FM Radio-How did it rise?

[Huff]

As this thread is about the rise of FM the 70's had its FM pop pioneers as well -- Z93 in Atlanta, Y100 in South Florida, Q105 in Tampa Bay, KRBE in Houston.

The first FM only CHR's were WMYQ Miami, KLSQ St Louis, WDRQ Detroit and WERC-FM in Birmingham, all in 1972.

Prior to that, there were some "virtually FM" Top 40's, such as daytime WPGC in DC that raised power and simulcast in 1970.

WHYI came several years after WMYQ (and under Buzzy and then Tanner, knocked it off). KRBE was the offshoot of Kirby-1070 in Houston, where the original turkey drop that was memorialized on WKRP occured.

When the legendary Gordon McLendon sold off KLIF/Dallas in early 1972, he kept the progressive rock KNUS(FM) and flipped it to Top 40 in mid-1972. (As part of the sale, he agreed not to compete against KLIF - but the agreement only applied to the AM band!)
KNUS became one of the first FM stations to be the #1 top 40 station in any market.
It topped KLIF in the Oct/Nov 1975 book: www.dfwradioarchives.com/1975.htm
The rise of KNUS, along with that of KVIL-FM, helped kill of music radio on AM in Dallas/Fort Worth much sooner than in other similar-sized markets.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WVBF in the Boston market was also Top 40 in the late 60s. AFAIK, neither simulcast on AM.

WVBF didn't exist as such until 1971. It was west suburban WKOX-FM Framingham, MA in the late '60s. It was Top 40, mainly serving the outlying western suburbs. The signal wasn't very strong in Boston until their transmitter was moved closer and the power upgraded with the call letter change to WVBF in 1971. That gave it a full-market Boston Class B signal. WVBF incorporated some of the more mainstream, accesible AOR of the day along with Top 40, though always with an upbeat Top 40 style delivery.

Boston had automated Top 40 on WRKO-FM in 1966. Area listeners who were around then remember the liners voiced by "Arko, the shy but friendly robot". This predated their AM station, which was talk WNAC, becoming one of Boston's biggest Top 40 stations as "The Big 68" WRKO the next year in 1967.

WRKO-FM continued playing Top 40, sometimes simulcasting the AM and sometimes automated, for about another year when it became the original WROR, which had various formats mainly mixing softer Top 40 songs and light oldies for the remainder of the '60s until other changes (including full-time oldies, then back to an oldies/Top 40 mix) in the '70s. Eventually, WROR became Hot AC WBMX "Mix-98.5" to the present, and coincidentally WVBF, after numerous other call letter and format changes, ended up with the WROR call letters and a Classic Hits format.

 

[nmoore6676]

Did not the AM freeze that I remember in the 60's also contribute to the rise of FM?

Where I lived in Ohio, lots of small towns and suburban communities which had never had any radio station got local FM, class A, stations. Also there were AM, class D stations that had put on FM's in order to extend their coverage and hours of operation. After that the FCC started limiting the simulcast of AM programming on FM, but mostly those combos shifted to some sort of automated beautiful music format. Probably in larger cities they shifted to more inventive programming where there were the facilities for totally separate live DJ run programming.

I think there were also some small facilities that had a single DJ run simultaneous but distinctly different programming from one position, though not likely a lot of them. I remember some kind of TV comedy bit a while back where the guy playing the DJ got confused as to which station he was on so he mixed up the whole thing.

The larger stations at one time did live shows with the large performance studios that were probably remodeled into the smaller booth style studios like we know today. Anyone who can confirm or correct my perceptions, I would love to learn more.

 

[LKellerIII]

"I remember some kind of TV comedy bit a while back where the guy playing the DJ got confused as to which station he was on so he mixed up the whole thing."

I don't know if this is the comedy bit you're thinking of - Dan Aykroyd did a hysterical one-man skit on SNL (probably 1975 or so...whew!...32 years ago) where he was a radio DJ working on both the Top 40 AM side, and the FM album rock side. As you'd imagine, he was switching back and forth between queueing jingles and puke-announcing, over to slow talking mellow 70s style FM jocking. It was a very funny skit, and it has showed up in a few of the SNL Anniversary shows over the years.

In reality though, I wouldn't think that would have worked back-in-the-day before computers and voice-tracking...by the law of averages, it seems like the stop-sets on both stations would collide from time to time.

 

[firepoint525]

In reality though, I wouldn't think that would have worked back-in-the-day before computers and voice-tracking...by the law of averages, it seems like the stop-sets on both stations would collide from time to time.

I ran an AM and four shortwave stations overnight for 10 years, and the breaks usually coincided with each other at the top of every hour. I could automate the breaks in some cases, but it seemed like they never hit quite right.

With network programming, I did not have much control over when the breaks came, of course. But with programming I originated out of our studios, I could start a CD or tape playing a minute or two early in one studio, and a minute or two late in another, and most listeners never knew the difference. It actually got harder as we went into more network programming, because again, the breaks fell at the last 10-15 seconds before the top of the hour. I tried to hit them as close as possible (with automation), but I had no choice but to let the tones go over the air. No one ever complained about that. My saving grace was that most of this overnight network programming was not paid for (by a broadcaster) so I had about as much leeway as I needed. Other broadcasts were continuous, and all I had to do was drop a legal ID as close to the top of the hour as possible.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Firepoint,
Would these stations happen to be a certain group of Dollar a Holler stations in the Nashville area?

 

[BRNout]

As this thread is about the rise of FM the 70's had its FM pop pioneers as well -- Z93 in Atlanta, Y100 in South Florida, Q105 in Tampa Bay, KRBE in Houston.

The first FM only CHR's were WMYQ Miami, KLSQ St Louis, WDRQ Detroit and WERC-FM in Birmingham, all in 1972.

Prior to that, there were some "virtually FM" Top 40's, such as daytime WPGC in DC that raised power and simulcast in 1970.

WHYI came several years after WMYQ (and under Buzzy and then Tanner, knocked it off). KRBE was the offshoot of Kirby-1070 in Houston, where the original turkey drop that was memorialized on WKRP occured.

Don't forget WRVQ (Q-94) from Richmond, VA! It was an FM CHR as far back as 1972, if not earlier.

If memory serves, Q-94 had a more laid-back style than the dominant AM Top 40 station in the market WLEE. Fewer jingles, more relaxed jocks, and more of a rock leaning playlist were featured on Q-94 to differentiate it from WLEE. The station has quite a heritage; it's still there today!

 

[firepoint525]

Firepoint,
Would these stations happen to be a certain group of Dollar a Holler stations in the Nashville area?

These weren't. But a station I worked for in west Tennessee literally sold ads on Larry King (when he was still on nighttime AM radio (he might have been on FM, too, if it was still early enough)) for a dollar a spot.

 

[mobley]

Interesting thread.. Way back in the early days of Top 40 there were several AM Top 40 "giants" that used their FM counterpart to extend nightime coverage, making up for a rotten night time pattern. WIBG in Philly comes to mind. I remember WKIX in Raleigh and WTMA in Charleston simulcasting Top 40 way back when.

WPGC in Washington as mentioned earlier, was actually a daytimer that used the FM to get night time programming on air. I remember an article in Billboard in the early 70's, proclaiming Washington as the market with the highest FM penetration in the USA. WKEE in Huntington WV was another early daytime AM/nightime FM configuration. Both KEE and PGC featured live night programming on FM as early as '67 or '68. I think there was a Top 40 on Fm in Denver as early as '66. KLZ-Fm maybe? OF course, WOR-FM has been viewed as a pioneer in Fm Rock programming with it's quasi-progressive programming in Oct '66, that became a Drake station about a year later.

The FM revoultion wasn't just about AOR or Progressive. A lot of "Q" Top 40's appeared on the scene in the early 70's. AOR didn't really reach critical mass until first the ABC FM's with their 'commercial progressive" sound in '72 and then Lee Abrams "Superstar" launch at WQDR in Raleigh in '73.

AM Top 40's kept high ratings and billing in many markets until around 1978-79. In the Spring of '78, WABC in NY was around a 9 share, only to fall to Disco KTU in the next sweep. While WABC was getting punched by KTU, sister station WLS was getting hit by AOR WLUP. 1979 was truly the end of the line for many of the great AM Top 40's. Many factors led to this. Culturally, AM was sterotyped as unhip..not enough Disco for the dance crowd and not enough Rock for the Rock crowd. Add to this, suburban development outside of many station's coverage areas. A lot of FM stations that weren't programmed as well as their AM bretheren, got a pass only becasue they were on the right band.

 

[LKellerIII]

"WPGC in Washington as mentioned earlier, was actually a daytimer that used the FM to get night time programming on air."

That triggered a memory - KGBS 1020 AM in Los Angeles was a new top 40 daytimer that did the same thing as early as 67 or 68 - at sign off, they urged you to switch to their 97.1 FM for the same format...though most FM stations ran stereo sound by that time, KGBS-FM was still monaural high fidelity sound.

Their ratings didn't really improve though until they switched to a more personality driven format a couple of year s later- Hudson and Landry, Bill Ballance, and others.

 

[rwells2265]

Don't forget WRVQ (Q-94) from Richmond, VA! It was an FM CHR as far back as 1972, if not earlier.

If memory serves, Q-94 had a more laid-back style than the dominant AM Top 40 station in the market WLEE. Fewer jingles, more relaxed jocks, and more of a rock leaning playlist were featured on Q-94 to differentiate it from WLEE. The station has quite a heritage; it's still there today!

I have a run of tape on that station when it was WRVA-FM, running an automated country format. It's dated 1971 - no month indicated, tho'.

--Russell

 

[BRNout]

Don't forget WRVQ (Q-94) from Richmond, VA! It was an FM CHR as far back as 1972, if not earlier.

If memory serves, Q-94 had a more laid-back style than the dominant AM Top 40 station in the market WLEE. Fewer jingles, more relaxed jocks, and more of a rock leaning playlist were featured on Q-94 to differentiate it from WLEE. The station has quite a heritage; it's still there today!

I have a run of tape on that station when it was WRVA-FM, running an automated country format. It's dated 1971 - no month indicated, tho'.

--Russell

Well then, I think we have it narrowed down pretty closely. We moved there in June 1972 (from No. Va.) and Q-94 was on the air by then. It was my dad's favorite station at the time - he found it right away on our car's new handy-dandy AM-FM radio.

 

[fortmill]

WPGC-FM was making quite a name for itself in the DC area as early as 1964. WPGC-AM, a daytime only, was the only top 40 station that truly covered the entire metro area---when they started promoting their FM, people (teenagers) immediately started buying FM radios---I think by about 1966 WPGC FM/AM Morningside was the dominant radio station in DC. People still listened to AM 1580 in their cars, but had FMs at home. Regarding WRVQ Q-94 in Richmond--the previous poster got it wrong. It was WLEE that was the more laid back station--they never had the screaming DJs or hot jingles associated with top 40s of that era. It was a real revelation when 200,000 watt quadraphonic Q-94 came on in '72 with a much more up-tempo presentation and fast talking djs. I know, I grew up on WLEE in Richmond, but always struggled to pick up WPGC in Richmond, which was possible. Concerning another top 40 mentioned, WKIX in Raleigh---that station made a huge blunder when they stopped similcasting on FM (FCC rules forced them) about 1972. I don't think they ever realized the large audience they had on FM. The new beautiful music WYYD did nothing, while WKIX channel 85 began to die a slow death. They should have left KIX on FM and put something else on AM.

 

[BRNout]

I just recall WLEE having the Pams jingles and Q-94 not jingling quite so much. Then again, it may have been a couple of years later (mid 70's?). Hey, at least I had they years and stations right!

 

[davideduardo]

WPGC-FM was making quite a name for itself in the DC area as early as 1964. WPGC-AM, a daytime only, was the only top 40 station that truly covered the entire metro area---when they started promoting their FM, people (teenagers) immediately started buying FM radios---I think by about 1966 WPGC FM/AM Morningside was the dominant radio station in DC.

Well into the early 70's WEAM was the top 40 leader. The change started when WPHC raised the height and power of the FM in 1969, allowing areas in VA, NW and Bethesda, etc. to receive it. It was not a ratings getter, however, for several years.

 

[davideduardo]

"WPGC in Washington as mentioned earlier, was actually a daytimer that used the FM to get night time programming on air."

That triggered a memory - KGBS 1020 AM in Los Angeles was a new top 40 daytimer that did the same thing as early as 67 or 68 - at sign off, they urged you to switch to their 97.1 FM for the same format...though most FM stations ran stereo sound by that time, KGBS-FM was still monaural high fidelity sound.

KGBS was Beautiful Music till it switched to MOR personality and then country. I don't recall any time that it was Top 40 in the 60's... going into that decade, KGBS was Beautiful, a format they launched (after changing from KPOP) in about 1960 or 1961, while KRLA and KFWB were the top 40 stations until early 1965 when KHJ flipped from MOR.

 

[LKellerIII]

"KGBS was Beautiful Music till it switched to MOR personality and then country. I don't recall any time that it was Top 40 in the 60's... going into that decade, KGBS was Beautiful, a format they launched (after changing from KPOP) in about 1960 or 1961, while KRLA and KFWB were the top 40 stations until early 1965 when KHJ flipped from MOR."

David - it was probably about 1968 or 69, after KFWB went All News, I think. Perhaps I was a little off by calling it regular Top 40...I would say the music format was similar to K-101 in San Francisco in the early 70s, so perhaps you'd call it a Top 40/Light Rock hybrid. No hard rock, but 90% of their playlist was from the top 40. And definitely not MOR as I think of it during the 60s. You wouldn't hear any Sinatra, Dean Martin, or Tony Bennett - except for the few songs those guys did that crossed over into the top 40, and could be heard on KHJ or KRLA ("Something Stupid," "Everybody Loves Somebody," etc.).

It was fairly music intensive for the time, too - often 3 or 4 songs back-to-back bridged only by jingles - especially on the FM. As I remember it, they kind of morphed from that into the personality format (Hudson, Landry, Ballance, etc.). But even in the personality era, I think of the music as being closer to Top 40 than MOR...except for Ballance, who didn't play any music once the Feminine Forum got popular.

I don't think Bob Morgan has tuned into radio.info lately, but he could talk about it with some authority, because he was there, if I remember correctly...though it's possible he wasn't on KGBS until the personality driven format.

 

[LKellerIII]

More on KGBS for David Eduardo...from the following link, here's a digest of a quote from an article at the following link:

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5515/kgbs.html

"In 1969 they switched to a Pop type format with a rock/pop flavor to it...; two examples are Those Were The Days (Mary Hopkin) and Up, Up And Away (The Fifth Dimension)... They also played Latin-flavored pop acts...plus a mixture of Jan and Dean and some movie themes. Generally, rock/pop music covered the period from 1969 to about 1973."

So I guess, not Top 40 exactly, but certainly not MOR either. I remember The Beatles, and a lot of other Top 40 acts. In fact, they played a censored version of the controversial "Ballad of John and Yoko" with the "Christ" cut out. KHJ didn't play the song at all, KRLA played it uncut.

 

[davideduardo]

"In 1969 they switched to a Pop type format with a rock/pop flavor to it...; two examples are Those Were The Days (Mary Hopkin) and Up, Up And Away (The Fifth Dimension)... They also played Latin-flavored pop acts...plus a mixture of Jan and Dean and some movie themes. Generally, rock/pop music covered the period from 1969 to about 1973."

In an era when Top 40 was playing CSNY and Steppenwolf and White Rabbit, Mary Hopkin and the 5th Dimension were modern MOR, which became Chicken Rock which became AC. Nobody would have called this Top 40. By 71 or 72, they were trying to syndicate Ballance and were early entries in the talk genre to the light side of Joe Pyne.

It was Top 40 when it went fulltime as KTNQ, a station I am proud to have programmed for several years.

 

[davideduardo]

David - it was probably about 1968 or 69, after KFWB went All News, I think. Perhaps I was a little off by calling it regular Top 40...I would say the music format was similar to K-101 in San Francisco in the early 70s, so perhaps you'd call it a Top 40/Light Rock hybrid. No hard rock, but 90% of their playlist was from the top 40. And definitely not MOR as I think of it during the 60s. You wouldn't hear any Sinatra, Dean Martin, or Tony Bennett - except for the few songs those guys did that crossed over into the top 40, and could be heard on KHJ or KRLA ("Something Stupid," "Everybody Loves Somebody," etc.).

This is pretty much the format Lund put on WGAR in Cleveland. It was later called chicken rock, due to its lack of continuity with MOR, because it was definitely not Top 40. They did the top 40 hits without Jefferson Airplane and friends, so it was simply what later would also be called lite rock... or Hot AC.

It was fairly music intensive for the time, too - often 3 or 4 songs back-to-back bridged only by jingles - especially on the FM. As I remember it, they kind of morphed from that into the personality format (Hudson, Landry, Ballance, etc.). But even in the personality era, I think of the music as being closer to Top 40 than MOR...except for Ballance, who didn't play any music once the Feminine Forum got popular.

I don't think Bob Morgan has tuned into radio.info lately, but he could talk about it with some authority, because he was there, if I remember correctly...though it's possible he wasn't on KGBS until the personality driven format.

Once Ballance faded, it was a waiting game in the mortuary while they anticipated the construction of the fulltime 50 kw facility in Industry. It was important to know that the blood drained to the rear left hand side of the building, too.