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Radio Legend Bob Zimmerman passes away

G

grandoleopry

Guest
Didn't know if folks in Central PA realized but Robert Zimmerman
passed away on Monday in State College.
Bob was a respected broadcaster; Having been involved
in ownership; management and operations of stations
including the former WRKZ 106.7. He recently was teaching
at Penn State University since his retirement from
the radio business in 1996.
Its Bob Zimmerman who can be credited with the creation
of Z-107.
 
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
 
Radio Chuck said:
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
Click to expand...

Its a shame....and also that one of our Pittsburgh market stations took WRKZ about 2 years ago when Howard Stern came to 93.7 and the format changed to WRKZ 93.7 K-ROCK. (That format is switching to a talk format, possibly a FreeFM type station). Maybe WRKZ can go back to 106.7 where it belongs and maybe even back to a country station as Z-107 again. (Is Dandelion still available for the midnight shift?..grin).
 
SteelRocker said:
Radio Chuck said:
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
Click to expand...

Its a shame....and also that one of our Pittsburgh market stations took WRKZ about 2 years ago when Howard Stern came to 93.7 and the format changed to WRKZ 93.7 K-ROCK. (That format is switching to a talk format, possibly a FreeFM type station). Maybe WRKZ can go back to 106.7 where it belongs and maybe even back to a country station as Z-107 again. (Is Dandelion still available for the midnight shift?..grin).
Click to expand...

Wouldnt that be AWESOME? I remember those days with Z Bear and Fuzzy Sommers. I can say that it was probably one of the best country stations around. I105 didn't even come close.

WRKZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ107-Hershey!!!!
 
I agree completely with your thoughts on Z-107. Bob Zimmerman and Roger
Neuhoff as Eastern Broadcasting and later Bob with Telemedia did it RIGHT!
not only was the programming stellar but Citadel has never seen the
money that place billed back in the 80's.....They were around 4 mil a year
back then. Regarding Dandelion....She was a major reason why that station
had the clout it did with the music industry. I was just in Nashville in
November and the artists and label execs still ask about her...She is
held in very high esteem there.
 
Alan Roberts said:
Radio Chuck said:
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
Click to expand...

Right. Before that, WPDC-FM. WRKZ (Z-107) launched during 1980, IIRC.
Click to expand...

I think you may be right on the FM. I went to college at Elizabethtown back in 1984 and remember it quite well, and I think the studios were moved to Hershey. AM 1600 WPDC AM was still up on Radio Road as I visited the place a few times. Those were the good old days of radio.
 
Radio Chuck said:
Alan Roberts said:
Radio Chuck said:
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
Click to expand...

Right. Before that, WPDC-FM. WRKZ (Z-107) launched during 1980, IIRC.
Click to expand...

I think you may be right on the FM. I went to college at Elizabethtown back in 1984 and remember it quite well, and I think the studios were moved to Hershey. AM 1600 WPDC AM was still up on Radio Road as I visited the place a few times. Those were the good old days of radio.
Click to expand...

Well, when I worked there during '92 and '93, Z-107 had its own building on the lot
next to WPDC-AM, maybe two-hundred yards from the tower. The transmitter and
backup were in the old building. Back then, the building was a tan color, with a big
Z-107 sign on the front. It had wide, open spaces, and there was a garage, which
housed the Z-Bears, fire truck, bread truck, and other station vehicles. Also, there
was no housing development up against the property, only grass and a field.

This structure became maze-ish (redesigned once or twice) as the home of Citadel
Harrisburg. I wonder what'll become of it after CH moves?
 
Alan Roberts said:
Radio Chuck said:
Alan Roberts said:
Radio Chuck said:
WRKZ=W Robert K Zimmerman
Click to expand...

Right. Before that, WPDC-FM. WRKZ (Z-107) launched during 1980, IIRC.
Click to expand...

I think you may be right on the FM. I went to college at Elizabethtown back in 1984 and remember it quite well, and I think the studios were moved to Hershey. AM 1600 WPDC AM was still up on Radio Road as I visited the place a few times. Those were the good old days of radio.
Click to expand...

Also, there was no housing development up against the property, only grass and a field.

This structure became maze-ish (redesigned once or twice) as the home of Citadel
Harrisburg. I wonder what'll become of it after CH moves?
Click to expand...

My buddy lived in a house very close to the tower and said if the tower ever fell, it would land on his property. So there was some houses in the area on Radio Road. Haven't noticed driving past there on 283 when we go back if its getting developed now or not.
 
SteelRocker said:
My buddy lived in a house very close to the tower and said if the tower ever fell, it would land on his property.
Click to expand...
I looked at that beast many, many times, and I felt certain she could reach 283.

So there was some houses in the area on Radio Road. Haven't noticed driving past there on 283 when we go back if its getting developed now or not.
Click to expand...

It's pretty packed, there are houses next door and across the road.
 
Alan, Bob was 73 when he died. A great broadcaster and a good friend. In his youth, Bob had been GM at WAVA(FM) in Washington in it's era as one of the first all-news radio stations (and I think THE first all-news FM) in America. Bought WRSC & WQWK in State College and turned it into a killer operation--sold it for something like $8 million around 1990 and outsiders were shocked at the price tag... but not those who knew Bob. He had the touch.
 
Zimmerman may have had lots of friends, but he had an equal or perhaps greater number of enemies.
 
tube man said:
Zimmerman may have had lots of friends, but he had an equal or perhaps greater number of enemies.
Click to expand...


I never worked for him, but there are plenty of his former employees who will testify that he was very difficult to work for--very demanding... lots of yelling, swearing & the like--though many of them also say that he brought the best out in them. Like an Old School football coach. Or like many Old School radio executives. Our litigious work environment has pretty much made that kind of management style passe. The ones who manage that way now--at least the males--tend to find themselves on the wrong end of a legal proceeding...

Outside of that role--in social situations and/or with his peers--Bob was a bright, charming guy.
 
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