WABC then...and now

[lalumia]

no one was devoted to a 'pop ideal' before MTV either,which was why the music business was on the ropes in America just before MTV;
all that was selling was Jane Fonda workout albums, Kenny & Dolly duets, and Strawberry Shortcakes kiddie records;
the record biz was in as much trouble then as it is now

 

[adma]

This one really shows that you don't live in or understand this city:

In a way, it all reflects a cultural sensibility that was spooked by whatever the 1977 blackout riots ushered in, and presumably still gets the willies to this day over whatever's too openly "ethnic" or "queer" or just plain "post-1977" about NYC...

New York is the international capitol of Culture and finance. We are also the prime target for islamic and other terrorism yet the constantly rising cost of real estate is just one indicator that we do not get the "willies". Don't mistake the machinations of a declining AM radio station as representitive of New Yorkers.

Au contraire, I'm pointing out why it's *un*representative of New Yorkers--at least, relative to those who wish otherwise...

 

[amfmxm]

WABC could have migrated to 95.5 FM,as WABC FM, no problem...but their reactionary music programming choices would not have won the hearts of the MTV generation...the 60s sounding WABC would have been right at home with Adam ant,Toni Basil,Go Gos,Stray Cats,etc,it would have been a beautiful thing...

The failure of ABC to shift or "migrate" 77/WABC to 95.5--and, in Chicago, its 89/WLS(AM) to co-owned 94.7--has ranked as radio's #1 & #2 Boneheaded Plays Of All Time for at least 30 years. Thousands of their fellow broadcasters around the country scratched their collective heads as it was happening and said, "WTF are these people thinking?"

Since that time, several "insiders" have told me that it was ABC's unbending corporate structure that kept it from happening. AM was one department; FM was another department; and, therefore, there could be no intermingling of the two--even if it meant destroying America's most successful radio stations. This episode of incredible stupidity should be a case study in every MBA and media management course.

There were, by the way, hundreds of instances across the nation where AM Top 40 stations made the successful jump to FM. It was done with a patch cord... it took 2 seconds... and it cost virtually nothing.

ABC couldn't figure that out.

 

[chitchatjf]

Blame it on "Superadio"

 

[radio mike]

WABC could have migrated to 95.5 FM,as WABC FM, no problem...but their reactionary music programming choices would not have won the hearts of the MTV generation...the 60s sounding WABC would have been right at home with Adam ant,Toni Basil,Go Gos,Stray Cats,etc,it would have been a beautiful thing...

There were, by the way, hundreds of instances across the nation where AM Top 40 stations made the successful jump to FM. It was done with a patch cord... it took 2 seconds... and it cost virtually nothing.

I have never heard of such a case. Is there any major market AM music leader that ever did it. CKLW? WRKO? KHJ? No. Is there any major market example?

 

[lalumia]

well, eventually there was a WABC FM,after the fact,trying to catch up to Z100,after the cat was let out of the bag...they just happened to call it WPLJ(remember Shannon making fun of "Larry Booger"?),and they tried to follow, when they could have easily been leading by making the transit when the AM went to talk radio..once the far superior Z100 took the reins, that was that,and it still is..

 

[adma]

Blame it on "Superadio"

Good point.

 

[lalumia]

what is/was super radio? I remember the name but not the details..

 

[MORE RADIO TRUTH]

Superradio.
When the music died on WABC May 1982, a few were to become a part of ABC's Superradio, a satellite format by Rick Sklar. Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, and Bob Dayton among them.

From Ingram's Wikipedia page:
"So basically I'm taking seven weeks off. With pay heh heh." — at the end of Dan Ingram's final Friday afternoon on the air. Ingram was expecting to move to an upcoming satellite oldies service named Superradio (however, the service did not sign up enough affiliates to launch).

 

[abonita]

well, eventually there was a WABC FM,after the fact,trying to catch up to Z100,after the cat was let out of the bag...they just happened to call it WPLJ(remember Shannon making fun of "Larry Booger"?),and they tried to follow, when they could have easily been leading by making the transit when the AM went to talk radio..once the far superior Z100 took the reins, that was that,and it still is..

To be fair, Jimi: Larry Berger actually started migrating WPLJ to CHR before Z-100 signed on ... although not, I believe, before the plans to do so were announced.

IMHO, the radio war made both stations better. And those who played for both teams have some interesting comparisons to offer.

Anita

 

[lalumia]

hey girl, how are ya?..Berger may have started transitioning to CHR but it was all low key, under the radar,as compared to the 'hoopla machine' that was the original Z100;just simply changing the brand to WABC FM would have stirred some sauce,but I recall them being very asleep at the wheel over there;keeping the PLJ calls always reminded people of the old hippie station of the 70s

 

[adma]

Superradio.
When the music died on WABC May 1982, a few were to become a part of ABC's Superradio, a satellite format by Rick Sklar. Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, and Bob Dayton among them.

From Ingram's Wikipedia page:
"So basically I'm taking seven weeks off. With pay heh heh." — at the end of Dan Ingram's final Friday afternoon on the air. Ingram was expecting to move to an upcoming satellite oldies service named Superradio (however, the service did not sign up enough affiliates to launch).

Was it actually meant to be an oldies service? I thought it was intended to be a continuation of WABC's contemporary-pop thrust. (Though its failure must have indicated how little actual "reach" such radio fare actually had any longer in and of itself, despite whatever boasts and back-slapping within the industry--sort of the HD of its time. And why not? Next to MTV, Superradio was the product of senile cultural squares.)

 

[lalumia]

yeah, but MTV wasn't really in the game yet, and a re charged Music Radio would have been ready to reap the rewards for the MTV boon , but they so diligently went out of their way to divest themselves of youth culture(guitar oriented records,trend oriented records)that it would have never happened anyway; by the early 70s,as they were fleeing the young glam/glitter sound from the UK in favor of MOR pap, the writing was on the wall

 

[adma]

Well, it was more (less?) than a MORness. Remember that this Musicradio-into-Superradio embodied the most risible "Knoxville World's Fair" aspect of 1982-style cultural currency.

Next to that, it didn't matter how fully "in the game" MTV was; it was given carte blanche...

 

[lalumia]

but then Z100 came along and knew EXACTLY what to do

 

[DavidKaye]

The early talk shows carried by WABC were not overtly political, they weren't very sucessful either. Along came Limbaugh, Hannity etc things appeared to turn around, however, this approach has saddled the station with the oldest listeners in the market, a declining listenership and no apparent way out. The slowly increasing use of paid access to maintain cash flow is indicative of what's ahead.

WABC should take a page from KGO, which has had remarkable success with a centrist talk format since 1963. On KGO there is no disrespect for the listener, no shout-downs (well, very few). There's a lot to be said in favor of respect for the listener. I've heard WABC numerous times. I'm surprised it has any ratings at all, beyond the gun nuts hiding out under their beds. Even when one disagrees with a KGO talkshow host, there is still a dignity, a reasonableness, that draws a listener back again and again. I haven't heard that with WABC.

 

[qtpieislit]

In case you haven't noticed, New York culture seems to dictate, that you’re just not going to hear, “thank you for calling” on a New York radio station.

 

[DavidKaye]

In case you haven't noticed, New York culture seems to dictate, that you’re just not going to hear, “thank you for calling” on a New York radio station.

Until the past few years you didn't hear that phrase on California talkshows, either. I think it originated in the South and spread via the syndicated shows such as Art Bell.

 

[LinoNYC]

In case you haven't noticed, New York culture seems to dictate, that you’re just not going to hear, “thank you for calling” on a New York radio station.

If you mean the sort of rude, boorish shows that populate today's commercial talk radio such as WABC you'ld have a point. However that sort of fare only attracts an old, increasingly un-viable audience.

Here in New York, one of the most popular stations is WNYC a-f, they have a membership of around 100.000 and an operating budget of over 30mil. -some 8 million more than WABC's gross even with all the infomercials.

Within a year after the Reagan admin repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, stations began airing monolithic right-wing fare such as the newly syndicated Rush Limbaugh. It made them alot of money but typed AM radio as strictly for angry, old people. Now twenty years later these atations are stuck with the same listeners, most of whom have now aged-out of advertiser interest.

Contrary to what many here have stated re; the Bob "Grant" story, neither he nor his clones were ever about "free speech". Their only lasting contribution was to make acceptable rude, bullying partisanship that poisioned debate and contributed to the brainless mess we now are awakening to.

One side of me, the sentimental side hopes that AM iboc can prevent AM's slide into an ugly oblivion of preachers and whoring..the other side says; sweet revenge.

Lino