WKRP - WKRC/WKRQ

[1316wwood]

I vaguely remember back when WKRP went on the air that the writers and producers of the show did a lot of their research at then Taft's WKRC and Q102. Is there some truth to that ,and, was in fact loosely based on some of the characters and stories that were at those stations at the time? Of course the WKR_ calls could bave been a source of the story.

Maybe Mark Elliott (who was one great jock) and others who visit this board can shed some light.

Thanks.

 

[Raleigh Rocker]

The show was based on Atlanta's Z-93. The GM there supposedly even looked like Mr. Carlson from KRP. They may have studied some of KRC and Q-102 but the origins of the show trace to Atlanta.

 

[rzeis]

Except for the jazz format, I 'll bet WKRP was ran more like WNOP than WKRP or WRKQ. I could just see Johnny giving bar closings rather than school closings. I still wonder if this religious format is some joke they are pulling on us.

 

[kirkiefan]

At one time there WAS a real radio station with the call letters WKRP. Located in North Vernon,IN (now WNVI) Now used as the call sign for a low power TV station in Carthage,TN.
In the 1990s revival as the "new" WKRP it even stated a frequency...1530...same as WCKY but only with 5kw.


Surely there were some struggling small market stations here in the tri-state that had similar fruitcake character-type people which could have been similar to the Atlanta station enviroment..Any such stations? (dare I ask)

 

[lilburncommunityradio]

WKRP was created by Hugh Wilson. Hugh Wilson was once an employee of a Ad agency,in Atlanta. Hugh wrote and based the folks on the show after those who worked not at Z-93, But WQXI am 790. Jerry Blum was the Gen Mgr of that station and if you look at www.grhof.com you will see pictures of him and how much he looks like Gordon Jump who played the big guy. The part of Johnny Fever was based on Skinny Bobby Harper who also worked on air at WQXI in the late 60s. The Calls of WKRP were in fact real, and I worked at the original WKRP which was located in Dallas Georgia, some 35 miles west of Atlanta. The Frequency of WKRP in Dallas was 1500 am. The Station signed on in 1979. Hope this helps. It was a great little am station of the day complete with state of the art equipment.

 

[N_D_Radioguy]

At one time there WAS a real radio station with the call letters WKRP. Located in North Vernon,IN (now WNVI)...

But that was AFTER the show had come and gone from first-run network TV.

 

[exradio]

I remember hearing that someone asked why the WKRP call letters resembled WKRC and WKRQ, and at the time it was claimed the calls had nothing to do with those stations, but stood for "Carp" (as in the WKRP Carp mascot, which once got in a fight with the WPIG mascot.)

At the time, FCC rules let a radio station challenge any station in its area that attempted to adopt very similar calls. (That rule was dropped a few years later, with stations told to pursue it as a trademark matter.)

Since WKRC and WKRQ were the only remaining radio stations sharing ownership with a local TV station, and were successful stations at that, whether intentionally or not, the WKRP producers made it virtually impossible that a radio station in Cincinnati would opportunistically switch calls to become "WKRP in Cincinnati".

The Taft stations would have objected, and at the same time they wouldn't have wanted to adopt the WKRP call themselves, not only because they already had well-known calls, but because Taft management wouldn't have wanted one of their radio stations promoting a TV show that was carried on WCPO.

 

[Arbitorn]

The show was carried on Channel 12, not 9. Remember, they were ABC back then? I remember when the tape of the first show came in, several weeks before it aired. I bet we all watched it five times that day.

 

[flyingundertheradar]

I had heard there was some influence by Carlson, the head of Susquehanna and WSBA in York, PA.

 

[jcr]

The show was carried on Channel 12, not 9. Remember, they were ABC back then? I remember when the tape of the first show came in, several weeks before it aired. I bet we all watched it five times that day.

The Show WAS on Channel 9, not Channel 12. WKRP was a CBS show, and in the years 1978-1982, Channel 9 was the CBS affiliate. The change in network affiliations did not occur until sometime in 1999 or 2000

 

[Disco Jonn]

You can find more information onthe show at www.wikipedia.com Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKRP

Watching this showing growing up, you would have never thought that radio could be like this. Working in Radio for nearly 20 years... WKRP was nearly dead on with some of the stations I have been at.

The episode of Christmas Past, Present, and Future... it was hard to believe that the future of the station would be all automated with only Herb Tarlek working there. The only live part of the broadcast was when Herb stopped the music automation, (I can't remember what they called the machine), and wished everyone in Cincy a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and then re-started the music automation again. How true is that today at some stations... no live bodies from after 6 PM till the next morning at 5 PM. Even some smaller markets have absolutely no live bodies on the air at all.