History of 103.3, 105.7, 107.1, and 104.5, 106.7 and 96.3 Formats

[perenoel6218]

Concerning WAIV...the Lively Arts station...it was created by a few scientists,
doctors, and officers of Lilly. Originally for several years the format was quite
eclectic....classical, jazz, folk, comedy, showtunes and a wonderful senior
citizen by the name of Nell Coates who did a weekly show on the history of
Indianapolis. Eventually the station morphed into all classical....with
operas and complete symphonies being aired.
I announced/produced there for a while. It was a very unique opportunity for
a high school student like myself....my tutor was Paul Page. The studios
on the top floor of the Dearborn Hotel were very clean and modern and
well-appointed. WAIV preceded public radio as such in Indianapolis and perhaps
paved the way for an audience who eventually had WIAN and WAJC for
cultural programming once WAIV said goodbye forever. A station that
is still missed even many years later. Not sure if any of the founders are
still alive...I know Norbert Neuss and Bruce Peck are deceased, but all those
fellas deserve a posthumous thank you. So, thanks fellas!!!

 

[ChiefEngineer]

Originally, when Shirk LMA'd the Greenwood frequency - 106.7FM (maybe 1993) is was COUNTRY. Tried to compete with WFMS and had (the late and very likable) Jay Reynolds in the mornings. Never used "The Bear" as a nickname, however. That name launched when Susquehanna got the 104.5 frequency from Butler and REALLY competed with (their own sister station) WFMS.

Also....ask those who worked at 103.3 FM. They refered to it as TRAGIC 103.3. They had a FOX format in there too; competing with Q95 before CC acquired them and before they settled on the X format. Somewhere around 1994...I think.

The reference to the Bear was the WGGR versus WGRL calls. The sounder (Growl) at the top of the hour was apparently the call letters.

Sad we don't have hundreds of stations with jocks using Bear names.

Shirk found some audience with country just not a big enough audience. When he bought WIRE in Lebanon, now Radio Now in "Speedway" he tried country again. Some numbers but not enough. The signal didn't get good until we moved it to Brownsburg. It was Smooth Jazz in Brownsburg, still licen sed to Lebanon. Obviously much better in the final move to Indianapolis East.

 

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

Originally, when Shirk LMA'd the Greenwood frequency - 106.7FM (maybe 1993) is was COUNTRY. Tried to compete with WFMS and had (the late and very likable) Jay Reynolds in the mornings. Never used "The Bear" as a nickname, however. That name launched when Susquehanna got the 104.5 frequency from Butler and REALLY competed with (their own sister station) WFMS.

Also....ask those who worked at 103.3 FM. They refered to it as TRAGIC 103.3. They had a FOX format in there too; competing with Q95 before CC acquired them and before they settled on the X format. Somewhere around 1994...I think.

The reference to the Bear was the WGGR versus WGRL calls. The sounder (Growl) at the top of the hour was apparently the call letters.

Sad we don't have hundreds of stations with jocks using Bear names.

Shirk found some audience with country just not a big enough audience. When he bought WIRE in Lebanon, now Radio Now in "Speedway" he tried country again. Some numbers but not enough. The signal didn't get good until we moved it to Brownsburg. It was Smooth Jazz in Brownsburg, still licen sed to Lebanon. Obviously much better in the final move to Indianapolis East.

Actually When Shirk Bought WIRE it was already Country. So he wasnt trying country again he just inherited a Country Format and tried to turn it into an Indy Country Station. than being just a Boone County Country Station

 

[bigtime]

With commercial radio having the financial problems they're having, maybe it won't be long until the current owners of 104.5 and 105.7 donate them to Butler and the Fine Arts Society. They'd get a nice tax break and the airwaves would be filled with some more interesting programming.

 

[Apollo7979]

Concerning 106.7, what was the station's format when it originally signed on targeting Greenwood?


Someone previously also mentioned 107.1's history. I don't know much about this station prior to 1990, but I remember that it was classical for most of the 90s as WSYW-FM...I'm wanting to say it was called either "Symphony 107" or "Classic 107." WSYW flipped to smooth jazz as "Silk 107" around 1997. IIRC, the station ran brokered Spanish-language programming at various times during the latter part of the classical format and throughout the smooth jazz era.

In the fall of 1999, the format changed once again to active rock as "107.1 The Edge." They had to forefit that name shortly after the launch and renamed it "Rock 107." A little over a year later, they flipped to Spanish 24/7 under various names and musical focuses. Now, they're "Radio Latina 107.1" with a Regional Mexican format.

 

[Timewarp]

107.1 was WGRT in Danville. It came on the air in the early 1970's as a middle
of the road (MOR) station. I recall a news article about how this station was
started by Indianapolis radio pirate Steve Ross. Prior to starting WGRT Ross
had been busted by the FCC for a pirate station he called WISK. He was also
on Channel 4's Popeye And janie and Cowboy Bob as Wrangler Steve.
Isn't he with WCBK now?

 

[Hoosierky]

107.1 was WGRT in Danville. It came on the air in the early 1970's as a middle
of the road (MOR) station. I recall a news article about how this station was
started by Indianapolis radio pirate Steve Ross. Prior to starting WGRT Ross
had been busted by the FCC for a pirate station he called WISK. Isn't he with
WCBK now?

IIRC, Jim Denny got his start at WGRT. Was it a stand-alone, or was 810 it sister?

 

[Timewarp]

107.1 was WGRT in Danville. It came on the air in the early 1970's as a middle
of the road (MOR) station. I recall a news article about how this station was
started by Indianapolis radio pirate Steve Ross. Prior to starting WGRT Ross
had been busted by the FCC for a pirate station he called WISK. Isn't he with
WCBK now?

IIRC, Jim Denny got his start at WGRT. Was it a stand-alone, or was 810 it sister?

810 was WATI. it was connected to WTTS, not WGRT. WATI 810 was easy listening as
in elevator music.

 

[KR4BD]

I believe 107.1 in Danville actually WAS affiliated with 810 at one time in the late 70's. A good friend, Bob Todd, who was PD at WGEE-1590 & 103.3 (very early 70's when I worked there) later went on to work at WATI-810 and later, WBRI-1500. One could research this in old Broadcasting Yearbooks from that period. I don't have the time to do it at the moment, but am pretty sure that 810 and 107.1 were affiliated at some point "way back when."

 

[KeithE4]

IIRC, Jim Denny got his start at WGRT. Was it a stand-alone, or was 810 it sister?

810 was WATI. it was connected to WTTS, not WGRT. WATI 810 was easy listening as in elevator music.

WATI 810 was co-owned with Bloomington's WTTS 1370 and WTTV-FM 92.3 (and was co-located with Channel 4) until sometime in the late '70s or early '80s (not sure about the exact year), when Tarzian sold 810. I don't remember who bought it, but IIRC, 810 and 107.1 were co-owned at one time.

Could there have been a problem with the FCC, with Tarzian owning two AMs in the same market? I don't remember why WATI was sold, so I'm just guessing.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

IIRC, Jim Denny got his start at WGRT. Was it a stand-alone, or was 810 it sister?

810 was WATI. it was connected to WTTS, not WGRT. WATI 810 was easy listening as in elevator music.

WATI 810 was co-owned with Bloomington's WTTS 1370 and WTTV-FM 92.3 (and was co-located with Channel 4) until sometime in the late '70s or early '80s (not sure about the exact year), when Tarzian sold 810. I don't remember who bought it, but IIRC, 810 and 107.1 were co-owned at one time.

Could there have been a problem with the FCC, with Tarzian owning two AMs in the same market? I don't remember why WATI was sold, so I'm just guessing.

810 and 107.1 are still co-owned. When WATI was elevator music, the local billboards called it "Your AM Band".

 

[Kent]

Could there have been a problem with the FCC, with Tarzian owning two AMs in the same market? I don't remember why WATI was sold, so I'm just guessing.

Nope. They weren't considered to be in the same market under FCC definitions at the time. There was a similar situation in the Columbus, GA market in the late-80's/early-90's. WSTH "South 106" had the FM but was simulcast on two AM's that didn't overlap coverage areas. Two stations that don't overlap weren't considered part of the same market until 2003.

 

[oldgoodguy]

WMJC-FM was an AC formatted station. The format lasted approximately one year. This was around 1989 - 1990. Around the same time frame, the WXTZ calls and format was switched to AM 1430. It seems to me that the WIRE calls were dropped. I do have airchecks of both stations. By the way, if any member might know, in 1948 the 1550 and 1590 frequencies were allocated to Indianapolis. What happened to the 1550 frequency (calls were WBBW)?

 

[KR4BD]

WXLW originally was on 1590 (until sometime in the early-mid 50's I think) before switching to 950. WGEE came on in 1956 on 1590. I don't know about the 1550, but there are two 1550's nearby in Crawfordsville and New Castle.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

WXLW originally was on 1590 (until sometime in the early-mid 50's I think) before switching to 950. WGEE came on in 1956 on 1590. I don't know about the 1550, but there are two 1550's nearby in Crawfordsville and New Castle.

Lyman Ayres built a whole new transmitter plant for 950 and 1590 was on at the time. Much of the paperwork for the "move" in the 1960ish era was to be thrown out and some is still in my filing cabinet. A LOT of money was spent to move to 950 including the vast expanse of farmland in the vacant farm fields of northern Indianapolis.

Many aerial pictures in a time that was not cheap or readily available.

Jut, the retired WXLW lifer told me that he worked at an AM/FM in Shelbyville. The FM was in the original Armstrong FM band. The AM I thought he said was on 15?? but not their current 1520. The history of the original FM band is sparse given Sarnoff's desire to kill anything Armstrong brought about.

Old logs at WGBF had sign on and off times for the AM when it shared frequency: "heard cowbell on KXXX and raised transmitter at 6am.ES" They also had the FM logs! The calls were what we now know as translator call letters. I think WMLL (WGBF's FM sister)was in the 240's. W242XX comes to mind. Log entries such as: "Clear and 72 at transmitter sign on. Plate Voltage did not come on and had to nudge contactor relay with the stick. ES" ES-Erwin Schoeny

At the time all Continental transmitters were designed with the ability to "climb into" the workings of the transmitters. I am sure OSHA would not approve. Even the sales literature of the 501B (WGBF 5kw/10kw transmitter 1952) showed an engineer inside the cabinet with a transmitter running (while he made those critical adjustments). This 10kw transmitter was sold to a lot of 5kw stations and the extra tubes were removed to have spares. The extra sockets were then covered with plywood to maintain air pressure. If you could move enough audio into the old Collins it sounded better than the MW5 any day. The problem with that was that newer processors (new ala 1978) could not muster enough db into the old gal.

The other problem was the power bill. Difference between the MW5 and the old Collins was over a grand a month. Anytime we were on backup this was always a concern.


I have never seen any evidence of the Shelbyville FM pre WSVL 97.1 and was Chief at 1520 for some time, post Norm Beatty.

And of Norm, I ran into his wife a few years ago in Muncie. Met her at his funeral at the Vineyard in Greenfield. She and his daughters lived in Muncie and attended a church there.

 

[KeithE4]

Could there have been a problem with the FCC, with Tarzian owning two AMs in the same market? I don't remember why WATI was sold, so I'm just guessing.

Nope. They weren't considered to be in the same market under FCC definitions at the time. There was a similar situation in the Columbus, GA market in the late-80's/early-90's. WSTH "South 106" had the FM but was simulcast on two AM's that didn't overlap coverage areas. Two stations that don't overlap weren't considered part of the same market until 2003.

OK, that explains it. WATI had a so-so signal into Bloomington, and WTTS barely made it past Mooresville from their old south-side transmitter (I understand that they moved the 1370 transmitter to the west side some years back).

 

[KeithE4]

If you want old school, WXLW had an association with 94.7 way back when. Imagine the alternate universe if WIRE moved the format to 103.3 as FM took off.

WXLW-FM 94.7 was one of a multitude of early FM stations in the country that didn't last long (1948 to around 1952, I believe). The frequency was dark for several years, before WFBM-FM started up.

 

[ChiefEngineer]

Originally, when Shirk LMA'd the Greenwood frequency - 106.7FM (maybe 1993) is was COUNTRY. Tried to compete with WFMS and had (the late and very likable) Jay Reynolds in the mornings. Never used "The Bear" as a nickname, however. That name launched when Susquehanna got the 104.5 frequency from Butler and REALLY competed with (their own sister station) WFMS.

Also....ask those who worked at 103.3 FM. They refered to it as TRAGIC 103.3. They had a FOX format in there too; competing with Q95 before CC acquired them and before they settled on the X format. Somewhere around 1994...I think.

The reference to the Bear was the WGGR versus WGRL calls. The sounder (Growl) at the top of the hour was apparently the call letters.

Sad we don't have hundreds of stations with jocks using Bear names.

Shirk found some audience with country just not a big enough audience. When he bought WIRE in Lebanon, now Radio Now in "Speedway" he tried country again. Some numbers but not enough. The signal didn't get good until we moved it to Brownsburg. It was Smooth Jazz in Brownsburg, still licen sed to Lebanon. Obviously much better in the final move to Indianapolis East.

Actually When Shirk Bought WIRE it was already Country. So he wasnt trying country again he just inherited a Country Format and tried to turn it into an Indy Country Station. than being just a Boone County Country Station

When Shirk bought WIRE it was hardly a format. They did play some country music along with other forms of music.

Local radio at it's finest. it was a pit. It was a smelly bug infested mold covered building that smelled like cigarette butts and trash. Lysol and the new craze hand sanitizer were needed when visitng. A bath was required if it was more than a minute. I think the building was closed and the studio moved to a computer in Indy day 2.

 

[oldgoodguy]

I found information regarding a WBBW, 1550 kc, construction permit in the 1948 Radio Annual and the 1948 Broadcasting Yearbook. The owner was Associated Broadcasters, Inc. Anybody have additional knowledge about this proposed station?

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I worked at 103.3 back in 1970-71 when it was WGEE-FM. When I was there, it simulcast WGEE-1590 with the "Parade of Hits" format (a kind of "lite" Top 40 format) from studios and transmitters (AM & FM) at 4800 E. Raymond St, Indianapolis. In those days, WGEE-FM operated with 64000 Watts ERP from one of the "short" WGEE-AM towers. In 1971, 103.3 was sold to the folks that owned WIRE-1430, which was A MAJOR Country station at the time. WIRE immediately changed the callsign to WXTZ and moved the 103.3 transmitter to Ditch Rd at the Channel 13 TV tower site. WXTZ-103.3 was called "X-tacy" playing an Easy Listening format. One of the jocks from WGEE (Scott Evans as I recall) went to WXTZ....a very "laid back" station, but quickly gained a good following. I left Indy in 1973, so don't remember exactly how long WXTZ lasted....

64kw? I mentioned that I thought WIFE-FM once broadcast at much higher power and someone told me it could not possibly have been greater than 50kw. When did the limit in Indiana become 50kw?

I was just getting interested in radio at the time & it would be several more years before I entered the profession. But memory suggest that the 50KW limit in our zone (north of the Ohio River) was imposed in the early 60's. It seems (and again, I'm too young to have accurate first hand experience here) that the power limits, FM stereo and addoing Vertical polarization all came along in the early 60's +/- a very few years. Before that, the Class B and C channels had no limits, a fact evidenced by the 470KW (or was it 560KW) station in Michigan that still has over 300KW to this day. I do believe the class A channels of the day were initially 1KW, then 3KW and when docket 80-90 came along 20 years ago, 6KW. But at that point, it became possible to have Class B/C powers on Class A channels. And the shoehorning of signals kicked into high gear.