Supposedly, WMVP dropped its Sports format in June 1996 the night before the Bulls played the Sonics. What happened between that and ESPN?
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WMVP history question
- Thread starter ksradiogeek
- Start date
mimo said:
The Loop AM was before WMVP, starting in the late 80s after Steve Dahl returned to the Loop. Between the first all-sports and ESPN, they were branded "AM 1000" with Dahl in the morning and still had sports talk at night. I want to say that Kevin Matthews did middays, but I'm not sure.
Mark Jeffries said:
WCFL put the bible down and became WLUP in 1987. It became all-sports WMVP in 1993 and picked up ESPN Radio from WLS (IIRC, they ran it weekend overnights) in 1994. I don't remember why they dropped sports in 1996 since I'd left the Chicago area by then, but Disney bought the station in '98.
KeithE4 said:
I don't remember why either. I loved listening to Les Grobstein many late nights; in those pre-streaming days, it was really the only time I could listen to Chicago sports talk. Learned some history, too.
When 1000 started simulcasting 97.9 in that summer of '96, I remember thinking how odd it was to hear the Goo Goo Dolls, Alanis, etc. on 50K AM.
Perhaps I can add to the discussion. I am using what I can recall if things are incorrect please respond.
I don't have years down I can give a bit of a timeline. WLUP-AM set it's sights on daytime only WSCR which was at 820 at the time. They thought the powerfull 24 hour signal it would be easy, it wasn't.
Both the AM and FM side had made changes previous to launching Sports 1000 WMVP, ESPN was not in the name. Johnny B. was doing the showgram morning on both the AM and FM. The show was on 5:30-10 the stations would split at 10 with Matthews doing 10-2 and Stroud taking the FM from 10-2:30 when Skafish came in. Steve and Garry did the afternoon show after Matthews on the AM.
At this time the FM was a mix of classic and some current rock. It was a very good station. In 1996 Evergreen(now part of the Clear Channel consolidation) bought WWBZ 103.5 The Blaze. The Blaze was a hairband rock station with some classics thrown in. It was very popular at first, it was the number 1 rock station in Chicago for a while. They were very repetitive and had a very tight playlist, which caused a lot of people to go back to WCKG and The Loop. You can only hear Crazy Train every 2 hours everyday for so long.
The station was still not doing bad however. It was losing steam and it was the only station in the market owned by the company who's name escapes me now, Dennis something? broadcasting? They cashed out and Evergreen took over. At first the station stayed the same, it eventually came to be called Pure Rock 103.5 The Blaze. Scott Loftus of the old WVVX was hired for evenings.
The plan was take the Loop AM to sports, The loop FM to a comedy, man talk station and bring an active rocker to 103.5. At this point Q101 was the station to beat.
Steve and Garry moved to mornings on FM, and the stations tweaked the music a little younger, taking out a lot of the classic rock. When the decision was made to go sports Coppick was put on AM in the afternoon slot. The Blaze had now became Rock 103.5 with Mancow in the morning. The FM loop had Steve and Garry mornings, Matthews midday and Johnny B for the drive home.
Cochran who is on WIND now was brought into to do nights, Danny Bonaduce was from what I recalled brought in for afternoons I believe this was when Johny went to LA.
If you remember Steve and Garry had their fight and broke up, it ended up with Dahl doing mornings on AM with Bruce Wolf, Matthews got mornings on the FM and Garry was put 10-2 on FM.
The sports format had low ratings, Dahl was actually the only thinh holding the station together. The FM was starting to play more music, the same type of new music The Mix was playing. This was when the Mix was really starting to turn into a powerhouse that it remains today.
The AM sports format was dropped except from 7-midnight were they put Coppick. I think Dahl and Wolf were let go at the time i am not exactly sure on that. The simulcast ended around Thanksgiving, what year that was espaces me.
The FM became "Johnny B in the morning and " The best music on the planet" the rest of the day, who thought of that slogan is beyond me. The music was almost identical to The Mix. The AM featuered Matthews from 1-6 PM and Fred Winston got the midday show.
The station kept the WMVP call letters, they just called the station AM 1000. In time the Loop FM was bought by Bonneville and the loop was changed to "Classic rock that rocks" this was to keep the Mix rolling forward and it worked.
Johnny B was put in mornings on The AM. He was not part of the sale to Bonneville. The AM side would soon be sold to ABC and everyone was released and it became ESPN 1000.
I know there are some holes in my story that hopefully someone could fill in. This is what I remember from the stations I hoped it helped more than confused.
I don't have years down I can give a bit of a timeline. WLUP-AM set it's sights on daytime only WSCR which was at 820 at the time. They thought the powerfull 24 hour signal it would be easy, it wasn't.
Both the AM and FM side had made changes previous to launching Sports 1000 WMVP, ESPN was not in the name. Johnny B. was doing the showgram morning on both the AM and FM. The show was on 5:30-10 the stations would split at 10 with Matthews doing 10-2 and Stroud taking the FM from 10-2:30 when Skafish came in. Steve and Garry did the afternoon show after Matthews on the AM.
At this time the FM was a mix of classic and some current rock. It was a very good station. In 1996 Evergreen(now part of the Clear Channel consolidation) bought WWBZ 103.5 The Blaze. The Blaze was a hairband rock station with some classics thrown in. It was very popular at first, it was the number 1 rock station in Chicago for a while. They were very repetitive and had a very tight playlist, which caused a lot of people to go back to WCKG and The Loop. You can only hear Crazy Train every 2 hours everyday for so long.
The station was still not doing bad however. It was losing steam and it was the only station in the market owned by the company who's name escapes me now, Dennis something? broadcasting? They cashed out and Evergreen took over. At first the station stayed the same, it eventually came to be called Pure Rock 103.5 The Blaze. Scott Loftus of the old WVVX was hired for evenings.
The plan was take the Loop AM to sports, The loop FM to a comedy, man talk station and bring an active rocker to 103.5. At this point Q101 was the station to beat.
Steve and Garry moved to mornings on FM, and the stations tweaked the music a little younger, taking out a lot of the classic rock. When the decision was made to go sports Coppick was put on AM in the afternoon slot. The Blaze had now became Rock 103.5 with Mancow in the morning. The FM loop had Steve and Garry mornings, Matthews midday and Johnny B for the drive home.
Cochran who is on WIND now was brought into to do nights, Danny Bonaduce was from what I recalled brought in for afternoons I believe this was when Johny went to LA.
If you remember Steve and Garry had their fight and broke up, it ended up with Dahl doing mornings on AM with Bruce Wolf, Matthews got mornings on the FM and Garry was put 10-2 on FM.
The sports format had low ratings, Dahl was actually the only thinh holding the station together. The FM was starting to play more music, the same type of new music The Mix was playing. This was when the Mix was really starting to turn into a powerhouse that it remains today.
The AM sports format was dropped except from 7-midnight were they put Coppick. I think Dahl and Wolf were let go at the time i am not exactly sure on that. The simulcast ended around Thanksgiving, what year that was espaces me.
The FM became "Johnny B in the morning and " The best music on the planet" the rest of the day, who thought of that slogan is beyond me. The music was almost identical to The Mix. The AM featuered Matthews from 1-6 PM and Fred Winston got the midday show.
The station kept the WMVP call letters, they just called the station AM 1000. In time the Loop FM was bought by Bonneville and the loop was changed to "Classic rock that rocks" this was to keep the Mix rolling forward and it worked.
Johnny B was put in mornings on The AM. He was not part of the sale to Bonneville. The AM side would soon be sold to ABC and everyone was released and it became ESPN 1000.
I know there are some holes in my story that hopefully someone could fill in. This is what I remember from the stations I hoped it helped more than confused.
...Nashville seems to have forgotten what killed The Loop AM 1000 the first time around -- shifting Brandmeier to afternoons and plugging Howard Stern in on morning drive. Very few syndicated programs ever did particularly well in Chicago during the '80s and '90s -- ironically, one that did was Dr. Demento on WLUP, another I can think of was Tom Snyder on WLS -- and Stern took WLUP from (IIRC) #7 to something like #19 or #20 in 12+, and the rest of the schedule (Matthews in middays, Coppock in evenings, Chicago Ed Schwartz in late nights and Danny Bonaduce in overnights) never quite recovered. Larry Wert eventually ordered Stern cancelled (that's what led Howard to make the comment about wishing Wert got AIDS and passed it on to his kids); Bonaduce was put in as a stopgap morning driver before eventually getting placed on the afternoon drive FM shift and Steve Cochran got mornings. After the disarray in the wake of Howard, the decision was made to buy the call letters WMVP from the sports talker in Milwaukee, and Dahl in the Morning/Sports all day format was introduced circa '94, with (IIRC) Coppock the only holdover from the previous schedule. After that, Infinity decided to blow up WJJD/1160's Music Of Your Life (if your live has never been impinged upon by The Rolling Stones) format and try Hot Talk there, with Stern in morning drive...
You're right that Stern issue was a big deal and caused problems they never snapped back from. I knew I was missing something.
You mentioned Eddie S. the king of the nightime over at WGN. When he moved to WLUP they changed his show time around a few times and then put him on FM. This lost him a lot of listeners because he moved from WGN, constantly had his show time changed and finally put him on FM, which was not a good fit for him.
Ed needed to be on AM, he had listeners all over the state. A lot lost him when they put him on FM. The AM wasn't so good for him either, due to WMVP's pattern at night. Very bad coverage of areas such as Dekalb and Elgin, or other areas where WGN was strong.
I often wondered if he stayed at WGN, would he have stayed number 1 overnight. I wondered often if his move to WLUP played a part in how quickly his health went down hill.
I know he had a weight problem, I think that move really stressed him, and what sounded so good, bringing him to the "younger stations" which was great. After all the years of the bickering and picking on him, to hear him on the air with Matthews and Dahl was such good radio, it brought out the best of all these guys.
It is sad that it ended the way it did.
You mentioned Eddie S. the king of the nightime over at WGN. When he moved to WLUP they changed his show time around a few times and then put him on FM. This lost him a lot of listeners because he moved from WGN, constantly had his show time changed and finally put him on FM, which was not a good fit for him.
Ed needed to be on AM, he had listeners all over the state. A lot lost him when they put him on FM. The AM wasn't so good for him either, due to WMVP's pattern at night. Very bad coverage of areas such as Dekalb and Elgin, or other areas where WGN was strong.
I often wondered if he stayed at WGN, would he have stayed number 1 overnight. I wondered often if his move to WLUP played a part in how quickly his health went down hill.
I know he had a weight problem, I think that move really stressed him, and what sounded so good, bringing him to the "younger stations" which was great. After all the years of the bickering and picking on him, to hear him on the air with Matthews and Dahl was such good radio, it brought out the best of all these guys.
It is sad that it ended the way it did.
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