Originally posted on 10/15/04 in Real Audio format.
No date given on this one. Batt Johnson (WNBC, WYNY) is heard on the Country incarnation of 106.7 under the WRVR, then WKHK calls. This is a very AC/MOR sounding Country format. Unable to penetrate the New York City market dominated by rival 1050 WHN, 106.7 would eventually flip to AC as WLTW, using the slogan “Lite FM” which is still in use today.
Courtesy of BigAppleAirchecks
Batt Johnson came to New York in 1977 from KCMO and did night at “The All New WNBC.” He stayed there about a year, and then went to WRVR. Then RVR went country as WKHK, and finally they became WLTW, Lite FM. Batt stayed throughout all the format changes. Batt also worked at WBLS, WQEW, Sony Worldwide and finally WQCD, where he still does fill-ins and weekend shifts. Visit his website, //www.battjohnson.com !
I was very successful playing country in NYC in 1966 and 67 on WTHE, The Sound of Country Music. With studios in Queens, I had a great morning listening audience, especially in Brooklyn. But, I gotta admit, the cold weather got this old Fort Worth, Texas kid down and I went south. First to KTOW in Tulsa where I was number one in the mornings, then to KPRC in Houston. I don’t have an aircheck of the “David Perkins Show” from WTHE but I do from KPRC and KIKK, also Houston, where I went by the airname “Charlie Brown.” I’ll send them along another time. I’m retired now, living in Fort Worth and missing radio every thanksgiving and Christmas…hahaha (when I’d have to be on the air, see and everyone else…..) One thing about NYC. I never met better fans. They were terrific! But, darn, that cold. It got cold in November and stayed cold till May. The old joke, “I was there in the summertime. I know it was summer cuz the snow was turning green.”
The change from jazz radio WRVR to country WKHK took place on September 8, 1980 at noon.
I remember that day very well. I and many others didn’t know what to think when we tuned to 106.7 FM. It was weird.
I think Batt Johnson was one of the first jocks heard after the format change.
The thing that made WHN work was the announcers and the presentation that related to New York. KHK didn’t.
In January, 1984, the station became Lite-FM. For a while, the music leaned towards middle of the road but later became mostly AC and it’s hotter today with the same brand attached to it.