WABC AND WOR RATINGS AT AN ALL-TIME LOW

[radioguy39nj]

AM/FM radios weren't included as standard equipment in most cars until the '70s.

The late 70s.

Yet by 1977, without FM being standard on most cars, the FM band passed 50% of all listening.

I had a 1976 Olds Cutlass Supreme purchased new in March '76 with a Delco AM/FM Stereo Radio, which was an extra-cost option that cost about $250. The radio had 10 presets, 5 AM & 5 FM. By 1976, I was listening to music exclusively on FM. AM was for sports and news.

1976 was the first year WABC weekly ratings failed to top 5 million listeners. WABC remained the #1 station in New York despite a challenge from WNBC on AM and numerous FM competitors. It would all change in the summer of 1978 when WKTU @ 92.3 FM, then a floundering soft rock station, bet all their chips and flipped to disco. By October, WKTU was #1 in New York with approximately an 11 rating. WKTU was the catalyst that brought New York listeners to FM en masse. WABC's reign at the top of the ratings was over.

 

[SonoSational18]

Thanks, David, for posting that Duncans link. 1977 was about the time that there was a seismic shift to FM. Some markets like Pittsburgh and San Francisco lagged behind because the terrain made FM reception difficult. WABC made two critical mistakes. Their first mistake was their knee-jerk reaction to WKTU and switching to all-disco. Going all-disco made no more sense than going all surf music in 1963, all British in 1964, or all soft ballads in 1970. All, including disco, were passing fads. Their other mistake was not taking the powerful WABC brand to FM. Had they stayed the course and segued the station over to 95.5 around 1980, Z-100 might never have been born.

 

[TheBigA]

I dug up Rick Sklar's book on the subject, and he says "I left WABC in March 1977, with the station still #1 in the ratings. In October 1978, WABC dropped almost 2 share points and lost its standing as market leader to a new FM station WKTU. By the winter of 1983, the station was down to a 3.8 share in the ratings. In May of that year, WABC changed formats."

 

[SonoSational18]

WABC flipped to talk in May 1982, not 1983. While not the day-to-day PD at WABC after 1977, Sklar still oversaw WABC. Whomever was at the helm, WABC could not have survived as an AM top 40 station. Some (like WLS) were able to hang on a bit longer but momentum had shifted.

 

[TheBigA]

WABC flipped to talk in May 1982, not 1983.

That's funny...I have the First Edition of the book, so it was probably corrected in the next one.

 

[FredLeonard]

It was corporate that decided to flip Musicradio 77 to talk, not local management.

ABC, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to create a national talk network based on the very successful programming on its two West Coast stations, KABC and KGO. Satellite distribution was new. Fiber optics had improved the sound quality on long distance lines and competition was bringing down prices for 800 numbers. Nationally-distributed talk radio was becoming feasible and affordable for the first time. The rules (Chain Broadcasting Act of 1940) which resulted in the creation of ABC as a separate company were being relaxed, allowing ABC to distribute multiple feeds. Up to then, talk radio was pretty much limited to major markets and stations which could afford to produce it. ABC thought it could bring talk radio to smaller markets. (NBC reached similar conclusions and started TalkNet after the death of it's all news service, NIS.) ABC wanted their new "network" cleared in major markets in the East; so good-bye MusicRadio77 - hello TalkRadio77 with a bunch of California hosts (plus Information instead of Contemporary News).

ABC's experiment fizzled. Cap Cities took over ABC about five years later and killed the talk network. They also fired some execs. One of them negotiated a severance deal in which he got some of the satellite time ABC had leased for its talk network. His name was Ed McLaughlin. He signed a local Sacramento talk host, moved him to New York and put his show on the bird. The host's name was Rush something. And now you know the rest of the story.

 

[TheBigA]

It was corporate that decided to flip Musicradio 77 to talk, not local management.

Corporate VP of Programming was Rock Sklar.

 

[radioguy39nj]

Thanks, David, for posting that Duncans link. 1977 was about the time that there was a seismic shift to FM. Some markets like Pittsburgh and San Francisco lagged behind because the terrain made FM reception difficult. WABC made two critical mistakes. Their first mistake was their knee-jerk reaction to WKTU and switching to all-disco. Going all-disco made no more sense than going all surf music in 1963, all British in 1964, or all soft ballads in 1970. All, including disco, were passing fads. Their other mistake was not taking the powerful WABC brand to FM. Had they stayed the course and segued the station over to 95.5 around 1980, Z-100 might never have been born.

WABC didn't go all-surf in 1963, all British in '64, or all soft ballads in 1970. Actually, they didn't go all disco in 1978 but every other record (which makes it 50%) was a disco song.

WPLJ was still doing well with rock on 95.5 FM in 1978. In 1983 they were still doing well with rock, but PD Larry Berger thought CHR was a better bet long-term. WPLJ flipped to top 40 in late-June 1983, just over a month before Z-100 signed on.

 

[FredLeonard]

Corporate VP of Programming was Rock Sklar.

I guess that was before the flip. After the flip to talk did he change his name to Rap Sklar?

 

[SonoSational18]

I ddn't say that WABC went all surf, British, or soft ballads. I was simply saing that it didn't make sense then to switch formats based on a transitory musical fad. Granted, they weren't all disco, but they imaged as Disco 77. (Yes, I am aware of the "WA-Beatle-C" liners in 1964 but during that era they were playing a very wide variety of music.). I wonder how WLS and WMAL escaped the directive. I still think that WABC Music Radio was such a strong brand it could have been moved over to FM and gotten significant ratings.

 

[TheBigA]

I still think that WABC Music Radio was such a strong brand it could have been moved over to FM and gotten significant ratings.

I can't think of any examples in any market from that time where it happened: Where an AM success was simply moved to FM.

 

[davideduardo]

I still think that WABC Music Radio was such a strong brand it could have been moved over to FM and gotten significant ratings.

I can't think of any examples in any market from that time where it happened: Where an AM success was simply moved to FM.

Mike Joseph's original Hot Hits station, WKAQ, moved the format to FM and is still consistently in the top 5 after 45 years.

 

[briancraig]

I think there are a few examples of successful AM CHRs moving to FM. I know WABB in Mobile would be one.

Wouldn't KDWB in Minneapolis and WHOT in Youngstown be two others?

Didn't KKBQ in Houston start out on AM?

 

[TheBigA]

I think there are a few examples of successful AM CHRs moving to FM. I know WABB in Mobile would be one.

Wouldn't KDWB in Minneapolis and WHOT in Youngstown be two others?

Didn't KKBQ in Houston start out on AM?

For WABC to do this, it would have to replace WPLJ, which had already become a success by this time. Did any of these examples of AM formats moving to FM replace successful stations?

 

[SonoSational18]

WPLJ couldn't have been THAT successful since ABC flipped it to CHR less than a year later, but not branded as WABC. Some other AM brands that segued over to FM include WAPE Jacksonville, WAEB Allentown, WPRO Providence, and WKFR Battle Creek.

 

[TheBigA]

The other issue that might have played a part in not moving the WABC-AM format to FM was the air staff. To the best of my knowledge, once the core staff left WABC (Harrison, Lundy, Ingram, and Morrow), they never again did Top 40, but rather switched to Oldies. Ingram hosted a syndicated Top 40 countdown for 2 years, but didn't DJ in the format. So if they had moved the format, they might have chosen a different staff.

 

[FredLeonard]

The other issue that might have played a part in not moving the WABC-AM format to FM was the air staff. To the best of my knowledge, once the core staff left WABC (Harrison, Lundy, Ingram, and Morrow), they never again did Top 40, but rather switched to Oldies. Ingram hosted a syndicated Top 40 countdown for 2 years, but didn't DJ in the format. So if they had moved the format, they might have chosen a different staff.

Because Top 40 wasn't Top 40 any more. The type of music associated with WABC and with its air staff wasn't on the charts any more. Their music was played on Oldies stations. Top 40 had been replaced by CHR.

Remember once upon a time, big band and standards were what made up the Billboard charts and WNEW 1130 played then-current hits. Demos stay with the music they grew up with, and jocks stay with the music they built their careers with.

 

[radioguy39nj]

The other issue that might have played a part in not moving the WABC-AM format to FM was the air staff. To the best of my knowledge, once the core staff left WABC (Harrison, Lundy, Ingram, and Morrow), they never again did Top 40, but rather switched to Oldies. Ingram hosted a syndicated Top 40 countdown for 2 years, but didn't DJ in the format. So if they had moved the format, they might have chosen a different staff.

Because Top 40 wasn't Top 40 any more. The type of music associated with WABC and with its air staff wasn't on the charts any more. Their music was played on Oldies stations. Top 40 had been replaced by CHR.

Remember once upon a time, big band and standards were what made up the Billboard charts and WNEW 1130 played then-current hits. Demos stay with the music they grew up with, and jocks stay with the music they built their careers with.

Well said, Fred! I could never have seen Ingram, Harrison and others from WABC and WMCA DJ-ing a full format of 80s CHR any more than William B Williams spinning Beatle records.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Ingram could have made the transition for 80's CHR. Harry Harrison, no.

 

[davideduardo]

Top 40 had been replaced by CHR.

"CHR" is a term, not a new format. Radio & Records wanted to set its Top 40 chart apart from the other charts of the day, so they gave the chart and the format a new name.

Other than the name, nothing changed.