• 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

MUSIC on AM Radio:

Were they on the 18th floor? In that case, absolutely...those would have been the studios the WBEN stations vacated when they moved out to 2077 Elmwood in 1960 to take over the building NBC built back in 1955 for their WBUF-TV fiasco. Elmwood was a nice facility for everyone, and the old-timers like Jack Ogilvie and Lou Douglas told me they didn't miss the downtown setup one bit. (Totally off topic; there was still a WBUF-TV doormat at the entrance to the Channel 4 master control as late as 1980; wonder if it's still there today?)

Never visited the old Buffalo WYSL (didn't get to Buffalo till '77, by which time Bob Howard had moved the whole operation over to Franklin St. near WBLK and WGR). Visited 'GR once--they had a nice, if somewhat cozy, setup over there, with the front door opening up on Franklin and the back door on Virginia Place serving as the entrance to the 97 Rock studios.
 
WYSL/WPHD moved from the Statler to Franklin Street mid to late 60s. Larry Levite may have been GM at the time. McLendon owned the stations until around 1974.
 
1070 in Greenville NC is 50,000 watts and plays R&B oldies and Southern Beach music and does it well...1070wnct.com
 
I have been listening for awhile online tonight and have been impressed.
http://1070wnct.com/
http://1070wnct.com/streamer/

I don't know how well Carolina Beach music will fare outside of the Carolinas, but I was thinking that this might be a consideration for other R&B classics stations as a special feature for a few hours each week.

I was also thinking that there could be a group called something like "AM Innovators" or "Kilohertz Innovators" which could be a loose association of AM broadcasters who broadcast innovative formats, particularly music, on their facilities.
 
Trivia question: How many reading this remember when WNIA got rid of Tom Thomas, Jerry Jack, Mike Melody, etc. and started letting their jocks use their own names? Do you remember the interesting turn of events that led up to this? note: not sure if WSAY did the same in Rochester.
 
cee said:
Trivia question: How many reading this remember when WNIA got rid of Tom Thomas, Jerry Jack, Mike Melody, etc. and started letting their jocks use their own names? Do you remember the interesting turn of events that led up to this? note: not sure if WSAY did the same in Rochester.
Click to expand...
That's a brain jog. Was it after Gordon Brown passed away and the station was operated by his Estate? Around '77? Who was working at at WNIA at the time? Didn't the station briefly go silent just before Chet Musialowski bought it from the Estate. IIRC, CM petitioned to have the station restored to the air. The Court so ordered. BTW, correction to my post about the WYSL/WPHD move from the Statler to Franklin Street. Early 70s. McLendon did own the station during the move, selling it to Howard Communications around 1974.
 
As best as I can remember, here's the timeline:

Buffalo Courier Express Radio-TV reporter Jim Baker(remember him?) reports in summer '76 that WNIA is taking a leave of absence from the airwaves due to a challenge of their license for not hiring minorities(by the group BUILD?)

They don't come back on the air until fall of '77(with minority and female announcers). At this time they are still owned by GPB, go to an Oldies format and the jocks now use their own names.

Station eventually evolves into Churban format as "Supersound 12."

GPB passes on the in the late 70s. Chet Musialowski's Quid Me Broadcasting purchases the station, changes the calls to WECK and after a long delay, finally takes over in spring 1980.

Anyone know of any other examples of area stations going dark? Didn't 1400 briefly go dark around 60-61 when the WBNY owners ran out of money(coming back as WYSL)?
 
"Larry Levite may have been GM (of WYSL) at the time. McLendon owned the stations until around 1974. "

Mmmm, IIRC, wasn't Larry the GSM and minority partner over at WEBR/970 and its companion FM 94.5 in the early 70s, and started putting Algonquin together to purchase WBEN AM/FM from the Butler estate after Mrs. Butler died in 1976-77--and WNED bought the WEBR stations from their ownership group around the same time? He could've worked for McLendon earlier (I know Jim McLaughlin did in the late 60s) but I can't remember him ever mentioning it all the time I worked for him over on Elmwood Ave.....
 
Levite was GM of WYSL/WPHD for quite some time, late 60s and early 70s, before moving to WEBR.
 
cee said:
As best as I can remember, here's the timeline:

Buffalo Courier Express Radio-TV reporter Jim Baker(remember him?) reports in summer '76 that WNIA is taking a leave of absence from the airwaves due to a challenge of their license for not hiring minorities(by the group BUILD?)...
Click to expand...

Just a wild guess here..."Be big, be a builder" probably became motto-non-grata around this time, too!
 
Speaking of music on AM radio...I just listened to a bit of the blues show with Jim Santella on AM 970 and I thought it sounded pretty darned good....
 
Just a wild guess here..."Be big, be a builder" probably became motto-non-grata around this time, too!
Click to expand...
I believe so. I wonder how they talked GPB into dropping those names and their "be big" motto. It was only a couple years before he passed - maybe he was becoming less involved with his stations.
 
cee said:
Just a wild guess here..."Be big, be a builder" probably became motto-non-grata around this time, too!
Click to expand...
I believe so. I wonder how they talked GPB into dropping those names and their "be big" motto. It was only a couple years before he passed - maybe he was becoming less involved with his stations.
Click to expand...
I wondered the same, so in a general conversation (as in, "over a beer and pizza") I asked a former station owner and manager for an opinion. Answer? "A license challenge, especially in those days, was extremely serious business. The license, even a toilet like WNIA had value. The owner did what was required to protect the value."
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom