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AMERICAN TOP 40 Affiliates Past and Present

J

JonathanGabel

In New York City, here is a rough listing of past and current AT40 affiliates:

WPIX-FM
99X (WXLO)
WNBC
WPLJ(HITRADIO 95, POWER 95, MOJO RADIO, and just simply 95-5 PLJ)
BIG 105 (I think)
Z100 (The current affiliate)

I do not have the dates on any of these on when the programs were aired on these stations, but does anyone know them?

Also, what were the past AT40 affiliates and the current AT40 affiliate in all the other markets such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and so on?

You may now proceed!
 
The original AT40 affil in Tucson was KHYT (then 1330 AM,
not the current 107.5 FM), picking up the show a few weeks
after it began on the July 4 weekend of 1970.
 
In Cincinnati, WOKV had AT40 in the late '70s. From what I'm told, AT40 was on WSKS in the early '80s. (This covered Dayton as well.) AT40 was on WKRQ by 1983, and it stayed there until at least after AT40 stopped using the Hot 100 in 1991.

Through many of those years, WKRQ did not treat AT40 well, I'm afraid. I know I've mentioned before the fact that WKRQ cut George Michael's "I Want Your Sex" out of most airings of AT40 (except for the year-end top 100 countdown). There were other problems too. For instance, there was one week around January 1990 when WKRQ aired the previous week's show instead of the show they were supposed to air. There was another week in the late '80s when WKRQ inexplicably started AT40 a half-hour late and cut out most of Casey's stories.
 
San Francisco: Only affiliate I remember was KCBS (97.3 - now KLLC) in the early 80s, before they flipped to AOR as KRQR.

Minneapolis/St. Paul: For the most part, it's been KDWB. KQQL is currently airing classic countdowns from the 70s on the weekends.

Milwaukee: WRKR (100.7 - now WKKV) in the early 80s. WKTI currently airing the Hot AC version.

Cleveland: WGCL (98.5 - now WNCX) late 70s - early 80s. Famous for their 'local' show in place of special AT40 Disco countdown (G98 was anti-disco at the time, and more of a Rock 40 station)
 
What was the Louisville affiliate after WHAS dropped AT40? Anyone remember?

I'm pretty sure 100.1 in Lexington had it, but their signal barely reached Frankfort, let alone Louisville.
 
In Lexington, KY WLAP-AM had AT 40 until 1980 when the AM changed to the ill-fated standards/beautiful music format. On the AM it aired Saturday Night. When it moved to WLAP-FM, it moved to Sunday morning. I faintly remember it being on WFMI.

Also, add 96STO Owensboro/Evansville to the list. It aired AT40 after WGBF Evansville dropped the show. It aired Rick Dees for a few years until returning to Casey's Top 40 an his migration back to AT40.
 
radiorob2.0 said:
WLS aired AT 40 in the early 80's.
Click to expand...

WCFL also ran American top forty in the early seventies. Not sure who ran it in Chicago between it's airings on WCFL and WLS.
 
A little history of AT40's beginnnings for those who care. The show's LA affiliate in the first years of the early 70s was KRLA - 1110 AM. AT40 was almost identical to the show Casey Kasem had already been doing for KRLA, with the Billboard chart substituting for KRLA's playlist, and AT40 formatics replacing the KRLA jingles, of course. The brain behind the show was supposedly Ron Jacobs, who is credited (with Bill Drake) for the success of Boss Radio KHJ - LA's number 1 station, and KRLA's competitor. Jacobs had left KHJ by that time, and I don't know how he got connected with Casey, who had been a DJ on KRLA since 1963. The story goes that he developed his specialty - talking about rock stars, their careers and personal lives at KEWB (SF Bay Area) about 1961 after the PD told him he could no longer do jokes. He added the countdown element at KRLA. Since KRLA was always a runner-up in the ratings to KHJ, they experimented with the format often. For awhile, they tried a more FM style album-rock format without as many single-type hits, so Casey used the music survey published a Cashbox - a Billboard competitor.
 
The list is seemingly endless. WMEE, Ft. Wayne was one that ran it on AM, and after switching to FM. WENS, Indianapolis comes to mind. Also WAZY in Lafayette, IN.(I think WASK may have carried them there at one time).

WMMX, Dayton carries "AT40 Flash back" even though it's no longer being syndicated.(It's a repackaged show from the 80s). Apparently they just archived the last year and keep re-running them on Saturday mornings. It is interesting when Casey announces three affiliates (one being 2ZXG in Bugga Bugga, Papua New Guinea) that carried the show back then.
 
From what I recall, WPEZ carried AT40 as early as 1976 [I have no idea when 94.5 began running it] well into the 3WS days before the station went oldies, by 1986, 104.7 -then WYDD- carried AT40. I forget when 104.7 dumped the show.
 
WHBC-AM 1480 Canton, Ohio carried AT40 for several years in the 1970's on Sunday Nights 7-10PM..WDJQ/WZKL 92.5 FM Alliance/Canton had the show after that though am not certain of the dates.
 
In Eastern Massachusetts, I can recall hearing AT40 first on WKBR-1250/95.7, Manchester, NH, in 1970.
By 1972, I was also hearing it on WMEX-1510, Boston, as well as WEIM-1280, Fitchburg, Ma.
 
WTLB in Utica-Rome carried AT 40 in the early 1970's. Probably 1970. They may have run the first week of the national show. I believe later on it moved over to their FM- WRCK.
 
At WKSN in Jamestown NY, when I started in September 1979, it was already running on Saturday nights from 6-10pm. I stayed at the station until 1981 Memory serves that it was dropped in 1980 as the station continued in a A/C format.
 
Here are cities where I've lived at one time or another that had AT40 & CT40.

Charlotte, NC: It was on 1110 WBT (back when WBT had a Adult leaning Top 40 format), them moved over to their sister FM, WBCY, when it went Top 40 in the early 80's. AT40 stayed at WBCY until late 1989 when it was dropped due to a format change. WZZG (Z-95.1) then picked it up for about a year in 1990, until the station changed format to Oldies. Meanwhile, Dance-oriented CHR WCKZ (Kiss 102) picked up Casey's Top 40 when it started in 1989 and ran it until about 1992 when Kiss altered it's format toward Urban/Hip-Hop and dropped the show. CT40 reappeared in 1994 on WEDJ (The Edge 95.1) and kept the show when it became AT40 in 1998. By that time, the station had become WNKS (Kiss 95.1).

Columbia, SC: It was on WNOK as far back as I can remember listening to the show (1982) and kept the show until 1991 when it was dropped for CT40. CT40 was first heard on WYYS (Yes 97) in 1989, but dropped it in 1991 since Yes 97 had altered it's format to Rock 40 and no longer aired much of the music that was on the countdown. WNOK picked up the show about 2 weeks later and continues to air it on weekends.

Augusta, GA: WBBQ ran the show throughout the 1980's until it was dropped around 1991. They were running CT40 right from the start, so Casey Kasem was always heard on WBBQ. In 1994 WBBQ and AC WZNY swapped formats & airstaff and CT40 was moved to WZNY. They kept CT40 and AT40 until the station became Country WIBL (105.7 The Bull) in 2004. New CHR startup WHHD (HD98.3) now has AT40.

Charleston, SC: WTMA had the show in the 1970's and early 80's when it was moved to FM sister WSSX (95SX). 95SX kept the show until 1991 when it was dropped for CT40. About a year later, it was moved over to CHR LMA partner WSSP (Fly 94), which kept it for about a year, then the station changed format and dropped CT40. WSSX, by this time was AC and picked up CT20 for about a year and a half, then the station relaunched as a CHR in late 1995 and re-acquired AT40.

Greenville/Spartanburg, SC: WORD in Spartanburg and WQOK in Greenville both had it in the 70's. Back then, both cities were separate markets, but the consolidation of both cities into one single market eventually killed off both stations. WFBC-FM picked up AT40 in the early 80's until 1984 when they've changed over to AC, then WCKN (Rock 101) picked it up and ran it until 1987 when the format was changed to Album/Classic Rock. Then WANS ran AT40 until it was dropped in 1989 in favor of CT40. WANS flipped to AC in 1991 and dropped the show.

Robyn
 
Birmingham:
??-1980 (IIRC), it was on WSGN (610 AM)
1983-1985: it was on WMJJ (Magic 96 FM), even though Magic was (and is) an AC station.

From the time that 'SGN dropped AT40 until when it was picked up by Magic, you could get it from WQEN (Q-104) in Gadsden.

I don't think either of Birmingham's main FM Top 40 stations of the '80's, WAPI-FM (I-95) or WKXX (Kicks 106) ever carried AT40. Kicks, though, carried Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.
 
Charles1 said:
I don't think either of Birmingham's main FM Top 40 stations of the '80's, WAPI-FM (I-95) or WKXX (Kicks 106) ever carried AT40. Kicks, though, carried Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I-95 got AT40 by the late '80s. It seems like WZBQ Tuscaloosa had it at the same time I-95 did, which would have been odd, because WZBQ seemed like it was almost as much of a Birmingham station as it was a Tuscaloosa station.
 
Tampa, FL:

Early '80s (from about 1980 to 1982) it was heard on WCKX (96KX) which was an adult-leaning top 40. I believe it also continued to air on that frequency for a little while when it switched to WMGG (Magic 96) in 1982. Shortly thereafter, they dropped it and it went to market-leader WRBQ (Q105) until Casey's final show in 1988. Q105 carried exactly one week of Shadoe's AT40 before dropping the show entirely. However, they did air Shadoe's year end 1988 countdown on New Year's Day 1989. When CT40 came along, Q105 picked it up right away. When Casey brought back AT40 in the '90s, it appeared on WFLZ (93.3 FLZ) where AT40 is still heard now.

Back in 1988, being an AT40 fan, I was disappointed when Q105 dropped it when Casey left, so I had to pick it up from WINK-FM (WINK 97) in Ft. Myers, FL, but they also dropped it about a year later.

Also during the '80s, AT40 was carried on WKXY (93 KXY) in Sarasota, FL, and I believe it was also WBJW (BJ 105) in Orlando.
 
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