Former Z100 exec (and co-creator) Carl Hirsch passes

[Rusty Muck]

Former Malrite Communications executive (and eventual station owner in his own right) Carl Hirsch passed away last night of a heart attack.

The name may not mean much, and he was mainly based out of Cleveland, Ohio, where Malrite's headquarters were at. But if it wasn't for Hirsch's vision, "Z100" may never have existed.

Hirsch was in New York back in the early 80s on a trip and noticed WVNJ-FM, which was a small obscure station in Newark. After finding out that WVNJ's transmitter could be moved on top of the Empire State Building, and that there was a clear Top-40 void left by WABC's gradual decline and flip to talk a few years back, Hircsh insisted to Malrite that they purchase the station - and engineered the transaction.

Malrite then moved WVNJ's studios to Seacaucus, hired Scott Shannon as PD, changed the callsign to WHTZ, and it was off to the races with one of the most rapid and shocking "worst-to-first" ratings turnaround in radio history.

 

[TimeIsTight]

With all due respect, but just so the record doesn't go on with distortions in it.

WVNJ-FM was not really "a small obscure station in Newark" nor was it "worst" in the ratings, although "worst to first" is a memorable line.

The fact that it was for sale was well known in the industry, and there were other bidders, including Cox Broadcasting, that were interested in buying it at the time. Cox's plan was to install a format similar to what Lite-FM became. Malrite just outbid the other potential buyers.

Both WVNJ AM & FM had been bought several years earlier by an investor group led by the former GM of WOR radio with the idea of re-selling them at a profit as soon as then FCC regulations would allow. In those days stations had to be held for a specific number of years before being sold.

As soon as the stations could be sold they were put on the market. The potential for moving the FM transmitter to the Empire State Building was part of the sales pitch.

As to the station's ratings, it was handicapped in the bigger New York market by having its transmitter on a mountain 15 or 20-miles west of Manhattan, however, in local suburban New Jersey ratings it was the dominant station because of the strong local signal. That gave it an upscale ad market almost all to itself.

In the New York ratings, it ranked a little ahead of where WPLJ ranks now. In the national ratings it ranked in the top 40, out of more than 10,000 stations on the air at the time, in audience size. That hardly qualifies as "obscure."

WVNJ announcers worked under AFTRA contracts that were more lucrative than a number of other stations in the New York Market. It was fully staffed and not a "small" station.

All of that said, former Malrite executive Carl Hirsch certainly must be credited with seeing the top-40 void in the New York market and having the vision to see the potential of a Z-100. It was probably the fastest rise to the top in New York radio history, and a spectacular financial success for Malrite.

 

[DToTheJ]

I'd be curious to know what John Bell - who was one of the holdovers of the old WVNJ, and of course, went on to become a fixture on Z100's morning show for many years up until last year - thinks about Mr. Hirsch's passing. Nothing on his Facebook page at this time...

By the way, nice eulogy, Nathan - who better than a fellow Clevelander to start off this thread with such kind words.

 

[mary]

I was big on Z100 later 80's I did not know him, sorry to hear about his passing RIP