June 30, 1983, I remember it to and it was a big deal at the time since PLJ was so much part of rock culture. He did a follow-up on it a few weeks later that I found here. Could not find the original from June 30, 1983 though probably out there some where. There is one on youtube that says June 30 but that one is the same as this one from a few weeks later.
https://airchexx.com/2017/12/17/pro...-explains-new-format-wplj-new-york-july-1983/
It was nice to hear Mr Berger again. He omitted some points back then that he made more recently in another forum.
One being that WPLJ had never been able to attract the kind of major sponsors that WNEW-f had i.e.: airlines, car manufacturers, etc.
The second was that on arriving at WPLJ in fall 1974 his frame of reference was not WNEW but WXLO (99X) . He remarked that while PLJ was a whisper in terms of loudness, 99X was shouting.
Here, in my opinion, is where these two points fall into conflict; simply put, you cannot attract an ‘adult” rock audience with teen formatics and processing.
I was not an AOR listener but a lot of fellow classmates at NYU were. They regarded PLJ as a “corporate” poseur and not true AOR. As odd as it may seem, AOR fans treated their music with the same level of seriousness as classical listeners, and expected their station to respect the music. As someone who had a First Phone and some experience, I understood the exigencies of broadcasting, but anyone could hear the difference between the old unmodded “max brothers” that WNEW used vs, the stack of DAP 310’s along with sped-up turntables that Mr. Berger employed. WNEW did become a bit more processed after their move to new studios in March 1979, but never became the “hamburger” or “buzzsaw” that WPLJ was described with.
I suspect the Mr Berger would rather have gone head-to-head Top-40 against 99X but this was verboten due to it’s likely effect on sister station WABC. By spring 1983 with WABC lost to talk and rumors of Malrite’s intentions for 100.3, the barriers were removed and corporate gave the OK for him to go full CHR. FWIW; I think it was the right move.
LCG
