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Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

R

recto101

Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

http://www.musicradio77.com/WOR-FM/history.html

http://www.musicradio77.com/WOR-FM/WORFMairchecks.html

I noticed that WOR chose to put the Top 40 format on FM and not on AM like RKO's West coast AM stations like KFRC and 93KHJ. I know that FM was not popular around this time mainly because the signal was limited. Also AM tends to cover a wider area like KFRC's Signal can be heard from San Francisco to Eureka to the north and as far south as Bakersfield.
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

recto101 said:
http://www.musicradio77.com/WOR-FM/history.html

http://www.musicradio77.com/WOR-FM/WORFMairchecks.html

I noticed that WOR chose to put the Top 40 format on FM and not on AM like RKO's West coast AM stations like KFRC and 93KHJ. I know that FM was not popular around this time mainly because the signal was limited. Also AM tends to cover a wider area like KFRC's Signal can be heard from San Francisco to Eureka to the north and as far south as Bakersfield.
Click to expand...
I remember WOR-FM and Rick Shaw (later of KFRC fame) and then 98.7xlo, then 99x before they "moved" to 98.7 Kiss.

""Rambling with Gambling" was an institution. Talk was always their thing with 710.

It was the "go to" station for snow closures. The management never felt the need to change what was working.

The directional signal they had made them a "local" in Philadelphia.

They were the strongest combo in NYC once "Kiss" hit.

I always got the impression that the FM was for younger demo and AM was for the older demo.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

recto101 said:
I noticed that WOR chose to put the Top 40 format on FM and not on AM like RKO's West coast AM stations like KFRC and 93KHJ. I know that FM was not popular around this time mainly because the signal was limited. Also AM tends to cover a wider area like KFRC's Signal can be heard from San Francisco to Eureka to the north and as far south as Bakersfield.
Click to expand...

The "choosing" of formats was not a WOR thing... it was an RKO corporate thing. Based on the rapid and large initial success of KHJ, they put what became known as the "Drake format" on KFRC, WRKO, CKLW and WHBQ. WOR, a big biller, and WGMS, an institudion in DC, did not switch.

In 1970, the radio ratings metros tended to be smaller than they are today. So any out-of-market coverage of AMs was not really of any sales value, just as is the case today. In LA, KHJ-FM had vastly better coverage than the rather marginal AM signal, but the time was 1965 and I doubt anyone at RKO thought the FM was good for much more than it had been good for through the 40's and the 50's and the beginning of the 60's. But by 1970, Drake-Chenault thought that FMs had potential and they began to work on formats for them.
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

Thank you, David, you jogged my memory, once again.
During the period of time, rock'n roll was still considered a fad. Since WOR was still a very profitable station, there was no need to mess with 710. Seeing as 770 moved away from music, it seems as though they were right not to jump on the music train.

FM was not established as a viable financial band during the 60's. The FCC said that they could not simulcast in markets over 100,000(?) so the experimentation began.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

WOR was one NY's highest billing and highest rated stations during the 60s. No way was RKO going to blow it up to put on the Drake format on 710 AM.

"The Big 710" had it come to pass would've given WABC a 50 kW rival, but it wasn't to be. WMCA with it's 5 kW signal would've flipped in short order. As things turned out, the Drake format went on 98.7 FM and it ultimately did put WMCA out of top 40, though that took nearly 3 years to happen. :)
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

I did look at the radio museum in the 1970's RKO sold KFRC 106.1 FM to Century the owners that renamed 106.1 as KMEL not only because of programming issues but also because of signal issues of the time.

But I see that 98.7 did cover the tri-state area very well.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WRKS&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

but 710 covers a wider area

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WOR&service=AM&status=L&hours=D
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WOR&service=AM&status=L&hours=N
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

please no more with the moron vernacular of the day "ISSUES" say problems when you mean problems
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

WOR-FM was an Adult Top 40. It played current hits with a heavy dose of 1955-63 oldies. They didn't play the bubblegum hits of the day. WOR-FM was marketed more toward adults 18-34 who had grown up with rock 'n' roll. :)
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

chrish said:
please no more with the moron vernacular of the day "ISSUES" say problems when you mean problems
Click to expand...
It sounds as though you have a "problem"...
I stopped using the word "problem" when it was reminding me of Math in school. I adopted the word "issues" when I grew-up and found that "problems" was psychologically preventing me from solving them.

Hope that helps.

Jeff in (problem solving mode) Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

More of 2011 mubo jumbo self delusion
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

radioguy39nj said:
WOR-FM was an Adult Top 40. It played current hits with a heavy dose of 1955-63 oldies. They didn't play the bubblegum hits of the day. WOR-FM was marketed more toward adults 18-34 who had grown up with rock 'n' roll. :)
Click to expand...

So WOR-FM was supposed to be like KHJ-FM, KRTH oldies?
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

recto101 said:
radioguy39nj said:
WOR-FM was an Adult Top 40. It played current hits with a heavy dose of 1955-63 oldies. They didn't play the bubblegum hits of the day. WOR-FM was marketed more toward adults 18-34 who had grown up with rock 'n' roll. :)
Click to expand...

So WOR-FM was supposed to be like KHJ-FM, KRTH oldies?
Click to expand...

Not exactly, but I think it's fair to say WOR-FM was an oldies based top 40 station. Despite it's heavy 1955-63 oldies concentration, the station still circulated weekly music surveys at record stores throughout the NY metro area. Just about every other record played was an oldie. Occaisionally, you'd get a "Double Golden", which was the title of the oldies albums the station promoted.

WOR-FM never beat WABC, but it did put WMCA out of top 40. :)
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

There is a historical component to the old WOR-FM. The legendary Rosko's farewell spiel caused lots of controversy and press coverage when they went Drake.

I thought WOR-FM was a great listen. A Draker on FM was a novelty and the more sedate approach gave them a classy stationality.

Loved 'em
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

Dusty Dale Brooks said:
There is a historical component to the old WOR-FM. The legendary Rosko's farewell spiel caused lots of controversy and press coverage when they went Drake.

I thought WOR-FM was a great listen. A Draker on FM was a novelty and the more sedate approach gave them a classy stationality.

Loved 'em
Click to expand...

The Drake-formatted WOR-FM was indeed a great listen! In fact, the Drake WOR-FM was the station that pulled me away from WMCA and WABC. OR-FM played much of what the two established AM Top 40s were playing, but added so much more that those two stations wouldn't play. And of course, there were the oldies mixed so seamlessly into late 60s top 40. Also it sounded a whole lot better on FM and in stereo, no less!

I loved OR-FM, too! :)
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

I heard that Charlie O'Donnel was there at WOR is this the same one that went to KCOP-TV in the 1970's in LA and Wheel of Fortune? 1980's to 2010.. By the way Sebastian Stone of WOR also worked for KFRC in San Francisco and Merv Griffin also worked for KFRC right when RKO took over the station in the 1950's
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

I heard an aircheck of Jim O'Brien on OR-FM and he sounded just fantastic, what a voice, I thought he sounded better than the guys at WABC. What a disc jockey should sound like, Jim O'Brien at WOR-FM.
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

Besides, problems need to be solved :( , whereas issues need to be resolved :)
 
Re: Surprise that WOR Top40 did not go on 710 AM and call themselves "The Big 710"

recto101 said:
I heard that Charlie O'Donnel was there at WOR is this the same one that went to KCOP-TV in the 1970's in LA and Wheel of Fortune? 1980's to 2010.. By the way Sebastian Stone of WOR also worked for KFRC in San Francisco and Merv Griffin also worked for KFRC right when RKO took over the station in the 1950's
Click to expand...

I donated a short clip of Charlie O'Donnel from his brief stint at WOR-RM in the spring of 1968. Elsewhere on this tribute site, is a slightly longer version of Charlie on a Sunday night show. He was just in from the West Coast and referred to the GSP as the Grand Central Freeway.

Give a listen....http://www.musicradio77.com/WOR-FM/additionalairchecks.html
 
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