• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Announcing Playing a CD on AM radio (WLS-AM)

kfbkfb

kfbkfb

My 1st car just had a (mono) AM radio, fortunately, the WLS-AM signal here in MO
is generally clear, so I listened a lot (after sundown).

In the Mid-1980s, the WLS DJs would sometimes announce that the song was
played from a CD. Anyone remember other AM stations announcing they were
playing song(s) from CDs (I don't)?


Kirk Bayne
 
kfbkfb said:
My 1st car just had a (mono) AM radio, fortunately, the WLS-AM signal here in MO
is generally clear, so I listened a lot (after sundown).

In the Mid-1980s, the WLS DJs would sometimes announce that the song was
played from a CD. Anyone remember other AM stations announcing they were
playing song(s) from CDs (I don't)?


Kirk Bayne
Click to expand...

That was probably around the time that WLS AM was promoting "AM Stereo"
AM stereo never really caught on. Not too many listeners wanted to shell out extra money for an AM stereo tuner, when they can just flip on FM and hear a wider variety of stations.
 
When CDs were the hot new thing, a lot of stations promoted playing a song off "compact disc" (Before that, Lazerdiscs).



Billkex said:
That was probably around the time that WLS AM was promoting "AM Stereo"
AM stereo never really caught on. Not too many listeners wanted to shell out extra money for an AM stereo tuner, when they can just flip on FM and hear a wider variety of stations.
Click to expand...
 
I think WLS-AM started broadcasting in stereo around 1982. They promoted it a lot and I remember a lot of stations saying "this selection is from compact disc".
They were trying to promote that often in the 80s. On FM it made more sense than hearing it on AM.
 
In New York City, Smooth Jazz station "CD 101.9" was named after the fact that they played all of their music from CDs when the format began in 1988. Even by then many stations were still receiving new music on 45 RPM records and dubbing them onto "carts" (tape cartridges).

105.5 WDHA in NJ claims to be "the world's first radio station to play compact discs", and their AM sister station (1250 WMTR) also claimed to be the first station to play a CD in AM Stereo. I highly doubt both claims.
 
I remember FM stations announcing that they were playing songs from CDs. I would have thought AM stations were no longer playing new music by that time.
 
vchimpanzee said:
I remember FM stations announcing that they were playing songs from CDs. I would have thought AM stations were no longer playing new music by that time.
Click to expand...

In the early to mid 80s WLS-AM was still playing music and announcing that they were broadcasting in stereo. It didn't help as by 1989 they went talk.
 
I played CDs on AM stations in the early '90s, but by then, record companies were phasing out sending 45s to stations. You remember the CDX series if you worked in country radio.

WDXN in Clarksville, TN, belatedly tried going AM stereo as well (1993), but not surprisingly, it didn't catch on (collective yawn from the listening audience, what was left of them), and they went talk in 1994. They were too close to Nashville (and their THREE FM stations playing country music) to make much of a dent using AM stereo.
 
95.5 WRXR did. “Compact Digital Disc” as they called it. When it flipped to WNUA in ‘87 the DJ’s would often say “From the Compact Disc (insert name)” when giving song titles well into the 90s. It was exciting new technology at the time.

Some stations (WLIT being one) had everything on CD. Others used carts for commercials and imaging, CDs for music. Some stations would get CD’s from a service (Figure TM Century) and copy them direcfly to a cart tape for playback. The HitDiscs even had cue tone tracks for that purpose.

Carts were pretty much everywhere until the Early 2000s depending on the station.
 
JeremyAndrews said:
Some stations would get CD’s from a service (Figure TM Century) and copy them direcfly to a cart tape for playback. The HitDiscs even had cue tone tracks for that purpose.
Carts were pretty much everywhere until the Early 2000s depending on the station.
Click to expand...

WJMK in the late 80s announced from CD's but they were actually playing them from carts.
 
At first, everyone used consumer CD players because that was all that existed. Professional players with cases that snapped into place followed for radio station use.


JeremyAndrews said:
95.5 WRXR did. “Compact Digital Disc” as they called it. When it flipped to WNUA in ‘87 the DJ’s would often say “From the Compact Disc (insert name)” when giving song titles well into the 90s. It was exciting new technology at the time.

Some stations (WLIT being one) had everything on CD. Others used carts for commercials and imaging, CDs for music. Some stations would get CD’s from a service (Figure TM Century) and copy them direcfly to a cart tape for playback. The HitDiscs even had cue tone tracks for that purpose.

Carts were pretty much everywhere until the Early 2000s depending on the station.
Click to expand...
 
gr8oldies said:
At first, everyone used consumer CD players because that was all that existed. Professional players with cases that snapped into place followed for radio station use.
Click to expand...
The convenience factor for DJs. For listeners, not having to hear cue burn at the beginning of songs, especially songs with soft starts.

I also know that many of us dealt with CDs that didn't play correctly, but how many of us also had to deal with coworkers who didn't take proper care of them? If you put them back in the jewel box after playing them, they shouldn't get scratched, and SHOULD last almost forever. I have had CDs for over 25 years that still play just fine. I took care of them.
 
I've got CDs from the '80s that are still mint and play perfectly! Caring for your collection is paramount in ensuring its longevity.
 
One of the iterations of 94.7 here in Chicago was "CD-94.7." Weren't the calls WXCD.

Then Lazer 103 in Milwaukee back in the late 80's/early 90's.
 
Checked out the rabbit hole that is Billboard's archives:
Most major record labels stopped servicing 45's to radio in 1989. By that time, only noncommercial broadcasters and small market stations still lacked CD players.
Interestingly enough, syndie programming was later in phasing out vinyl. ABC Networks didn't start issuing CDs on most of its programming until 1990, and even then "American Top 40" and "American Country Countdown" were still available on vinyl by request for a while.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom