had just sold it. The station (WKKI) and Music Store are still there.

I was wondering if Drake-Chenault was first in the space, who followed them and who got really good ratings with this approach?

 

[michael hagerty]

The thread on Beautiful Music was very interesting. I thought I'd ask about formats like HitParade, Solid Gold, Stereo Rock and some of the others,

I saw my first automation system before my first live studio. It was in the back of the Celina (Ohio) Music Store feeding Hit Parade '68 to the WMER transmitter upstairs. The Music Store built the station in 1960 which was really early for a small standalone FM, and had just sold it. The station (WKKI) and Music Store are still there.

I was wondering if Drake-Chenault was first in the space, who followed them and who got really good ratings with this approach?

D-C was one of the first, certainly, though by the time they expanded beyond Hit Parade, they had plenty of competition.

In Los Angeles, KHJ-FM did very well with Hit Parade, a 2.0-2.5. And it continued with automation as KRTH well into the 80s, with morning drive the only live slot. And then, not always.

While not syndicated, KMET was automated 20 hours a day in 1969 and 1970, playing progressive rock. Only B. Mitchell Reed was live.

Up until 1972, KKDJ was automated Top 40.

And Al Ham‘s “The Entertainers” format was automated as well.

I worked at two AM stations that had automated FMs, one was Beautiful (Schulke), the other was Country (Drake-Chenault), as well as one FM where I was live in the morning and the rest of the day automated. It was an AC format from Concept Productions.

By the time it was all over, I think any format that didn’t absolutely need to be live (news/talk) was available for automation somewhere.

 

[gr8oldies]

I didn't realize Al Ham had a life before Music of Your Life, I think I remember The Entertainers, and if I recall correctly they offered the Jim French Show and the Lee Smith (?) show, where there was a little bit of personality on the reel. Instead of "Here's Linda Ronstadt with Tracks of My Tears" it might be "Lee Smith here with one of the big upcoming female artists's who's dating Governor Jerry Brown"." I don't know if it's the same company but there was a country version that did the same thing. Lee Shannon was one of the jocks and it was on WQLK, Richmond, Indiana. I worked with homebrew automated formats in a couple of places, then Century 21's A/C format (you could interchange the tapes for dayparting between E-Z, A/C and the Z CHR format. I believe there was even an AOR format, or at least album cut tapes. We even dayparted in a "Good Old Rock and Roll" tape in middays. I got exposure to Concept on the AM side of that station, and that's where there were voice tracks on reel to reel, with a code to match them up. If they didn't match, the automation silence sensed out.

We all know TM Stereo Rock but I have no direct experience with it, other than as a listener.

 

[Kelly A]

So would it be now called: 'Music of your death'?

 

[b-turner]

The first station I worked used Peters Productions. From 9 to 6 we were oldies. Back then it was two oldies reels and one of current hits. As I recall there were three categories of oldies. One was 1950s to about 1962 and included softer songs. The other two categories were pretty much 1960s and 1970s. All the songs were at least 5 years old except for the currents reel. It was 17 songs that were purely CHR on the currents reel including the long version of Who Are You by The Who that wasn't edited by the way, and the first on the reel for about 3 weeks straight. That meant you could set your watch by the currents. As green as I was I thought the currents reel needed to be adjusted to be acceptable to person that grew up on Sugar Shack by Jimmy Gilmer, Tell Laura I Love Her and such.

I always wondered why oldies stations played currents at that time. I recall listening regularly to what was KDNT FM in Denton, Texas when it was automated oldies but played 50% currents/recurrents. I had started listening to radio early and knew the hits from an early age. So, many of the oldies were known and liked although I was high school to college age. On a good hour they might have 2 spots an hour. If my memory is right KDNT became KIss FM.

 

[davideduardo]

So would it be now called: 'Music of your death'?

No, it is "Music of Your Life Support".

 

[michael hagerty]

So would it be now called: 'Music of your death'?

I'm 65 and it was the Music of my Parents' Life.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Sort of related to gr8oldies question: When did reel-to-reel automation formats cease production? Obviously it was pretty clunky to have to ship cases of tapes each week from a central studio to affiliate stations around the country, and satellite offered interesting possibilities, like being live, and not repeating music sweeps.

Did any of the reel-to-reel formats transition directly to satellite?

 

[gr8oldies]

So would it be now called: 'Music of your death'?

"Music for the Last Day of Your Life".

 

[gr8oldies]

Sort of related to gr8oldies question: When did reel-to-reel automation formats cease production? Obviously it was pretty clunky to have to ship cases of tapes each week from a central studio to affiliate stations around the country, and satellite offered interesting possibilities, like being live, and not repeating music sweeps.

Did any of the reel-to-reel formats transition directly to satellite?

Not that I'm aware of, especially not as-is.

 

[michael hagerty]

Sort of related to gr8oldies question: When did reel-to-reel automation formats cease production? Obviously it was pretty clunky to have to ship cases of tapes each week from a central studio to affiliate stations around the country, and satellite offered interesting possibilities, like being live, and not repeating music sweeps.

Did any of the reel-to-reel formats transition directly to satellite?

No. The costs in satellite, especially in the early days, were enormous. Taped format syndicators didn't have that kind of money. The networks, on the other hand, were perfectly positioned, as were syndicators that had been dabbling in live "event" programming via satellite as early as the 70s.

 

[TheBigA]

The networks, on the other hand, were perfectly positioned, as were syndicators that had been dabbling in live "event" programming via satellite as early as the 70s.

There were two satellites that handled radio in the 80s. There was Satcom, a digital point-to-point system owned by RCA. NBC and ABC each had space on Satcom. And then there was Westar, owned by Western Union. This was a more flexible system that allowed for movable uplinks. NPR and Mutual were on Westar. Mutual claims to be the first satellite delivered network in 1978. NPR came around the same time. NBC came the next year. They had the technology but not the content. In fact NPR and Mutual offered time on their satellites to other indie syndicators.

All of the networks were still thinking in a linear phone-line system. Rick Sklar was at ABC and his first idea was to put his WABC talent on a nationally distributed format he called "Superadio" in 1982. They couldn't get enough stations to make it profitable. The real breakthrough came from TranStar and Satellite Music Networks, who created the formats that utilized the satellite system. They both started in 1981. Transtar later merged with United Stations, became Unistar, and then was merged with Westwood One. SMN was bought by ABC, solving their content problem, and is now owned by Cumulus.

 

[gr8oldies]

There were two satellites that handled radio in the 80s. There was Satcom, a digital point-to-point system owned by RCA. NBC and ABC each had space on Satcom. And then there was Westar, owned by Western Union. This was a more flexible system that allowed for movable uplinks. NPR and Mutual were on Westar. Mutual claims to be the first satellite delivered network in 1978. NPR came around the same time. NBC came the next year. They had the technology but not the content. In fact NPR and Mutual offered time on their satellites to other indie syndicators.

All of the networks were still thinking in a linear phone-line system. Rick Sklar was at ABC and his first idea was to put his WABC talent on a nationally distributed format he called "Superadio" in 1982. They couldn't get enough stations to make it profitable. The real breakthrough came from TranStar and Satellite Music Networks, who created the formats that utilized the satellite system. They both started in 1981. Transtar later merged with United Stations, became Unistar, and then was merged with Westwood One. SMN was bought by ABC, solving their content problem, and is now owned by Cumulus.

The first regularly schedules satellite music programming I remember was Night Time America with Bob Dearborn.
Superradio was an interesting concept...Also an expensive one. Stations were supposed to fill Morning and Afternoon Drive locally (preferably hiring someone from their Superradio directory of Recommended Talent). It would be Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy middays, I don't know who nights and overnights, and Larry Lujack and Dick Purtan would do weekend shifts. I have no idea how time shifting to the West Coast was supposed to work. Lujack said after it all blew up that the only thing he ever did for the network was appear at a big press conference and he got paid for a year.

A station across town from where I was working was an early Transtar A/C affiliate. Stations didn't seem to be in a huge hurry to dump those clunky automation systems. I still worked at stations that had those behemoths 1983-1986.

Interestingly enough, there are people who collect and restore them.

 

[michael hagerty]

The first regularly schedules satellite music programming I remember was Night Time America with Bob Dearborn.
Superradio was an interesting concept...Also an expensive one. Stations were supposed to fill Morning and Afternoon Drive locally (preferably hiring someone from their Superradio directory of Recommended Talent). It would be Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy middays, I don't know who nights and overnights, and Larry Lujack and Dick Purtan would do weekend shifts. I have no idea how time shifting to the West Coast was supposed to work. Lujack said after it all blew up that the only thing he ever did for the network was appear at a big press conference and he got paid for a year.

A station across town from where I was working was an early Transtar A/C affiliate. Stations didn't seem to be in a huge hurry to dump those clunky automation systems. I still worked at stations that had those behemoths 1983-1986.

Interestingly enough, there are people who collect and restore them.

Stations paid money for those behemoths. And would have to pay money and find space for downlink dishes. Also, any switch from automation to satellite would be a change in sound—-production elements, music flow, personalities—-equivalent to a format change. If you’re a GM whose automated station is making money, you’re gonna take it slow.

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

Wasn't an automated format, but I worked the 7-midnight shift at a station in Bay City, MI back in 1991 that ran a 6 hour VCR tape on the air signal starting at noon. My last duty before I left the building was to rewind the tape and press "play" so it would stay on the air until the morning show started at 6am. Good times.

 

[gr8oldies]

Wasn't an automated format, but I worked the 7-midnight shift at a station in Bay City, MI back in 1991 that ran a 6 hour VCR tape on the air signal starting at noon. My last duty before I left the building was to rewind the tape and press "play" so it would stay on the air until the morning show started at 6am. Good times.

There were some weird ways of doing things. One place I worked the FM Beautiful Music was 3 very large carts that maybe ran an hour each. There was no insertion system, so some spots on the AM log were marked with an asterik and the AM jock switched a rotary knob to interrupt what was playing on the air (while it continued dead-rolling) then that spot was simulcast

 

[michael hagerty]

There were some weird ways of doing things. One place I worked the FM Beautiful Music was 3 very large carts that maybe ran an hour each. There was no insertion system, so some spots on the AM log were marked with an asterik and the AM jock switched a rotary knob to interrupt what was playing on the air (while it continued dead-rolling) then that spot was simulcast

Ah, yes---"live assist".

I never saw it, but there was a radio station in the California desert---Ridgecrest, maybe?--- in the early 80s that had an automation system that was cassette-based. Heard a couple of horror stories, never heard the actual station. It fell to satellite very quickly.

 

[ajaynejr]

An early (debuted 1966) non-beautiful music automated station was WRKO FM 98.5 in Boston MA with a one of a kind top 40 rock format. It was apparently launched to meet an FCC directive to reduce simulcasting on AM and FM.

The format was themed as an automated operation, complete with a synthetic voice suggestive of the voices of robots in cartoons. There were lots of (now standard) human sung jingles but no banter and no announcing of titles or artists.

Unlike in classical or beautiful music formats, popular music formats require that some selections be replayed more often than others. WRKO FM used ordinary (8-track sized) cartridges and reel to reel tapes produced locally. Not sure how they programmed it but IMHO the workload of preparing tapes would be minimized if most of the top hits were put on carts, and the system could handle that many along with the commercials. The oldies (initially 1955 to 1965 hits) were put on reels that would be archived with different reels loaded each day. A new reel tape for currents would then be small and recorded perhaps only every two weeks.

At first, oldies made up about 20% of the daily playlist but within a few months that was increased to about 35% to increase variety and reduce repetitiveness.

The automated top 40 may also have been a test bed for top 40 innovation including Drake-Chenault's. Within a year, WRKO 680 (formerly talk WNAC) switched to top 40, with live disk jockeys, and soon became the dominant top 40 station in Boston.

Ca 1970 WRKO FM changed to a syndicated automated all oldies format (Solid Gold Rock & Roll), receiving tape reels every month or so from an outside source. The live top 40 on WRKO AM continued for another ten or so years and then the station went back to talk.

 

[michael hagerty]

An early (debuted 1966) non-beautiful music automated station was WRKO FM 98.5 in Boston MA with a one of a kind top 40 rock format. It was apparently launched to meet an FCC directive to reduce simulcasting on AM and FM.

The format was themed as an automated operation, complete with a synthetic voice suggestive of the voices of robots in cartoons. There were lots of (now standard) human sung jingles but no banter and no announcing of titles or artists.

Unlike in classical or beautiful music formats, popular music formats require that some selections be replayed more often than others. WRKO FM used ordinary (8-track sized) cartridges and reel to reel tapes produced locally. Not sure how they programmed it but IMHO the workload of preparing tapes would be minimized if most of the top hits were put on carts, and the system could handle that many along with the commercials. The oldies (initially 1955 to 1965 hits) were put on reels that would be archived with different reels loaded each day. A new reel tape for currents would then be small and recorded perhaps only every two weeks.

At first, oldies made up about 20% of the daily playlist but within a few months that was increased to about 35% to increase variety and reduce repetitiveness.

The automated top 40 may also have been a test bed for top 40 innovation including Drake-Chenault's. Within a year, WRKO 680 (formerly talk WNAC) switched to top 40, with live disk jockeys, and soon became the dominant top 40 station in Boston.

Ca 1970 WRKO FM changed to a syndicated automated all oldies format (Solid Gold Rock & Roll), receiving tape reels every month or so from an outside source. The live top 40 on WRKO AM continued for another ten or so years and then the station went back to talk.

Carts for currents makes a lot of sense. Add one more cart carousel to the system, for music only and you can program in key records just like commercials.

"Solid Gold Rock and Roll" was not from an outside source---in 1970, Drake was still in charge of RKO programming (and would be until mid-1973). That was his.

 

[gr8oldies]

We did exactly that at KGRC in Hannibal MO, 24 currents in a carousel for currents. The downside was you couldn't really do an "A" and "B" rotation.