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WDGO (format inquiry for the radio historians)

D

dannykewl

Hi,

Maybe Mr. Conrad can answer this one, or anyone else who listened to FM in the early 60's. What was WDGO's format before it became classical WCLV? I ask this because I came across references to WDGO and Martin Perlich, and also a site that said, I believe, had some high school DJ's. I take it that it may not have been "beautiful music" or a simulcast of an AM station as what was their AM sister? I know both scenarios were popular at the time. Was WDGO more "progressive", maybe "too ahead of it's time" to catch on? All I find are references to the Scotty the dog logo, and listeners mistakenly thinking the calls as WDOG because of that, and the transformation of that station/frequency into WCLV 95.5. I was just starting to really listen to radio then, and didn't have access to an FM receiver until 1967. Just curious. Would love to hear an aircheck! Thanks.
 
4/7/61 - WDGO-FM goes on the air.
11/1/62 - Robert Conrad and C.K. (Pat) Patrick convert WDGO-FM to a fine arts station. Conrad and Patrick call their affiliation Radio Seaway, Incorporated.
11/5/62 - WDGO becomes WCLV-FM
1965 - The station begins broadcasting Cleveland Orchestra concerts.
1968 - WCLV moves its studios from the Eastgate Shopping Center to the Terminal Tower.
 
Thanks YEKIMI for the info,

but I was wondering what WDGO was broadcasting (format) in 1961 and most of 1962 before the Conrads bought it. I can find more or less format history here and there for most Cleveland stations, but not WDGO - unless WDGO was classical from the beginning?
 
From what I've been able to glean, they may have had a folksong/novelty song type of format. I guess Mr Conrad will have to clear that up.
 
The call letters stand for Douglas G. Oviatt, who was the owner. And the transposition of the call letters fo WDOG was cast in stone by an ad we have in the archives that has the WDOG calls plus the Scotty Dog logo.

In October of 1961, 75% of WDGO was purchased by Mark Wyse of Wyse advertisng (With a name like Smuckers...) and the sales manager of WHK, Dick Jansen. (who later became the head of Scrips Howard broadcasting.) In February of 1962, Jansen called me said that they knew that Patick and I had also been negotiating to buy the station, and they decided they weren't going to make a million that year, and did we want to buy the station from them? We did, and importuned our friends and family to raise $20,000 down payment and another $10,000 for expenses. We bought WDGO for $70,000 and debt.

The format was basically classical, but with a number of community programs including shows by local schools. The deal to buy WDGO by Conrad and Patrick was signed in July, 1962. When it was announced that we were buying the station, the air staff, two or three people including Oviatt's son-in-law who was the PD, left. To keep the station going while the FCC was working on the transfer, they hired me to run the programming in the interm, and Pat to run the sales. I was the only announcer. I did the morning shift and voice tracked the rest of the day, with our chief engineer board oping. I don't remember what we did on Sunday, although I worked Saturday night and in October, instituted WDGO Saturday Night, which, of course, became WCLV Saturday Night in November.

Interesting side note. There was a sponsored two hour show of Broadway musicals at 8:00 PM on Saturday, which Bill Rudman, as a teen, listened to and futher nspired his interest in musicals. His Footlight Parade, on WCLV for 25 years, is now aired by some 90 stations around the country and overseas.

The transfer took place on Thursday 11/1/62, and the WCLV call letters were appoved on Friday, which we instituted on Sunday, 11/4/62.

The Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts, started in 1965, are the longest running national orchestra series in the nation. Modestly, I have been an orchestra commentator continuously, longer than anyone in the history of American radio.

WCLV celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2012, the only commercial station in Cleveland not to have changed its format, and call letters in this period. The WHK calls have been around since the 20s, but the call letters migrated from 1420 to 1220 during the four years that WCLV owned 1420.
 
Wow, thanks much for that history Mr. Conrad. Looks like you and your guys made a very wise decision to purchase WDGO at the time, and the price, wow, I'm sure that was cheap even at the time. Look at what it brought back to you and the Cleveland area, and then nationwide. WCLV must produce some of the longest running radio shows period, no matter what format. You must have done something right! That really fills in a lot the history, as I stated in my other post, seems all the info online talks about the sale back in 1962, but didn't mention what WDGO itself was all about, especially format wise. Since WDGO was then pretty much classical, I'm sure the transition to WCLV was relatively easy, format-wise, and with listener loyalty already built in for the format. Thanks again. BTW, you probably already know this, but I'm a good buddy of your Saturday-Sunday board-op, Rich.
 
Speaking of longest running shows, Symphony at Seven is the longest running sponsored program in Cleveland. It started in October, 1964, sponsored by Cleveland Trust and has been sponsored continuously by the suceeding banks - Ameritrust, Society, and now KeyBank. Weekend Radio, which was a national spinoff of WCLV Saturday Night, started in 1982. It still has respectable carriage list - some 80 outlets.
 
For a few years, while WCLV was at 95.5, I listened to "Saturday Night"..Mostly for the later Bob and Ray shows..
 
WCLV Saturday Night lives on, Saturday nights at 10:00 PM, as Weekend Radio, the national spin off show that started in 1982. Bob and Ray continue to be a regular part of the mix.
 
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