wosc 104.7, wkfm 104.7 history (first rock station)

[thebeach33445]

Hey Guys:

I was wondering if someone can help me with this question: I know WAQX didn't start till 1978. Was WAQX Syracuse's first true rock station?

When did WKFM start and was the format AOR?

I know in the yearbooks the format listed for them from 1974 till at least 1988 was "rock". I noticed in Wikepida they have it listed as Magic 104.7 as rock and Kix 104.7 as classic rock. True?

Prior to that it was WOSC. Does anybody remember what that format was? Was it Beautiful Music by any chance? There was no listing of a format in the yearbooks.

Thanks for your help.

T.J.

 

[DaveBullard]

The station began as WOSC-FM, simulcasting the AM full service AC until the early 70's (very approximate; I was a kid and a listener then) when it split from the AM and began carrying a fully-automated Top 40 service. (Drake-Chenault? Not sure, but someone on this board will know) Local automation operators read the weather.

They were a runaway #1 in the Syracuse market for a long time with it.

Back to the simulcast days: The FM would stop carrying the AM signal for a few hours in the afternoons, running instead a tape of some oldies. I had the feeling that there were only a few tapes, which were rotated. I used to hear "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" an awful lot at the same time of the day.

After its full-service days, the AM fell into the hands of well-intentioned local radio people, like Peter Hunn (running the student station at Baldwinsville's Baker High, last I knew) and David and Laura Zinkhann (in places unknown).

 

[Play Freebird]

I listened to 104.7 while attending high school in Baldwinsville in the early '70s. Here's how I remember the station's history in those days:

From 1970 to about 1973 WOSC-FM (broadcasting in mono with 3 kW from an old 4-bay Andrew antenna) simulcast the AM morning show (Carl Dunn?) and then played automated Top 40 until the evening when "Best by Request" would run until midnight sign-off. I forgot the evening jock's name (Hoffman?) but he would always end his show with "I'll be here... I certainly hope you'll be there..."

At that time, the station had a very basic Gates mono automation system with one 24-slot Carousel for currents, two Ampex 440 decks for the oldies and recurrents, another Carousel for spots, and a single play cart deck for the news. The automation controller was the simple thumbwheel thing with relay logic; the AM jock was supposed to keep an ear on it, but it would get hung up several times a day. Everything was run from at the transmitter site on Lakeshore Road (formerly N---ville Road) near Fulton. All tapes were recorded in-house and the quality was generally poor - and as Dave noted, there was not much variety. I suppose part of the problem was poor service from record companies. This kept me listening to WOLF for all the hits (or DX-ing WHFM in Rochester)-- and dreaming that my rich uncle in Ohio would help me buy the station someday so I could fix it up.

Due to inadequate antenna height and horizontal polarization, the 3 kW signal was good for maybe a 15 mile radius. I could hardly receive it at Boy Scout camp in Constantia, which surprised me because it was supposed to be an Oswego County station.

Around 1973-74, a new RCA/Dielectric circularly polarized antenna was installed on the AM stick and power was increased to around 15 kW, which helped extend coverage to Syracuse. The WKFM callsign was also adopted after a Chicago station gave it up in favor of WFYR. An RCA stereo automation system with several Revox A77 decks was also installed, but the staff continued to roll their own tapes until picking up the syndicatedTM "Stereo Rock" format sometime around 1974. For those of you unfamiliar with this format, there's a good description and some airchecks beginning halfway down this page:

http://www.lkyradio.com/WQHI.htm

A year or two later, power was increased again to 50 kW and Arbitron ratings began to climb. However, not much attention was paid to maintenance of the equipment. The TM tapes developed a lot of hiss (magnetized or worn heads?) and the format's presentation declined in quality; it was notably inferior to other upstate affiliates such as WBEN-FM and WGFM.

In August 1978, WAQX came on the air, followed in 1980 by the Burkhardt-Abrams rock format on WSYR-FM, and began to chip away at WKFM's audience.

The local owners finally sold out to Wilkes and Schwartz in the early '80s for over $1 million, at which time the AM was spun off, the transmitter moved to its current site on Lamson Rd. in Lysander, and the FM studio moved to an old firehouse on Willis Street. I think the GM, Al Makkay, was also a partner in this company. Not sure about the rest of the story, or when it was sold to Clear Channel.

 

[GladToBeOut]

Al Makkay left in 84 or 85 and was replaced by Jay Sterin, who either bought in or earned some equity along the way. Steve Becker, previously from 95X was the PD, and Burkhardt Abrams was the consultant. The station adopted the slogan Hot Tunes 104.7 KIX-FM to position itself between Mike Joseph's Hot Hits on 93Q and the AOR on 95X. Over time the station dropped Hot Tunes to become Quality Rock.

In early 87 Burkhardt Abrams was replaced by Pollack because W/S got a group deal by packaging them with WAQY in Springfield. In the spring, Becker was replaced as PD by Brian Illes. Late in the summer, Steve Corlett aka The Fat Man, started in mornings with Lois Burns.

In the summer of 88, the station dropped currents from non-heritage artists and became nearly 100% classic rock. Jeff Miller from 95X was brought in as MD, and later did middays. It ran heavy TV and outdoor, and eventually overtook 95X in nearly all demos. At one point, 95X was rumored to be considering a flip to country, but that never happened.

Corlett jumped ship to 95X in 92, about the time W/S was looking to sell Syracuse, and any other properties they could sell. That's when money for just about everything stopped flowing. 95X caught them in the ratings, and in early 93 W/S sold to New City, who at the time owned Y94 and WSYR. It was the market's first duopoly. New City went through one or more configurations before being acquired by Clear Channel...W/S never actually sold directly to CC. In fact, CC was no bigger than New City at the time.

The sale closed in March or April with the 104.7 frequency going country, and Jeff Miller taking much of the staff to the 104.3 frequency in Herkimer to continue KIX-FM there for another year or so.

The WKFM calls later resurfaced in a small market in NW Ohio.

 

[BobRoss]

The sale closed in March or April with the 104.7 frequency going country, and Jeff Miller taking much of the staff to the 104.3 frequency in Herkimer to continue KIX-FM there for another year or so.

The Utica market's 104.3 has never been located in Herkimer. But you're right -- owners Jack and Debbie Altdoerffer (sp?) were running AC as KG104 at the time. But KG was getting it's butt kicked by Lite 98.7 WLZW, so when Kix was booted in Syracuse, the Altdoerffers brought the Kix crew to their swampside studios on Thomas Road in Oriskany (transmitter in Clinton). Apparently their thinking was they'd be able to keep the format alive, maybe improve the ratings, and still keep Syracuse listeners since 104.3 has a 100kw signal and it's just a short nudge down the dial from the original frequency.

As they say, the rest is history.