AM Top 40, The End

[michael hagerty]

The amazing part about this thread to me is that so many people point to the Telecom Act of 1996 as the single thing that killed radio. Yet each and every one of these format flips happened long before the Act was even proposed. AM Top 40, as a cultural phenomenon, was over by the end of the 70s. It wasn't killed by consolidation or corporate radio. It was killed by the audience moving on to something else. It's the normal cycle of things. Nothing stays the same.

Well, they're saying Telecom '96 killed radio, not AM.

There's a big difference between what FM radio sounded like and provided for its listeners 25 years ago and what they've been doing since the Telecom Act.

In a lot of cases, we got better radio when the AM Top 40s were replaced by the FM CHRs in the early to mid 80s...Z-100 in New York certainly had more going for it than WABC had in years...same with KIIS-FM (or better, KKHR) compared to what KHJ had been doing.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[TheBigA]

In a lot of cases, we got better radio when the AM Top 40s were replaced by the FM CHRs in the early to mid 80s.

But that "better radio" was short-lived as it became more popular and more commercialized. It may have only lasted five years. The early CHRs on FM started to suffer from the same problems that hurt AM Top 40, such as over commercialization and tighter playlists. All that happened before 1996.

The exact same thing is happening now in online radio. Those stations that are most popular are adding commercials and other revenue generators, they're becoming more corporate, and alienating audiences. The cycle continues.

 

[firepoint525]

I'm trying to determine if top 40 on AM radio was able to hold on a little longer than it did in the big cities. WENK in Union City, TN, was top 40 until late 1982/early 1983, when the format migrated over to its then-new FM sister station KF-99. WENK then became a mix of AC and oldies, eventually going over completely to oldies. They have been ever since. Ironically enough, WENK now plays (as oldies) much of the same music that they played (as a top 40) in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s.

They got some competition from then-WALR-FM in 1980-82 when WALR played a mix of rock and top 40 at the time, which could best be described as "rock 40." I don't think anyone could get away with a playlist like that now.

 

[LKellerIII]

The amazing part about this thread to me is that so many people point to the Telecom Act of 1996 as the single thing that killed radio. Yet each and every one of these format flips happened long before the Act was even proposed. AM Top 40, as a cultural phenomenon, was over by the end of the 70s. It wasn't killed by consolidation or corporate radio. It was killed by the audience moving on to something else. It's the normal cycle of things. Nothing stays the same.

Well, they're saying Telecom '96 killed radio, not AM.

There's a big difference between what FM radio sounded like and provided for its listeners 25 years ago and what they've been doing since the Telecom Act.

In a lot of cases, we got better radio when the AM Top 40s were replaced by the FM CHRs in the early to mid 80s...Z-100 in New York certainly had more going for it than WABC had in years...same with KIIS-FM (or better, KKHR) compared to what KHJ had been doing.

---Michael Hagerty

Good points, Michael. There have also been a few posts here in the past that blame deregulated corporate radio on the Republicans and the Bush Administration, ignoring the fact that Bill Clinton was in the last year of his first term in 1996. Yes, the GOP had controlled Congress for a little over a year, but the Telecom Act of 96 was done with the full cooperation of Bubba and the Dems.

In the San Francisco market, it was a mixed bag. 106/KMEL's switch from AOR to "All Hits" was widely credited with being the nail in KFRC's coffin - the irony, or course, being that the 106.1 frequency had been KFRC-FM until 1977 or so, when RKO General sold it, believing that AM represented the future of radio - despite all evidence to the contrary.

The Top 40 version of KMEL didn't hold a candle to the Big 610 (in my opinion), but 99.7/KYUU (owned by NBC) morphed into an excellent Top 40 Personality station by the mid 80s. X-100, the successor to KYUU, was also a good hit station, with an urban lean - though it never caught on with listeners. Then there was the awful "Hot Hits" KITS, which played only the Top 10 records over and over in constant rotation until it flamed out.

 

[firepoint525]

In a lot of cases, we got better radio when the AM Top 40s were replaced by the FM CHRs in the early to mid 80s...Z-100 in New York certainly had more going for it than WABC had in years...same with KIIS-FM (or better, KKHR) compared to what KHJ had been doing.

In the early days of CHR on FM (early '80s) that was definitely true, as most FMs (especially back then) were more "music intensive" than the AMs that they replaced (or forced into format changes), with fewer interruptions for high school and college football and basketball, and the like. But that has gradually changed over the years, as more and more sports programming has migrated over to FM.

Yes, FM has become more "commercial" over the years, but when a station interrupts the music to air commercial spots, you still know that they will be back with more music in a couple of minutes. If they are in sports, you know not to expect music for several more hours!

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

Much like a mini-San Francisco, Altoona, PA was a tough market for FM due to the terrain and like its larger west coast, AM top 40 stuck around longer than elsewhere.

I don't know the year it flipped, but WFBG/1290 was still playing the hits well into the 1980's. In fact, I came very close to taking a job there in 1984 when it was still very much near the top of ratings. I was working at an FM CHR in a similar size market but WFBG was a move up in spite of it being on AM.

 

[charlestondxman]

In the Charleston area, WCSC stayed top 40 until like 1982 or 83, when they went oldies. WTMA 1250 remained a music station well into the mid and late 80s. They were local oldies until the end of 1986, before they flipped over to satellite oldies at the beginning of 1987.

 

[jonbruce]

San Diego and Los Angeles, XETRA 690 late 1984 to "Oldies". I remember KABC's brief top 40 run in 1958.

 

[mleach]

But that "better radio" was short-lived as it became more popular and more commercialized. It may have only lasted five years. The early CHRs on FM started to suffer from the same problems that hurt AM Top 40, such as over commercialization and tighter playlists. All that happened before 1996.

In my neck of the woods it actually happened by 1993. In the Washington-Baltimore area by 1993, WRQX which was CHR "Q107" started to call themselves "MIX 107.3" while WAVA had went relgious. Baltimore's "B104 started airing TV ads with baseball's Jim Palmer saying that B104 will no longer play hard rock or rap ( the "new" B104 didn't last BTW ). Baltimore's "K106" and Northern Virginia's "B106" was long long gone by then.

Up and down the Shenandoah & Cumberland Valley ( from Staunton, VA to Chambersburg, PA ) in the mid to late 80's we had noless than 7 stations doing CHR on FM..by 1993 not one of them was doing that format. One went country ( Staunton ), two had switched to HOT AC ( Harrisonburg, VA & Chambersburg, PA ) and the rest ( Winchester, VA, Martinsburg, WV, Cumberland, MD, Hagerstown, MD ) oddly went with classic rock though of them for a very brief time ( WFQX in Winchester, VA ) tried doing a "modern rock CHR" format but that didn't last before they had made a return to classic rock.

 

[TheBigA]

but the Telecom Act of 96 was done with the full cooperation of Bubba and the Dems.

It was the Democrats' idea, promoted by the "technology VP," Al Gore. He went on Letterman one night in 1994 to say, "I can't believe broadcasters operate under a law that was written before TV was invented."

I keep the list of who voted for it in my file for such discussions.

In the Senate, 81 voted for, 18 against, and one abstain

In the House, 414 voted for, 16 against.

 

[davideduardo]

But that "better radio" was short-lived as it became more popular and more commercialized. It may have only lasted five years. The early CHRs on FM started to suffer from the same problems that hurt AM Top 40, such as over commercialization and tighter playlists. All that happened before 1996.

What actually happened is neither overcommercialization nor tighter playlists.

The reasons for the thinning of the ranks of FM Top 40's were lowered revenue potential and the need to become more adult targeted.

In the 80's and 90's, CHRs tended to increase playlists (with exceptions like Mike Joseph's "hot hits" format) in order to try to get more adult audience as the teen and 18-24 money essentially dried up in radio. Because of the change in revenue potential, most markets ended up with one CHR and the target for the format became Women 18-34, not 12-24 which was no longer salable.

CHR, which is just a name that the now-defrunct R&R slapped on "Top 40" so its charts would look different, is the direct continuation of the formats started in the 50's when stations played 40 songs, and only 40 songs, over and over. Oh, and those early Top 40s often ran 18 minutes of commercials an hour.

 

[michael hagerty]

CHR, which is just a name that the now-defrunct R&R slapped on "Top 40" so its charts would look different, is the direct continuation of the formats started in the 50's when stations played 40 songs, and only 40 songs, over and over. Oh, and those early Top 40s often ran 18 minutes of commercials an hour.

Yes, but never seven minutes at a time. There were also between 3 and 5 new songs a week, and songs were pretty much done in 10-12 weeks. Promos were re-cut weekly, at a minimum. And the jocks were more than liner card readers, dispensing information, humor and observations. As a result, the "40 songs, over and over" stations with 18 minutes of spots were able to sound far fresher than today's CHR.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[LKellerIII]

CHR, which is just a name that the now-defrunct R&R slapped on "Top 40" so its charts would look different, is the direct continuation of the formats started in the 50's when stations played 40 songs, and only 40 songs, over and over. Oh, and those early Top 40s often ran 18 minutes of commercials an hour.

Yes, but never seven minutes at a time. There were also between 3 and 5 new songs a week, and songs were pretty much done in 10-12 weeks. Promos were re-cut weekly, at a minimum. And the jocks were more than liner card readers, dispensing information, humor and observations. As a result, the "40 songs, over and over" stations with 18 minutes of spots were able to sound far fresher than today's CHR.

---Michael Hagerty

Agreed - and by the mid 60s, Top "40" radio was mixing in a lot of recurrents and "goldens" (oldies) from the last 5 years or so. As I remember it, during drive time, both KHJ and KRLA would play one "golden" for every 3 new songs. During other day parts, it was usually one to one. So if you add in the oldies to the Top 30 and 5 "Hitbounds", there was really a decent amount of musical variety. Then add in DJs who rarely had to read liners, and could be clever and entertaining in 15 seconds or less, and you had a fast moving, entertaining format.

 

[TheBigA]

Yes, but never seven minutes at a time.

Over 20 years ago, it was discovered that listeners see commercials as interruptions. So every time you run one, listeners leave. The decision was made to minimize the interruptions. Instead of running 2-3 commercials between every song, as most AM Top 40s did, they grouped 2-3 songs together, then grouped the spot clusters together. The result was the same number of spots, but fewer breaks. It's six of one, half dozen of the other. But the actual number of spots hasn't changed, and I have copies of logs to prove it.

There were also between 3 and 5 new songs a week, and songs were pretty much done in 10-12 weeks.

Still happens a lot today, but it depends on the format. Country, CHR, and Urban are still pretty quick. You control the age of the demo by the number of currents and speed of the rotation. So you can’t compare a hot urban station to a soft AC. Their goals are different, so their music policies are different. Top 40 AMs were aiming at much younger demos.

And the jocks were more than liner card readers, dispensing information, humor and observations.

Once again, it depends on the station. There were automated beautiful music stations in the 70s that had liner readers. There are country stations right now that feature lots of live DJs who say what they want whenever they want.

As a result, the "40 songs, over and over" stations with 18 minutes of spots were able to sound far fresher than today's CHR.

The sound and the reality are two different things. The fact is the public is far less tolerant of things they don’t like today. It’s all a trade-off in programming. Nothing will please everyone, including the programmer. But in the final analysis, everything that goes on the air shows up in the numbers. You look at what you do, compare it to what everyone else does and their results, and then you make adjustments.

 

[LKellerIII]

And the jocks were more than liner card readers, dispensing information, humor and observations.

Once again, it depends on the station. There were automated beautiful music stations in the 70s that had liner readers. There are country stations right now that feature lots of live DJs who say what they want whenever they want.

Funny you should say that. 95.7 "The Wolf" in the Bay Area (Entercom) features talented live (I think) DJs who are given a little time to talk, very clever promotions and humorous imaging. The station has been criticized by some for being "too loud" - reminiscent of 60s era Top 40 stations.

The Wolf has managed to become a Top 10 station despite the fact that the last 2 country stations in the San Francisco market have flopped miserably.

 

[wxman76]

Although primiarily known as FM stations, I recall KIIS/Los Angeles and WKBQ/St. Louis had AM simulcasts in 1996. They would flip to seperate formats soon thereafter though.

About the last AM only CHR that I am aware of was WYLI/Parkersburg, WV. It was still a CHR at least through 1997.

 

[mleach]

Although primiarily known as FM stations, I recall KIIS/Los Angeles and WKBQ/St. Louis had AM simulcasts in 1996. They would flip to seperate formats soon thereafter though.

For a very brief time back in the mid 90's Buffalo's WKSE-FM " KISS 98.5" was simulcasting most of their CHR format on WWKB 1520. But like everything else in the history of WWKB..that didn't last.

 

[ChrisInMI]

In Detroit:

800 CKLW to Music of Your Life in '84, as already mentioned

1310 WKNR to easy listening as WNIC, April 1972 - though "Keener" would attempt an unsuccessful comeback in the late '70s with new calls (WWKR)

1500 WJBK to easy listening, 1964 - WJBK was Detroit's first Top 40 station, adopting the format in 1956. They would have two brief returns to Top 40/CHR in later years: one in 1969 (very short lived) and the other in the mid-'80s as WCZY-AM, simulcasting "Z95.5."

560 WQTE to easy listening, 1961 (after only about a year in the format)

1270 WXYZ to MOR, 1967 (as "The Sound of the Good Life")

1130 WCAR also did the format for a short time in the early '70s although I'm unclear on the precise time line of the format changes/dates there.

And on the subject of former AM standalone Top 40s that later returned to playing the hits as simulcasts of their FM sisters... some other examples I can think of in Michigan: 1270 WVOY Charlevoix (later as WKHQ-AM in the mid-'80s simulcasting 105.9 WKHQ-FM) and 1600 WTRU Muskegon (later as WSNX in the mid-'80s simulcasting 104.5 WSNX "Sunny FM").

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Just had a weird thought: Aren't a lot of the Radio Disney stations (which play the bubblegummy side of current music) on AM?

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Corky is back. Corky Marlowe would have been a fantastic name for 7-12 jock on a Sixties Top 40. The girls woulda loved it. Or maybe 6-9 on KHJ. I could could see the sign on "It's Boss" reading "CORKY"! or------ Corky would have been great as the jock in "Hairspray". Corky Marlowe Show on 600 WCAO and WMAR TV. Or, Corky Marlowe coulda been the guy who left WABC to go to Radio Lumembourg