Sad that only three people responded to this post. I think if someone posted this on a national board the response would be huge.
Mr. Chenault had the vision and foresight that most broadcasters in the mid 1960s lacked. He saw that in every city there was a significant segment of the Top 40 audience that saw neither humor nor entertainment value in the traditional presentation of the day.
He found a programmer in Bill Drake who needed a beta test site for his format. It succeeded at KYNO and from there he was retained to program the stations of RKO General. Gene granted Bill the freedom to work with others while keeping him as a partner in a programming and consulting firm that until it was sold in the 1980s was the leader in syndicated formats and radio specials.
Together they revolutionized hit radio and rewrote the programming book. I became a Bill Drake accolyte and ended up a programming a Drake clone. Having to work my personality in while adhering to the ten second-one thought per backsell rule was the kind of challenge that made me a better personality jock once I moved on.
If there is a Hall of Fame for enlightened broadcast ownership induct him immediately!
[/With a doubt the boss radio format was the greatest of all time
