WSB carried "Mystery Theatre"? I didn't know that. The "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre," was hosted by E.G. Marshall and produced by Himan Brown, who is still with us at the young age of 98. Brown is famous for the creation of the great radio shows of the 30's and 40's including "Inner Sanctum" and "Grand Central Station." Bob Hope once said of him, "With openings like the one to 'Grand Central Station', you hardly needed the story that followed."
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WSB AM 28 Years ago
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amitherightcaller
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Mystery Theatre ran for several years at SB - John Doyle, who was a Channel 2 booth announcer, use to come in every Monday morning and grab the previous weekend's tape - I'll bet he has a nice collection!!
Regarding WSB-AM and country - I can tell you we had a Scully 16" machine set-up in the main production room skimming WBIE-FM round the clock. The grapvine gossip we heard was that there was serious talk about a country conversion .... but only talk because corporate felt country was too blue collar for White Columns.
Regarding WSB-AM and country - I can tell you we had a Scully 16" machine set-up in the main production room skimming WBIE-FM round the clock. The grapvine gossip we heard was that there was serious talk about a country conversion .... but only talk because corporate felt country was too blue collar for White Columns.
amitherightcaller said:
The former WHIO-FM in Dayton, now WHKO, is country (there is a new WHIO-FM that is a simulcast of WHIO-AM). I would find it odd that WSB (Welcome South Brother) would not consider country at the time, but I guess with WBIE-FM (now WKHX) out in the burbs doing well, they probably could not compete. That is why Cox never even considered country for 95.5, 97.1, or 104.1 during their flips. A Cox Radio Atlanta GM was quoted saying good things about Kicks a couple of years ago when the Bull launched, and basically hinted that Country is not on Cox's radar in Atlanta because of Kicks.
And that also is why there is a shopping center surrounding the WSB-AM tower site today. Lack of faith in the AM's future. This is probably why that "$1" offer was done when WSB-FM flipped...they were looking to move everything over to FM in preparation for the demise of AM. Luckly...fortunes changed (the 50kW signal helped).
I wonder if back then, Cox gave serious consideration to selling WSB-AM? (Not related to the aborted Cox/GE merger and proposed radio divesture a decade earlier).
On the latter, is that why FM moved away from the Northlake tower? I remember the old transmitter shack there used to be labeled in large funky letters "WSB 750 KC 98.5 MC". Or was FM ever there to begin with?jal41 said:
On the former, in the early 1980s WBIE (flipping to Kicks during that time) really started to put pressure on 590 WPLO which was the "incumbent" country station at the time. Plough (as in Schering-Plough) got out of radio and sold WPLO to Cap Cities/ABC (I don't know if Plough sister station V-103 was sold directly to Infinity or to someone else in the interim), who eventually turned 590 into WKHX AM, varying the format between a simul of the FM and classic country, as 590 as a country station entered its sunset years (or should I say PSSA years, as nobody was listening to them at the end). Y-106 moved in and flipped in 1984 (not originally owned by ABC), and the Y-104 simul on 104.1 shortly after that. That would have been a lot of radio for Cox to compete with, with just an AM signal.
I'm not sure when ABC bought WYAY, or what the ownership arrangement of WYAI/Y-104 was. I would guess ABC or the then-owner of Y-106 was LMAing it for the simul.
Then came Radio Disney on 590 after the Mouse bought Cap Cities/ABC, which put an end to country on a major ATL AM.
About Cox putting country on FM, Atlanta had two country stations already (at the time), and we've seen how CC has done with the Bull. Not to mention some pretty powerful rimshots like South 107, WNGC, and the Bear, plus weaker ones like the ones out of Dahlonega, Carrollton, and WCON out of Cornelia.
Also, Cox has always had a man crush on V-103 and its urban dominance. Hence, Cox's repeated attempts to steal V-103's listeners with various urbanish formats (various Kiss formats, Jamz, Beat--plus teaming up with Midwestern/Dickey in the Atlanta Urban Radio Alliance--AURA--to cross-sell advertisements on 104.1 and 104.7 and IIRC 1340).
As an aside, it's interesting to look at how various AMs and FMs were teaming up in the 1980s to either transition listeners to FM, or try to get the remaining listeners who still only had AM-only radios. Besides WSB AM and FM, you had 94Q and Quixie, Kicks and 590, and 96 Rock and 970.
Despite the call letters on the AM transmitter shack, I don't think WSB-FM was ever on that tower. Prior to the current site, WSB-FM was on the WSB-TV tower.
When the FCC around 1989 said FM stations had to be at 1,000 feet or more to retain a class C classification, the New Street site was built by Summit (then owners of WVEE), ostensibly for WABE-FM. WSTR and WSB-FM joined WABE and WVEE there.
When the FCC around 1989 said FM stations had to be at 1,000 feet or more to retain a class C classification, the New Street site was built by Summit (then owners of WVEE), ostensibly for WABE-FM. WSTR and WSB-FM joined WABE and WVEE there.
M
MsMusicRadio
Guest
WFLA calls itself "Newsradio". Sorry, I certainly meant no malice or hate toward anybody. I would never do that. I think that the old WSB ( WRVA, WBZ, KDKA, WIND,WBT,WABC, etc) were a far better product that what they have become. Is that hateful? I just prefer AC and local talk to conservative talk off the bird. If Air America had as many outlets as the conservatives, then that would be a realistic criticism.
If Cox wanted to bring country to Atlanta and take Kicks on they could. They could crush true oldies with the River if the really wanted to push the issue. As for ABC buying Y106,it was in 1994 that's when Y104 went away.
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