WRCW sounds automated on this 3 minute quick scope of AM 1060 Canton. But, this may be deceiving. You can hear what sounds like the start of a 45 rpm record in spots.
The station is, as we would term it in today’s digital radio world, ‘jockless’. True, there’s no announcer heard as the station goes from music right into commercials, and then liners-out into music again. About the only thing that sounds live is the News, which is read by Mike Keating. The News airs at a few minutes past noon on this recording, so either it is automated and the news ran late, or they normally did news AFTER the top of the hour.
This is an important recording, because in 1989, there were few music stations left, except for in smaller markets. This was because at that point in time, FM had fully taken over most of the AM music audience for all except Country and Nostalgia, and even the Country format was gradually disappearing on AM. Still, some AM music stations remained because locally produced News/Talk formats were rather expensive to roll out, and Satellite delivered talk was still in its infancy – with also didn’t yet have a major talk icon (although Rush Limbaugh had launched in August of 1988 but had yet to fully blossom). So, here is one of hundreds of stations around the country that sounded as bland as this, yet still served their local community doing the only thing they still could – play music as filler content in between local spots.
Related:
Mike Greene, WQIO Canton – 1988
QuickChexx: Mike O’Brien on the New Q-10 (WQIO) Canton – 1977
