Composite: WINS and WMGM New York | October, 1961

Jun 17, 2009 6 Comments

This is a great comparison between two competing Top 40 stations. 1961 was so early in the top 40 game that WABC was just in its infancy with its then-new format. This recording doesn’t include ABC.

WINS, of course, went on to become the nation’s first All-News station. WMGM simply reverted to the previous call letters on 1050, WHN, and then became synonymous with Country Music in New York for the next decade.

1010 WINS New York1050 WMGM, circa 1960

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1010 WINS, 1050 WMGM, New York, Ray Bozzanca
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6 Responses to “Composite: WINS and WMGM New York | October, 1961”

  1. Mike Allen Reply Jun 26, 2009 at 11:34 am

    A great composite. There aren’t that many 1010 WINS and 1050 WHN/WMGM airchecks floating around out there. The audio is pretty good too. I will say this, WINS played the hits of the day but the jock sounded like he just pulled a shift at 1130 WNEW! Very laid back sound and delivery. WMGM air talent sounded a bit more up-beat.

    Mike Allen

    • Ray Bozzanca Reply Oct 16, 2009 at 10:30 am

      The first DJ on this clip is Paul Sherman long time veteran on 1010 Wins starting in the early 40′s and doing news after the format change in 1965.He was Alan Freeds personal first choice for fill in and I used to have Paul filling in for Murray the K on the “Swinging Soiree” in 1962 on a 30 minute tape.

  2. Paul Duca Reply Jul 23, 2009 at 10:21 pm

    What was WMCA doing at this time?

    • Don Tandler Reply Jan 21, 2010 at 9:45 pm

      WMCA was top 40 in 1961 (had been top 40 for at least 4 or 5 years by then), but not that successful. In fact, early 1962 became a very weird time in New York radio, with WMGM, WINS & WMCA all dumping top 40 for MOR. It left WABC, the newest player in the format, the only top 40 station in New York for the first six months of 1962, establishing them for the next 2 decades . WMGM reverted to their pre-1947 call letters, WHN, & stayed MOR until early 1973. But both WMCA & WINS switched back to top 40 in the early summer of 1962, with WMCA adopting the super-successful “Good Guys” tag.

  3. Don Tandler Reply Jan 21, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    One more thing: The clip of WMGM playing “Michael” was not from October, it was from the week of September 12, 1961, when “Michael” was #3 on the WMGM survey.

    • Ray Bozzanca Reply Jan 22, 2010 at 11:21 am

      Don,right on about the date. When playing back the tape towards the end of it the date September 17 was mentioned!