Re: The Big Ape
> Here's a short unauthorized snapshot.
>
> Gotta remember that "the lower on the AM dial, the more your
> power is worth." In the sixties and early seventies--when FM
> was basically a rumor and AM had 99 percent of the
> audience--having 50,000 watts at 690 KC (kilocycyles, back
> then) gave WAPE a huge signal by comparison with the 5-kw &
> 1-kw stations around them. Remember also that there were
> only a handful of AM stations on-air 40-to-50 years ago, so
> there was much less interference; and on "Canadian Clear"
> 690, the signal just kept on going... and going. Beyond
> that, the directional rig shot the signal up and down the
> Atlantic beaches from Cocoa to Cape Hatteras, so vacationers
> from all over the U.S. got to know "The Big Ape" while
> soaking up the sun--for a couple decades. (Sure, WOKV has
> the same signal today--it's just than nobody cares).
>
> Radio geeks talk about various stations being "legendary;"
> but because so many people from all over the country heard
> APE on their beach vacations, it truly developed a national
> reputation.
>
> And, yeah, they were real good. 690 dominated the Jax radio
> advertising market for so long--and with such margins--that
> they were able to produce major market radio in... well,
> Jacksonville has never been more than a medium market.
> (Football fans in Portland--radio market #24 & TV market
> #23--still don't understand why the NFL is in radio market
> #48 & TV market #52 instead of The Rose City).
>
> The Grease (Doug Tracht) was a killer morning act at the Ape
> through the seventies, then went on to DC where he made a
> couple of unfortunate slips on the air. I've become
> acquainted with the guy--one of the nicest and most creative
> people in radio. I have no idea why an enterprising
> broadcaster doesn't bring him back to Jax and just rack up
> the numbers. He is still better than any air talent
> currently on the air in Jacksonville.
>
> Back to APE history. The AM pulled its last double-digit
> share in 1978 ('79 was the year when the percentage of FM
> listening edged past AM listening)... slipped into the
> mid-single digits over the next few years... and re-emerged
> on FM in 1986, debuting with a cool 18 share.
>
> So, if one considers today's CHR/pop format to be the
> rightful heir to the historic Top 40 format--and most of us
> do, if reluctantly--WAPE is one of the few radio entities to
> have made the shift from AM to FM (with a few glitches in
> the early eighties, if memory serves correct).
> Theoretically, at least, WAPE could/should next year be
> celebrating 50 years as Jacksonville's Hit Music
> Station--from 1957 to 2007.
>
> Those with better memories, please provide corrections
> and/or clarification.
WOW ! That was pretty good. THANKS for posting that !
I'm down here en Miami but I visit the Jacksonville area several times a year because I have family there. I also drove through the area along I-95 several times a year from 1987 to 1996 when my family lived up in the D.C. area. I've always listened to 'The Big Ape' while I'm up there (although I admit that I've also checked out 'KISS-FM' since it flipped over to CHR-POP).
Aqui en Miami WHYI Y-100(.7) is recognized as (are you ready for this ?) the longest-running continuous CHR-POP station in North America. They've kept the same general hit music format going for 33 years now (since 1973). It seems to me that if whatever happened during the early-1980s with WAPE didn't happen then they would be able to stake some type of longevity claim to the North American CHR-POP / TOP 40 throne. So I ask - What exactly did WAPE do for a few years during the early-1980s ? Did they radically flip their format or what ? What type of music (if any) did they play during their 'glitch' years ?
One more thing about 'The Big Ape'. Back during the late-1980s and deep into the 1990s they had one powerful blowtorch of a signal. If atmospheric conditions were just right their signal penetrated as far south as Alligator Alley (I-75) through The Everglades ! They redirected their signal later in the 1990s so that it's not as powerful southward as it used to be. 95.1 out of Melbourne was also created, so perhaps that was the reason for doing that.
THE MAJOR
