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WBMI
- Thread starter rcs
- Start date
WBMI had a rock format for a while then. I remember that it wasn't really progressive rock, but more like a soft rock format, maybe a mix of the two? It sure wasn't progressive like WHCN, which was "free-form" then, but maybe today it would be classified as AAA.
I forget exactly when they had this format or how long it lasted. 1969 or 1970?
Paul
I forget exactly when they had this format or how long it lasted. 1969 or 1970?
Paul
There is another long lost Progressive Rock station in the Springfield-Hartford area too. 94.7 WMAS-FM did Progressive Rock as WHVY from around 1970 until sometime in 1973....
I recall the short-lived format being pretty "progressive" with bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service, Vanilla Fudge and Procol Harum. The jocks didn't talk very often and had the same "underground sound" demeanor that the WHCN jocks of that era had. They gave a Hartford phone number that was never answered. The station reverted back to easy listening after about 6 months I believe changing calls to WKSS at the same time.
Yes, WKSS 95.7 started out at WMMW-FM in 1947. The calls were changed to WBMI perhaps in the sixties. At one point they had their studios at their transmitter site on West Peak with a large picture window looking out towards Waterbury. Quite a view from that site. From what I'm told WHCN was the only other radio station with studios on West Peak although there was a TV studio up there at one point.
rcs said:
That TV studio was for WATR Channel 53 an NBC affiliate owned by WATR Radio. WATR eventually moved to Channel 20 and is now CW20 WTXX owned by Tribune along with FOX 61 and The Hartford Courant. WATR AM 1320 is still independently owned by WATR Inc. The Gilmore Family. Format is Oldies/Talk. Most but not all the music comes from The Jones Good Times Oldies Network. (I say most, but not all because they do have some local music hosts on the Weekend). WATR Inc. sold WWYZ (formerly WATR-FM) in 1995 for $26 million (I think it was) to one of the companies that eventually got swallowed up by Clear Channel.
>That TV studio was for WATR Channel 53 an NBC affiliate owned by WATR Radio.
WATR-TV was an ABC affiliate when it was Ch 53. The station switched to NBC in the summer of 1966, a few years after the move to Ch 20 and the Prospect tower site.
WATR-TV was an ABC affiliate when it was Ch 53. The station switched to NBC in the summer of 1966, a few years after the move to Ch 20 and the Prospect tower site.
B
bub
Guest
I know it's off thread topic but WWYZ did not relocate studios from Waterbury to Hartford until 1998. From the time the FCC approved the sale until the moveout, they were "leasing" space at Broadcast Lane. Where the WATR main studio stands now used to be the WWYZ Production Studios with divider walls (there were 2 studios). WATR's old main studio is now the newsroom.KML-224 said:
I have an old reel of tape somewhere in my massive collection of old tapes with an announcer giving an ID of WBMI Meriden. However, I found this tape at the dump here in Middletown and I have no idea where it is at the moment, and with my work schedule lately, I can't promise that I'll be able to find it anytime soon.
I'm not sure when this tape was recorded, but it was strange, someone would tune up and down the dial, and there was no logic to what they were trying to capture, they weren't scoping or trying to get particular songs. I'll say this, from what I heard, the most professional sounding station was what seemed to be a Top 40 station called WCCC. Everything else was some kind of easy listening or classical. I don't remember hearing WDRC or not.
The WBMI announcer sounded like a bad college station jock, no offense to whoever that might be if your still around, but geez man, at least have some idea of what you're gonna say in a voice check.
I'm not sure when this tape was recorded, but it was strange, someone would tune up and down the dial, and there was no logic to what they were trying to capture, they weren't scoping or trying to get particular songs. I'll say this, from what I heard, the most professional sounding station was what seemed to be a Top 40 station called WCCC. Everything else was some kind of easy listening or classical. I don't remember hearing WDRC or not.
The WBMI announcer sounded like a bad college station jock, no offense to whoever that might be if your still around, but geez man, at least have some idea of what you're gonna say in a voice check.
WDRC and WCCC were the only stations in the Hartford market that I know of without some history as instrumental easy listening outlets. WDRC-FM was the only rock n' roll on the FM dial in the mid sixties, while WCCC-FM was more of an AC/MOR simulcast with the daytimer AM. I still remember owner Bill Savitt on a TV ad tuning around the dial and not finding anything to listen to until happily finding WCCC playing Horst Jankowski's "A Walk In The Black Forest." By the mid seventies, FM was loaded with full-time "beautiful music" formats. A dozen years later, the format was toast. In New Haven, WYBC-FM was the only FM there that I know of never to run easy listening.
Some stations were unusual patchworks of programming, like WATR-FM (now WWYZ) mixing an AM simulcast with ethnic programming and WWCO-FM (now WPHH) simulcasting their AM Top 40 during the day and Dolly Holiday's Holiday Inn beautiful music overnight. That all predated the idea of totally separate programming from the AM's - the original cash cow "mother ships." Now back to 2007!
Some stations were unusual patchworks of programming, like WATR-FM (now WWYZ) mixing an AM simulcast with ethnic programming and WWCO-FM (now WPHH) simulcasting their AM Top 40 during the day and Dolly Holiday's Holiday Inn beautiful music overnight. That all predated the idea of totally separate programming from the AM's - the original cash cow "mother ships." Now back to 2007!
wallymann said:
If they had blinked they would have missed the non-beautiful-music version of WBMI. It did in fact happen. I don't think it lasted more than a year. Does anyone know what happened after the short-lived album format? Did they change format and call letters immediately after that format?
Paul
My recollection is that the album rock format lasted 6 months or less. There were no commercials, few announcements and they never answered the phone number they announced over the air.
I believe, and I may be wrong, that the switch to the WKSS call letters happened when the format switched back to beautiful music but I may be wrong on that.
I've talked to some industry pros who were around back then who swear that it never happened but I've also run into more than a few people who remember it just the way I do.
I believe, and I may be wrong, that the switch to the WKSS call letters happened when the format switched back to beautiful music but I may be wrong on that.
I've talked to some industry pros who were around back then who swear that it never happened but I've also run into more than a few people who remember it just the way I do.
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