In the early to mid 1980s, many AM stations were struggling to reinvent themselves as many listeners had migrated to FM. Some stations were moving towards News, Talk, or Sports. Some were trying different approaches, like big personalities, All Oldies, or even Comedy. In Philly Sunny 104 WSNI-FM, just simulcast it’s FM AC format…
Irv Homer was grouchy, a bit of a curmudgeon, and thought the world would be a better place if everyone did things his way. Philly loved him! Many considered him “the voice of the blue-collar worker.” From 1975 till 2000, Philadelphia’s daily pulse – politics, food, sports – thumped on 96.5 WWDB, and Irv Homer reigned as the…
November 16, 2017, was a sad day for music lovers in Los Angeles. It was the day Adult Album Rock formatted station KSWD “The Sound” 100.3 FM went off the air. The station had a wide music playlist, by today’s standards, and featured legendary air personalities, like Uncle Joe Benson, Cynthia Fox and Rita…
In the mid to late 1980s, WPLJ, Power 95, was doing well. It was normally trailing behind CHR Leader Z100 WHTZ, but billing was high, and ratings were good. On December 20th, WPLJ did something that shocked many in New York. WPLJ changed its call letters to WWPR, echoing the radio station’s logo ”Power…
In the 1970s, New York’s 95.5 WPLJ was a Rock powerhouse. I have noticed that many seem to thin WPLJ was a hard Rock station in the mid-70s, but it was not. The boundaries of what the station considered Rock, was pretty wide. In addition to what you would consider “Classic Rock, by today’s standards,…
From the late 50s, until the late 70s, 95 WBBF was a Top 40 powerhouse in Rochester, New York. It dominated in the ratings against competitors WSAY & WAXC. Many legendary western New York names worked at WBBF, including longtime morning man, Jack Palvino, Jerry Fogel (Who later became an actor, starring in The…
For many years, 1250 WTMA was a Pop powerhouse in Charleston. WTMA flipped to a Top 40 format in the early 1960s and was hugely successful. As the late 70’s approached, WTMA’s numbers started to falter, as was happening to many AM Top 40 stations around the country . WTMA morphed in to an…
The dreaded “WABC Disco Era!” Many people consider this the beginning of the end of Musicradio 77 WABC. In December 1978, the new Disco 92 WKTU defeated WABC in the Arbitron ratings. It was the first time an FM station had beaten WABC. Around the country, FM radio stations were beginning to overtake AM music…
