Hey Guys:
I was wondering if anybody can help me with this question.
-Did KIRO 100.7 Run Drake's HIT PARADE 68 format?
-would anybody know what month they started to run the format?
Thanks T.J.
They did, though I can't say what month.
My parents knew one of KIRO's sales(men)persons back then and arranged a tour of the Queen Anne transmitter site for me. At the time, the FM automation was there, along with the FM and TV transmitters. Commercials were either sent up by microwave or hauled up from Broadcast House on carts. The union engineers managed the automation and, unfortunately, it showed.
Taking care of the TV gear, then full of tubes, was the engineers' main concern, and during the years when the FM automation was running Bonneville Beautiful Music, there was little trouble. The fun began when the system was called on to do fast paced segues and overlap time checks on top of jingle intros. The automation failed miserably and, out of sight of the engineers, occasionally started all of the tape decks at once! Missed cues and dead air were also common.
After a few months of that, it was agreed that the programming personnel in Broadcast House were better suited to watch the automation than the TV engineers, and the system was moved off the hill.
Execution of the format got much better after that, though I don't recall if it was ever perfect. The transition from beautiful music to a complex Drake Chenault format was interesting and entertaining to listen to.
I don't know who worked at KIRO at the time, but they seemed awfully stodgie to be relating to a young adult format. That might have been part of the problem, too.
