• 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

Historical question: NBC's old NIS Network.

R

radiosanchez

Here's one for the veterans:

My dad tells me of an old "Newsradio" network from the 70s that ran on WINZ in Miami, and "Some station in Tampa". He says he used to get both WINZ and the Tampa affiliate from Sanibel when he was on vacation there.

By an educated deduction (and based on what I've learned from radio over the years), I'm going to say this was NBC's ill-fated NIS Network of 1977-78-ish (I must've been some 2 or less at the time). I know WINZ/Miami ran it, but can't seem to come up with a Tampa affiliate...Anyone here been around long enough to recall?? Best guesses would be 570 or 1010.
 
I cant remember the name of the network, but if I recall it ran on WEND 760, the end of good radio... Had Chuck Harder on it, even Howard Hewes. But I dont think WEND came on the air till they downgraded the clear channel freq's in the early 80's. Thats when 800 WSST moved to 820, WHBO 1040 went 24 hours. I'm sure I'm missing something herre.
 
radiosanchez said:
My dad tells me of an old "Newsradio" network from the 70s that ran on WINZ in Miami, and "Some station in Tampa". He says he used to get both WINZ and the Tampa affiliate from Sanibel when he was on vacation there.

By an educated deduction (and based on what I've learned from radio over the years), I'm going to say this was NBC's ill-fated NIS Network of 1977-78-ish (I must've been some 2 or less at the time). I know WINZ/Miami ran it, but can't seem to come up with a Tampa affiliate...Anyone here been around long enough to recall?? Best guesses would be 570 or 1010.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, 970 was an NBC affiliate until circa 1988, when it switched to ABC. I don't recall whether it was the *only* Bay area NBC affiliate during that time, but I want to say it was. And, if I recall correctly, the only NBC news/talk programming 970 used to run (besides TOH newscasts) was the TalkNet fare -- Bruce Williams, Sally Jessy Raphael, etc. -- at night.

That said, I'm not sure 570 or 1010 would've had the signal strength to reach Sanibel.
 
I'm not too sure of the dates, but (then) WLCY 1380 changed its calls to WNSI and was branded as News One for a brief period in the 70's I think. I also seem to remember hearing NIS on WQSA 1220 in Sarasota. I remember kinda liking the format as it was a straight news format with no political bent, unlike what passes as "newsradio" today which is to me unlistenable.
 
It definitely wasn't WEND, which signed on from scratch in 1985 or 86.....NIS was gone by 1978, when the flagship, WNWS (97.1) in New York flipped to a music format as WYNY....It's WQHT today.

The network that ran on WEND that you are thinking of is the Sun Radio Network....Had a handful of affiliates in Florida and was around in the mid-late 80s.

No, it wasn't WNSI...I have a "Burt & Curt" aircheck from about late 1979 from WLCY, and that would make the station still WLCY, again, after NIS went under.

WFLA came up in my mind as a possibility, since they used the "Newsradio" slogan, but didn't they play music (as an MOR/AC/Full Service) until well into the mid-80s??

You could be right about WQSA....That would probably be the only one that would seem to fit as I do recall them listing themselves as "All News" at the time....Not Tampa but close.
 
Wasn't 1220 WQSA still MOYL format then... ???
 
NIS never had a Tampa market affiliate. WFLA wanted no part of it. WQSA was the closest. 1440 in Orlando was also an affiliate. After NIS went away in 1977, WQSA became a local talk station with news blocks in morning drive, noon, and afternoon drive, and local morning and afternoon talk shows. They even had local talk on the weekends (though most of it appeared to be recorded). It continued to use the NIS sounder package for years, as did many former affiliates. WQSA flipped to a MOYL-clone format in 1986, just days after WBRD flipped to a talk lineup that was all syndicated, except for "Trading Post" or whatever name they gave to their swap shop show.
 
WBRD had "Swap Shop" for years with Marlin Hager and later Don Butterfield, and Lary Crews... When BRD went on a LMA to Happy Gospel Ctr, they carried it too for another few years... On for a full hour or more...mon - sat...
I covered it during vacations and the like... was on for decades....Probably had highest ratings too...lol

WKXY and WTRL had shows closer to around noon time, and only for 15 -30 min...
 
THERE WAS A TIME I REMEMBER....WHEN WRBQ AM WAS ALL NEWS IN THE LATE 70'S OR EARLY 80'S..

AT THE SAMETIME IN NEW YORK WNBC'S FM HAD THE NBC ALL NEWS FORMAT..DIDN'T LAST LONG...

THEN WRBQ BECAME Q105 AND Q105 AM...ASK MASON HE HAS THE DETAILS...IM SURE.

THAT NBC ALL NEWS NET..USED A LOT OF BUMPER MUSIC...THE JOKE WAS THEY PLAYED MORE MUSIC

THEN WABC.. OH YEAH THE RBQ CALL LETTERS WERE SOMETHING LIKE WNES..
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom