Station: 970 WWSW (WTKN/WBGG) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Format: Full Service Adult Contemporary
Featured Air Personalities: Charlie Warren, George Heart, Jay Mitchell
Contributor: Robyn Watts
Airchexx Entry: 1,461
“…In a 1979 People Magazine Poll, who was America’s favorite MALE singer?“
Comments
The first half of this recording is dedicated to Charlie Warren and the morning show. Investigating the history of WWSW, there is very little reference to the slogan by which the station is branded here in 1980 – “Double Double”. There’s even a jingle package cut for it. Of course, the talent uses both Double Double and 970 WWSW to identify the station, which on this recording sounds very good. Nicely processed, not over compressed, and it seems as if the station has an enthusiastic listener base.
About midway through this aircheck, the recording skips to just before midnight. The jock is George Heart (Hart?), which then leads to Jay Mitchell and the “All Night Show”.
1980 was an interesting point in time for this station, WWSW had been Country for a while and the general consensus is that format failed. This was the first year of a return to somewhat contemporary music. It was float between Oldies and REAL old oldies for a time, before merging with it’s FM 94.5, going CHR and then splitting off forever. The CHR format remains to this day on the FM side, as 945 3WS, an iHeart Media station.
Fantastic aircheck! I don’t remember WWSW-AM ever using the “Double Double” moniker before.
This is part of a longer composite I originally recorded, probably closer to August than July, Missing from this version are Dave Shallenberger (middays), Ed Price (PMD) and Scott Cassidy (early evening). The PD here was Jim Durham, from WTVN/Columbus.
WWSW did, indeed, switch very abruptly from its longtime MOR-easy listening format to “DOUBLE COUNTRY” as it was called, in summer 1979. The market’s country stations were daytimer WEEP, suburban WIXZ with coverage problems and WEEP’s co-owned FM, WDSY, which may have been doing a weird beautiful-country format at the time. It was the kind of minimalist, low-key presentation that was popular in the late 1970s. But the format was dropped sometime around mid-1980 and this is what replaced it.
In September 1980, WWSW”s FM station, WPEZ, dropped its longtime CHR format (I think there’s a sample of its last days with PD Rob Sisco on this site) and became WWSW-FM aka 3WS with oldies-heavy AC. In December 1980, WWSW switched from the format here to a part-simulcast AM version of the 3WS format. In 1982 it became WTKN with ABC Talkradio.
The station had colloquially been known as Double-Double for ages, but only with this format did it become an image used in jingles, etc.
WWSW-AM was country from August ’78 till about July of ’79: it didn’t last even a year, what with WEEP and WIXZ. I think 3WS (94.5) is still classic hits (oldies, in my book). I used to listen to 3WS 970, when they played 60s oldies. Now, they’re WBGG and all-sports. I remember the Double-Double jingles and listened to it some when it was country.
I worked with George Hart (real last name Hartung) at WFFM, FM 97, in 1979 and 1980. We all got bounced from WFFM in late 1980. So, I’m guessing George was at WWSW in very late 1980 and in to 1981. George passed away from a heart attack in the mid-90s.
Roger Huston is still the track announcer at The Meadows.
Any idea what package the news sounder is from?
Wonderful wonderful. Still a big fan of harness racing and Roger Huston. Had no idea he’d call in with the results! He’s still going strong as the Meadows (and Little Brown Jug) announcer for 40+ years and going… Some great music I still love on this check. I also don’t recall the double double moniker. Ha.