Help: TM "Stereo Rock" was it Top 40 or Rock.

[thebeach33445]

Hey Guys:

I was hoping someone can clear this up for me.

I would like to know was the automation format TM "Stereo rock" a Top 40 format or a rock format?

What kind of music did they play?

Being that it was called "Stereo Rock" I am thinking it was a rock format. I know in the yearbooks the format listing for WBEN and WKFM were listed as "rock".

Could anybody help me clear this up.

Thanks for your help.

T.J.

 

[oldskoolr8do]

TJ-
TM Stereo Rock was basically a Top 40 format with some album cuts thrown in. If I remember correctly, the reels were numbered in a series. 100s were the current hits, 200s were re-currents. 300's were "new" gold and 400's were album cuts. The 400 series rarely played, maybe once or twice an hour and were set to be dropped for time if necessary. They might have rotated more at night. The rock moniker was favored by FM stations at the time to distinguish themselves from the perception that AM top 40 has over hyped in presentation and loaded with commercials. FM was seen as more laid back and due to lower ratings for most FM stations (hard to believe) less commercial material was the norm. As an example: AM top 40 jocks talked over the intros of records. Stereo Rock stations DID NOT! Every 2 songs were back announced: "Boston with More than a feeling...Before that, Queen with You're my best friend."
Drake-Chenault had a similar format called XT-40. Both WBEN and WKFM had successful runs using TM's Stereo Rock format.

 

[thebeach33445]

Re: Help: TM "Stereo Rock" was it Top 40 or Rock.(WKFM 104.7)

Hi oldskoolr8do:

Thank you very much for clearing that up for me. I fully understand now how the format worked. Very interesting. Especially when WYUT in Utica ran the "Stereo Rock" Top 40 format and its sister station WALY ran a "live" Top 40 format.

It is also interesting that the broadcasting yearbooks from 1974 to 1985 have the format listing for WKFM as "rock" when it was really a Top 40 format.

Would you or anybody else know how long WKFM used the "Stereo Rock" Top 40 format? Was it called Magic 104.7 by any chance? I know eventually they went AOR then classic rock in 1988. I just want to get there history correct.

Thanks again.

T.J.

 

[oldskoolr8do]

TJ-

I have to say I have not thought about this kind of stuff for a long time. It's is interesting to me that I can recall as much as I can. (Maybe the mind isn't gone just yet) Also a nice diversion to the state of radio today. Back in the day it was all about who had the better programmed station. Now, sadly, it's just about the bottom line.

WKFM was a "Stereo Rock" station from, at least 1974 to 1982. I remember listening to them in the mid 70's while in high school. They may have switched to the format earlier. As Dave Bullard said, the early 70's. (Dave knows his stuff; a legend in the Syracuse market.) The station went by "KFM" during this period. I can't remember if 104 or 104.7 was used. They dropped the TM format in the spring of 1982 in favor of live assist top 40 in some dayparts and tapes the rest of the time. Magic 104.7 came about in the mid summer of 82 with live jocks in all dayparts. They had killer Jam Jingles and a real tight sound. The station was locally owned by an attorney in Oswego. In early 1984 it was sold to Wilkes-Schwartz who had a small group of stations in the northeast. It then became "Hit Radio KFM" with some big time jocks on the payroll and yet another major Jam jingle package. Chuck Lakefield of WKBW fame did mornings for awhile. The studios were also moved from Fulton to Syracuse with some swanky digs in a converted firehouse. After awhile it was sold again, I believe, and that is when the AOR or Classic rock format was put in place. I'm not sure of the time exactly but it was probably in the late 80's.

By the way, Rock would have been very acceptable to Broadcasting Magazine/Yearbook for Top 40 stations during the 70's or 80's Stations like WOUR, 94 Rock and 95X would have likely been listed as Progressive Rock or AOR.

 

[ThePickleReport]

Both WBEN and WKFM had successful runs using TM's Stereo Rock format.

A lot of people did. I grew up with WKFM and WNOZ (99.9) in Ithaca that also used it. That was really neat, yet primitive looking back at it now. Somewhere I may still have one reel of gold cuts from TM.

 

[Jinglefreak]

Another station that was a great run with TM Stereo Rock was WGFM, Rock 99 in Schenectady. My dad was the morning jock at sister station 81 WGY during most of the 70's. I got to visit the station many times, then owned by GE, over on Balltown Road on Schenectady. Rock 99 picked up the format in early 1973 and ran it until mid 1980, when they went live. The FM was just on the other side of the glass from the AM studios.

Oldskoolr8do has it right in everything except that the "200" series of tapes were the gold tapes and the "300" set were recurrents. Most TMSR stations only used the "400's" (backannounced LP cuts) after 7 PM - usually these were in place of the 200's. The 400's gave the station more of an AOR sound and were totally optional. In fact, Rock 99 never ran them. Instead, they ran another optional series, the 250 set. These were 60's to early 70's "pop" oldies - like the Monkees, Supremes, Gary Lewis, Tom Jones, etc. - that would normally have been too "bubblegum" sounding to be with the regular 200's. They ran these from 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM only.

The jingles that K-FM used from 1977 on were from the TM SR-4 set. They were the ones that ended with the tag, "....keeps on playing the good songs!"

If you want to hear a K-FM aircheck, head over to www.radiotimeline.com.

 

[ELL383]

TM's Stereo Rock format. on WKFM ended around 1980-81 then WKFM went to a live top 40 format called Hit Radio KFM then MAGIC 104.7 KFM . The TM's Stereo Rock format was called "FM Rock WKFM Fulton" sweepers like "with 24hrs of stereo rock" and "Plays your Music" and " you and the music on FM Rock' before or after a song
a soft voice would say "that was ________by_______ "or " this is______by______" the format was mostly a mix of top 20 and past hits