WIND, Chicago

[radiorodgers]

I read with interest the postings on Chicago radio history from the glory days of WIND, when the station ran shares in the 20's. I was part of the lineup from 1963-71. Howard Miller owned the market 6-10AM...I (Lee Rodgers) followed 10-1 ... Perry Marshall 1-4 ... Dick Williamson 4-7 ... Thom Sherwood 7-12M ... Bruce Lee overnight.

After 25 years with ABC in San Francisco (KGO & KSFO) I was pushed into retirement by Farid Suleman of Citadel last year. He thought I was making too much money (upper six figures) and there was unhappiness that I took a harsh line against Muslim terrorism.
Since trade gossip has it that Cumulus, the new owners of ABC Radio, will make Farid look like Mother Teresa, I'm glad to be out of the industry and living happily in Arizona.

Lee Rodgers

 

[radioman148]

Lee,

I have very fond memories of your time on WIND, not only in the 60s, but in the early 80s if I'm remembering correctly. More importantly, I enjoy reading your online column everyday.
Dan Sorkin pointed me to it last year.

Keep up the good work & good health!

 

[Dr Wayne]

How long was Howard Miiller with WIND? How long was he the kingpin of morning ratings? After WIND did he go to WCFl for awhile and WMAQ to do mornings. Later to WGN in the afternoon right?

 

[radioman148]

How long was Howard Miiller with WIND? How long was he the kingpin of morning ratings? After WIND did he go to WCFl for awhile and WMAQ to do mornings. Later to WGN in the afternoon right?

I believe Howard Miller was at WIND for about 20 years--maybe slightly longer.
He was #1 in Chicago until he left WIND in 1968. You're right about the other stations, but Miller did return to WIND for awhile when they were talk in the late 70s.

 

[cyberdad]

Lee....

Thanks for jumping in and sharing with us.  I certainly remember you on WIND, and also heard you a few times on my business trips to the Bay area. I literally started growing up with WIND.  When I was in grade school, my mom put on WIND first thing in the morning and left it on all day....and in the car.  I don't think the dial ever moved.

Glad you're enjoying AZ. Here's wishing you a long and happy retirement.

 

[radioguy39nj]

Wow, WIND once had shares in the 20s! Pretty good for a 5 kW AM in Chicago, even back in the 60s. Did WIND get a higher share than WGN during that time? ???

 

[radioman148]

Wow, WIND once had shares in the 20s! Pretty good for a 5 kW AM in Chicago, even back in the 60s. Did WIND get a higher share than WGN during that time? ???

WIND was/is 5KW, but on 560 with DA right over the Chicago area from Indiana they had a signal as good as many of the 50KW clears. In fact where I live in the northern suburbs WIND is stronger than WLS.
I believe for many years in the early 60s WIND was rated higher than WGN. Remember Howard Miller owned mornings and it wasn't until later in 1968 that Wally Phillips got the #1 spot.

 

[radioguy39nj]

WIND was/is 5KW, but on 560 with DA right over the Chicago area from Indiana they had a signal as good as many of the 50KW clears. In fact where I live in the northern suburbs WIND is stronger than WLS.
I believe for many years in the early 60s WIND was rated higher than WGN. Remember Howard Miller owned mornings and it wasn't until later in 1968 that Wally Phillips got the #1 spot.

Chicago is probably the best AM market in the country. In addition to the 50 kW clears (670, 720, 780 & 890) you had 560 with that favorable DA and 1000 with its big blowtorch to the east. I know it nulled west to protect KOMO Seattle.

When 1000 was Super CFL, I used to listen to it on Long Island. WINS at 1010 powers down to 10 kW at night, which made it easier to pick up CFL. The other Chicago clears were virtually blocked out by NYC clears.

 

[radioman148]

WIND was/is 5KW, but on 560 with DA right over the Chicago area from Indiana they had a signal as good as many of the 50KW clears. In fact where I live in the northern suburbs WIND is stronger than WLS.
I believe for many years in the early 60s WIND was rated higher than WGN. Remember Howard Miller owned mornings and it wasn't until later in 1968 that Wally Phillips got the #1 spot.

Chicago is probably the best AM market in the country. In addition to the 50 kW clears (670, 720, 780 & 890) you had 560 with that favorable DA and 1000 with its big blowtorch to the east. I know it nulled west to protect KOMO Seattle.

When 1000 was Super CFL, I used to listen to it on Long Island. WINS at 1010 powers down to 10 kW at night, which made it easier to pick up CFL. The other Chicago clears were virtually blocked out by NYC clears.

WINS does not power down. They are 50KW at night with a DA. I think they had a different pattern at night in the 60s. I know WCFL used to put a big signal into the east coast at night from my visits there back then. I used to hear WLS pretty well in NYC at night just like I get WCBS well here.

 

[cyberdad]

When 1000 was Super CFL, I used to listen to it on Long Island.

But at night it didn't make it to most of the Mississippi River. Where I was in college in Iowa you could hear it, but usually it wasn't listenable. If anything, XEOY owned the channel there.

As for WIND, the signal did....and still does...kick butt to the Northwest. The daytime signal did okay where I was in Iowa (which was west-southwest), but you could hear KWTO underneath. At night, WIND more or less disappeared. leaving the channel mostly to KWTO, KLZ, and occasionally WHBQ.

 

[radioman148]

When 1000 was Super CFL, I used to listen to it on Long Island.

But at night it didn't make it to most of the Mississippi River. Where I was in college in Iowa you could hear it, but usually it wasn't listenable. If anything, XEOY owned the channel there.

As for WIND, the signal did....and still does...kick butt to the Northwest. The daytime signal did okay where I was in Iowa (which was west-southwest), but you could hear KWTO underneath. At night, WIND more or less disappeared. leaving the channel mostly to KWTO, KLZ, and occasionally WHBQ.

Forget the Mississippi River, in De Kalb where I went to college you could hardly hear WCFL at night.

 

[radioguy39nj]

WINS does not power down. They are 50KW at night with a DA. I think they had a different pattern at night in the 60s. I know WCFL used to put a big signal into the east coast at night from my visits there back then. I used to hear WLS pretty well in NYC at night just like I get WCBS well here.

OK, thanks for that correction! I'm in Ocean County, NJ these days and all the Chicago clears come in well most nights in addition to 1000 AM so they still have a big signal to the east coast. Ocean County is not part of either the NY or Philly radio markets. NY clears 660, 770 and 880 come in well if not crystal clear day and night; 710 is OK by day and almost unlistenable at night. WINS is not listenable in this area. 1060 AM and 1210 AM from Philly are listenable, but NY clears come in better.

 

[radioman148]

WINS does not power down. They are 50KW at night with a DA. I think they had a different pattern at night in the 60s. I know WCFL used to put a big signal into the east coast at night from my visits there back then. I used to hear WLS pretty well in NYC at night just like I get WCBS well here.

OK, thanks for that correction! I'm in Ocean County, NJ these days and all the Chicago clears come in well most nights in addition to 1000 AM so they still have a big signal to the east coast. Ocean County is not part of either the NY or Philly radio markets. NY clears 660, 770 and 880 come in well if not crystal clear day and night; 710 is OK by day and almost unlistenable at night. WINS is not listenable in this area. 1060 AM and 1210 AM from Philly are listenable, but NY clears come in better.

I guess you are out of WINS directional pattern. I'm surprised you don't even hear it during the day.

 

[radioguy39nj]

I guess you are out of WINS directional pattern. I'm surprised you don't even hear it during the day.

I can hear WINS during the day, but WCBS comes in much better which is why when I'm looking for NY news, I go to 880.

 

[radioman148]

I guess you are out of WINS directional pattern. I'm surprised you don't even hear it during the day.

I can hear WINS during the day, but WCBS comes in much better which is why when I'm looking for NY news, I go to 880.

I understand.

 

[Dusty Dale Brooks]

I grew up in Vermont and 1000 was all WCFL and then two clicks up was KDKA, then WBZ at 1030. WINS really drew the pattern in tight at night and hugged the coast.

If memory serves Robert W. Morgan came to WIND about the time Howard MIller left. Did he do mornings there?

I mention KDKA and WBZ, they wereall Westinghouse stations, as well. What made most of Group W stations special was that they were rockers with a very adult approach. The jocks were mature and they had great news teams. In fact if Group W had a second identity it was with news. WINS switched to all-news around 1965, and KYW in Philadelphia also went all news did they not?

 

[radioman148]

I grew up in Vermont and 1000 was all WCFL and then two clicks up was KDKA, then WBZ at 1030. WINS really drew the pattern in tight at night and hugged the coast.

If memory serves Robert W. Morgan came to WIND about the time Howard MIller left. Did he do mornings there?

I mention KDKA and WBZ, they wereall Westinghouse stations, as well. What made most of Group W stations special was that they were rockers with a very adult approach. The jocks were mature and they had great news teams. In fact if Group W had a second identity it was with news. WINS switched to all-news around 1965, and KYW in Philadelphia also went all news did they not?

Robert W Morgan was at WIND from late 1970 to 1972--slightly less than 2 years. He didn't go over that well in Chicago. Howard Miller left in 68.
WINS was full time Top 40 until 1965. I believe you are right about the KYW transition to news.
Earlier in the 60s KYW was in Cleveland and the Philly station on 1060 was WRCV.
KYW originated in Chicago--way back.

 

[rfichaser]

I read with interest the postings on Chicago radio history from the glory days of WIND, when the station ran shares in the 20's. I was part of the lineup from 1963-71. Howard Miller owned the market 6-10AM...I (Lee Rodgers) followed 10-1 ... Perry Marshall 1-4 ... Dick Williamson 4-7 ... Thom Sherwood 7-12M ... Bruce Lee overnight.

After 25 years with ABC in San Francisco (KGO & KSFO) I was pushed into retirement by Farid Suleman of Citadel last year. He thought I was making too much money (upper six figures) and there was unhappiness that I took a harsh line against Muslim terrorism.
Since trade gossip has it that Cumulus, the new owners of ABC Radio, will make Farid look like Mother Teresa, I'm glad to be out of the industry and living happily in Arizona.

Lee Rodgers

What a pleasure to to see this message!

WIND in the 1960s was truly a class outfit. Great presentation, real news reporting every half-hour, and intelligent program hosts. Lee Rodgers was always a favorite of mine.

Something I've wondered about for years is whether copies of WIND's jingle package from those years exist anywhere. They were not noisy sounders, but were actual musical compositions performed by a harmonious vocal group. "The Sound of the City" was the theme of the jingles...I remember at least one of them that was a full song of several verses about Chicago.

Lee, if you're still reading the board, thank you for your work at WIND. I miss quality radio.

 

[cyberdad]

Don't know if this is what you're looking for but.....

Check out Rich Bro Radio....an internet streaming oldies station. www.richbroradio.com They play vintage jingles from a a number of classic top 40 and AC stations....particularly California. Jingles from WIND pop up from time to time, although I believe the ones I've been hearing are from the early 70s days as an oldies station.

 

[radiorodgers]

I appreciate the kind words that have come since my original posting about the glory days of WIND.

It was an era that's gone, when even music-oriented stations did serious news coverage, personalities dominated and there was no voice-tracking directed by bean-counters at giant conglomerates.

Howard Miller was the dominant force in Chicago radio for many years. During the late sixties, when I was the kid of the on-air staff,
Howard frequently hit 30 shares and WIND overall regularly ran in the 20's. WLS and WGN battled for second in the 8-to-10 range. FM was no real factor. I still have rating books from that period.

Miller was so big, during one period he was on FIVE stations simultaneously; WIND live, and tape on WCFL, WMAQ ... and the others escape memory. Advertisers couldn't get enough of him. He was also national daily on CBS.

When WIND blew him out after the Martin Luther King riots, he was replaced for a few years by the team of Chuck Benson and Kurt Russell. Later they were replaced by Robert W. Morgan in one of many stupid, failed moves by the management that drove a legendary station right into the ground.

I went on to a management career in St. Louis and Miami, then returned to the air when WIND was reincarnated as a talk station.
A few years later I went to ABC's KGO in San Francisco, a move I never regretted, and finished my career as morning-man on their co-owned KSFO twenty-five years later.

I extend condolences to the folk at WLS, who've suffered under Citadel and now are about to be absorbed by Cumulus. From what I hear, Cumulus makes Citadel's satanic CEO Farid Suleman look like Mother Teresa by comparison!

Lee Rodgers -- [email protected]