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WLOW Radio Top 30 of 1957
- Thread starter b-turner
- Start date
Apparently C&W in '60: WLOW 1400 Norfolk Survey 1960-01-02
Certainly signal-challenged compared to almost every other AM there.
Yet even into the early 70's, WNOR on 1230 (or was it 1240?) with 1 kw was among the top stations with its Top 40 format against WGH. The fact that much of the market was on Chesapeake Bay and signals had all that lovely salt water to propagate over made even poor facilities do well.
The first "Beautiful Music" station was a 1 kw daytime AM on 1600 and it did amazingly well despite all that.
1230! Strong in the heart of the area, though lost going to Richmond, for example. WGH, at least in the daytime, held on longer. (And both trumped the 1400 signal of WLOW.)
Here are some Norfolk ratings flashbacks:
Jan-Feb 1948 (Hooper)
1. 790 WTAR [NBC] - 51.0
2. 1310 WGH [ABC] - 15.7
3. 1140 WRVA [CBS] - 15.2
4. 1490 WSAP [MBS] - 10.1 (WSAP later moved to 1350)
5. 850 WCAV - 2.8
6. 1400 WLOW - 2.2
No ratings available from 1957-58
Spring 1959 (Hooper)
1. 1310 WGH - 42.1
2. 850 WRAP - 12.2
3. 790 WTAR - 11.4
4. 1350 WAVY - 8.8
5. 1230 WNOR - 7.8
Oct 1968 (Arbitron)
1. 1310 WGH - 24.1
2. 790 WTAR - 15.2
3. 1600 WCPK - 10.1 (largest ever for the station)
4t. 1400 WHIH - 7.6
4t. 850 WRAP - 7.6
4t. 92.1 WXYW - 7.6
Jan-Feb 1948 (Hooper)
1. 790 WTAR [NBC] - 51.0
2. 1310 WGH [ABC] - 15.7
3. 1140 WRVA [CBS] - 15.2
4. 1490 WSAP [MBS] - 10.1 (WSAP later moved to 1350)
5. 850 WCAV - 2.8
6. 1400 WLOW - 2.2
No ratings available from 1957-58
Spring 1959 (Hooper)
1. 1310 WGH - 42.1
2. 850 WRAP - 12.2
3. 790 WTAR - 11.4
4. 1350 WAVY - 8.8
5. 1230 WNOR - 7.8
Oct 1968 (Arbitron)
1. 1310 WGH - 24.1
2. 790 WTAR - 15.2
3. 1600 WCPK - 10.1 (largest ever for the station)
4t. 1400 WHIH - 7.6
4t. 850 WRAP - 7.6
4t. 92.1 WXYW - 7.6
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WCPK was Charlie Payne's AM and a recent entry. Chesapeake. Beautiful Music and Big Band. Payne had worked for McLendon and was notable for having developed the Beautiful Music sound for Lee Segall at KIXL AM and FM Dallas 1947 to 1952. And in the early 60s at KABL San Francisco. WXYW was Edmond Baydush's Beautiful Music outlet, soon to become WFOG FM. Did his own programming. Battled the 1960s anti-smoking interests on his AM. Was later unfortunately murdered on his own doorstep. It was never solved as far as I can determine.
Thank you Huff - most informative.
Wow. That is illuminating. I was a kid who spread his listening between WGH, WAVY and WNOR. Thanks for posting this!! I am looking for some other vintage ratings. Do you have a source I could access?
No. I have been researching historical radio ratings for more than 30 years. Prior to the arrival of Arbitron in 1966, they simply don't exist in archived form. I've been lucky to find a few here and there in various libraries, like the Hoopers from above, but they are few and far between. If you let me know the market and timeframe you are looking for, I will look and see what, if anything, I have.