What if AM Stereo did take off ..Would Top 40 music be still on AM?
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I called to complain about a station's HD being off
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
My opinion is that top 40 killed AM radio music, when FM with it's way expanded play list, (and many times just a sketch of a play list) came along and jocks could play what they wanted for at least part of their shift, there was just no comparison to listening to the same 40 songs over and over again. This is from a rabid radio listeners perspective back then. I know I started listening to FM just for it's music, the station i liked didn't come in half the time but I listened anyway. Compare that to HD, when it doesn't come in people turn it off for good and complain. Us old hippies were probably the first real listeners FM had besides a few classical music listeners which were always there but couldn't keep FM alive.
Actually, in the 1967 to 1972 period before Top 40's began populating the FM band, Beautiful Music was the most listened to FM format in most larger markets.
By 1972, Top 40's appeared on FM and many of them, like WMYQ, WDRQ and KSLQ, shot to #1.
If we look at the first ever Dallas Ft Worth book from 1973, the #1 FM with a 4.6 share was Beautiful Music KOAZ, followed by CHR KNUZ with a 4.4 and KFWD with a rock format with a 4.1.
The weekly pamphlet produced by KTKT in the early 60's shows "Surveyed No. 1 by C.E. Hooper & Pulse" but doesn't say how the results were tabulated. I seem to remember a statement by then-DJ Frank Kalil that they used record sales from local shops and I think it may still exist on the KTKT tribute site.
That statement means KTKT was #1 in the Hooperatings. As in #1 in audience.
I know you know what you're talking about but I still think underground FM stations had a lot to do with people's migration away from AM music and FM becoming popular.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
You make my point - FM music was already transitioning from beautiful music to top-40 and rock. The timing, though, on KLIF / KNUS is different. McLendon signed it on in 1961 as KROW, then re-branded it KLIF-FM two years later. It simulcast 1190. It became progressive in 1966, before the FCC mandate - so in a sense he really was on top of the trend. But with only 10kW on a short tower, it didn't cover anything but central Dallas. It took a power increase to the present facility before it covered Ft. Worth at all. I remember going out to Dallas in 1967 with a transistor portable - most Dallas FM stations were coming in on the portable by the time we reached Eastland - impressive on a portable. I was very disappointed not to hear KNUS until we were near downtown Dallas. I don't remember when the power increase happened, but it was some time before 1973, when I learned that it was practical to pick up Dallas FM in Midland. By that time, it had joined its DFW brethren in offering full coverage in the metroplex, and all of the DFW stations were easily received with a yagi and a good tuner virtually any time of the day, or time of the year from Midland.
I understood that. Actually, KTKT was better than #1. There were times when they had 50% of the total Tucson audience.
Not really. A couple of years later, the two "big" Beautiful Music stations had a combined share of over 10 points, and the five stations in the format had about 15 shares. The two rock stations had around 7 to 8 shares. So, actually, as FM became the more dominant medium (the national tipping point was 1977) the rock shares tended to decline, while CHR, AC, oldies, and country among others increased. Beautiful music was "on the grow" until around the early 80's, and was not in true decline until the last half of that decade.
So...like he said, he called to complain about the HD being off....
And of course they said "Huh? What's that?"
Reminds me of the early days of FM...when you'd call the engineer to tell him the FM transmitter was off-the-air. He would say: "I'll take a look in the morning"!
Times have changed...
F
FredLeonard
Guest
Now most stations don't have a full-time engineer on staff.
Probably would not have had one back in the days but the rules required it...
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