jh said:
Howard Miller was #1 in the Chicago market in the 50s thru early 68. Then WIND made a short resurgence in the early 70s musicwise before they went all talk.
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Howard Miller was #1 in the Chicago market in the 50s thru early 68. Then WIND made a short resurgence in the early 70s musicwise before they went all talk.
Corky Marlowe said:
The NBC news killed WKYC which had a huge signal advantage over the other Cleveland Top 40s.
radioman148 said:
At the time, the Pulse and Hooper metro was just Cuyahoga county, and WKYC's signal did not have that great an advantage at night and none in the daytime.
When WIXY coneverted, WHK had a 20 share and WKYC had a 14 while WERE had a 7 (Jan-Mar 1966 Hooper). WJW, WJMO and WGAR all had around a 10 share.
WDXN, Clarksville, Tennessee. They were at 540 ("first on your AM dial") and were 1000 watts, clear channel. Could be heard all the way into southern Illinois in the daytime.MsMusicRadio said:
But they floundered through numerous management, ownership, format, and even call-letter changes after 1993, which is when I left there. I don't know what they were like prior to that, except that prior to their 1993 changes, they had been using some of the same jingles since the '70s! And were still running a spot that had been airing since 1988! (That is what I was told.) So some changes definitely were necessary, but none of that mattered, because the station was never really able to find an audience. (They are now a sports talker, and since they haven't changed anything in recent years, they must be doing okay.)
michael hagerty said:
Michael - In the early and mid 60s, KFI was the Dodger's station, so Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett got high ratings for the station...at least during and after baseball games. But to the best of my recollection, the format was a mess. KFI wasn't really an MOR station. Even before they branded as "Total Spectrum Radio," they ran a mix of programming. So did KNX, but at least 1070 had some high rated CBS network programs...Arthur Godfrey, Art Linkletter, Douglas Edwards and Lowell Thomas with the news, etc.
Among other programs, KFI ran the Standard School Broadcast, which was an educational program for elementary school kids. I remember my 6th grade teacher (that would have been 1963) tuning the show in at least once a week. A public service for sure, but I doubt it was a ratings leader.
Being a radio geek, though, I remember their station ID voiced by a dramatic bass-baritone announcer - "Your 50,000 watt clear channel station, Kay -Eff- Eyyyyeeeeee, Los Angeles.
Lkeller said:
Llew:
KFI modernized quite a bit when they picked up Lohman and Barkley in 1968. In fact, by 1969, with L&B, Jerry Bishop, Jay Lawrence and Dave Hull, they were one of the hippest (for the time) adult contemporary stations. Unfortunately, the numbers dipped, someone panicked and they knee-jerked back to stodgy MOR in 1971 (sending Jay running to KLAC, which then surprised him by going country)...and then to "Total Spectrum Radio" in 1972. Strangely, at least to my way of thinking, they did better when they were a mess.
As for baseball, that's two of the old-school ratings books a year, April/May and July/August. When looking at how a station with a baseball contract really did, we always looked at either January/February or October/November (in the 60s and 70s, The World Series was over by mid-October). So back we go to the fall Pulse ratings:
Pulse November/December 1966 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 9.0
1. KMPC (mor) 9.0
1. KLAC (talk) 9.0
4. KFI (mor) 7.0
4. KPOL (beautiful) 7.0
4. KRLA (top 40) 7.0
7. KABC (talk) 4.0
7. KFAC (classical) 4.0
7. KFWB (top 40) 4.0
7. KNX (mor) 4.0
7. XETRA (news) 4.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1967 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 9.0
1. KLAC (talk) 9.0
3. KMPC (mor) 8.0
3. KPOL (beautiful) 8.0
5. KFI (mor) 6.0
5. KRLA (top 40) 6.0
7. KABC (talk) 5.0
7. KFWB (top 40) 5.0
9. KFOX (country) 4.0
9. KGFJ (r&b) 4.0
9. KWIZ (?) 4.0
9. XETRA (news) 4.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1968 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 13.0
2. KFWB (news) 11.0
3. KMPC (mor) 8.0
4. KLAC (talk) 7.0
5. KPOL (beautiful) 6.0
6. KABC (talk) 5.0
6. KNX (news) 5.0
8. KFI (mor) 4.0
8. KFOX (country) 4.0
8. KGFJ (r&b) 4.0
8. KRLA (top 40) 4.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1969 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 12.8
2. KGFJ (r&B) 8.0
3. KRLA (top 40) 7.3
4. KABC (talk) 6.5
5. KFWB (news) 6.3
6. KPOL (beautiful) 5.8
7. KMPC (mor) 4.8
8. KBCA-FM (jazz) 3.8
9. KALI (Spanish) 3.5
10. KNX (news) 3.3
11. KFOX (country) 3.0
12. KFI (mor) 2.8
12. KWKW (Spanish) 2.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1970 Total Audience Share
1. KABC (talk) 10.8
2. KHJ (top 40) 9.0
3. KGFJ (r&b) 6.3
4. KFWB (news) 5.8
5. KPOL (beautiful) 4.3
6. KRLA (top 40) 4.0
7. KMPC (mor) 3.8
8. KALI (Spanish) 3.3
8. KFOX (country) 3.3
8. KBCA-FM (jazz) 3.3
11. KFAC (classical) 2.8
12. KIIS (a/c) 2.5
12. KNX (news) 2.5
12. XETRA (beautiful) 2.5
15. KFI (mor) 2.3
15. KHJ-FM (a/c) 2.3
15. KMET-FM (aor) 2.3
15. KWKW (Spanish) 2.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1971 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 9.3
2. KABC (talk) 8.0
3. KGFJ (r&b) 7.0
4. KNX (news) 4.8
5. KJOI-FM (beautiful) 4.5
6. KFWB (news) 4.3
7. KMPC (mor) 4.0
7. KRLA (top 40) 4.0
9. KGBS (a/c) 3.8
9. KPOL (beautiful) 3.8
11. KDAY (top 40) 3.3
11. KLAC (country) 3.3
13. KFI (mor) 3.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1972 Total Audience Share
1. KABC (talk) 9.3
2. KHJ (top 40) 5.8
3. KLAC (country) 4.5
4. KGFJ (r&B) 4.3
4. KRTH (oldies) 4.3
6. KALI (Spanish) 4.0
6. KFI (mor) 4.0
6. KNX (news) 4.0
9. KJOI-FM (beautiful) 3.8
9. KLOS-FM (aor) 3.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1973 Total Audience Share
1. KHJ (top 40) 5.4
2. KABC (talk) 5.0
3. KFWB (news) 4.3
4. KLOS-FM (aor) 4.1
5. KFI (mor) 3.6
5. KGFJ (r&b) 3.6
5. KNX (news) 3.6
8. KMPC (mor) 3.5
9. KLAC (country) 3.3
10. KALI (Spanish) 3.2
-------------------------------
Pulse November/December 1974 Total Audience Share
1. KABC (talk) 7.2
2. KHJ (top 40) 6.3
3. KDAY (r&b) 4.6
4. KFWB (news) 4.3
5. KNX (news) 4.2)
6. KJOI-FM (beautiful) 4.1
6. KLAC (country) 4.1
8. KLOS-FM (aor) 3.9
9. KMPC (mor) 3.6
10. KALI (Spanish) 3.3
11. KRTH-FM (oldies) 3.1
12. KGFJ (r&b) 2.5
12. KNX-FM (soft rock) 2.5
14. KFI (mor) 2.3
14. KMET-FM (aor) 2.3
Switching to Arbitron:
October/November 1975 Persons 12+
1. KABC (talk) 6.9
2. KHJ (top 40) 5.4
3. KJOI (beautiful) 5.3
4. KBIG(beautiful) 5.1
5. KDAY (R&B) 4.6
6. KMPC (MOR) 4.4
7. KFWB (news) 4.1
8. KNX (news) 3.9
9. KFI (MOR) 3.8
10. KLOS (AOR) 3.5
------------------
Fall 1976 Arbitron M-S 6AM-12MID Total Persons 12+ Share
1. KABC (talk) 6.7
2. KBIG (beautiful) 5.9
3. KHJ (top 40) 5.3
4. KJOI (beautiful) 4.9
5. KNX (news) 4.8
6. KFWB (news) 3.9
7. KLOS (AOR) 3.8
7. KNX-FM (soft rock) 3.8
9. KMPC (a/c) 3.6
10. KDAY (r&B) 3.3
10. KRLA (top 40) 3.3
12. KIQQ (top 40) 3.2
13. KFI (MOR) 2.9
Interestingly, KFI's numbers and ranking picked up immediately after the Dodgers' final KFI game in 1972.
As for the original idea of this thread...KFI wasn't a total failure with its great signal...but it did spend three years in a row outside the Top 10...while the Dodgers' flagship....and bounced out of the Top 10 again in '74 and '76.
John Rook began KFI's transition to Top 40 after the Fall 1976 book.
---Michael Hagerty
Those old Pulse ratings are fascinating as usual, Michael...and beg lots of observations...like the extent to which KFWB kicked KNX's a** in news, probably because KNX was still running a variety of programming, not "All News All the Time" like 98.
But I'll try to stay on topic. I'm not sure why, but I guess I abandoned Lohman and Barkley when they left KFWB. Oddly enough, this wasn't true of Gary Owens, or even Geoff Edwards, who I tuned in often on KMPC. I guess I liked my Rock and Roll in the morning.
I loved the "Hullabalooer" at KRLA, but I'm not sure I even knew he was on KFI in those days. I do remember Hull later on KGBS. With the exception of Dodgers baseball, I must have ignored old KFI.
But I'll try to stay on topic. I'm not sure why, but I guess I abandoned Lohman and Barkley when they left KFWB. Oddly enough, this wasn't true of Gary Owens, or even Geoff Edwards, who I tuned in often on KMPC. I guess I liked my Rock and Roll in the morning.
I loved the "Hullabalooer" at KRLA, but I'm not sure I even knew he was on KFI in those days. I do remember Hull later on KGBS. With the exception of Dodgers baseball, I must have ignored old KFI.
Lkeller said:
Llew: If you think about it, the "Give us 22 minutes" approach was perfect for L.A. commuters. I wonder what happened in '72, where KFWB fell of the charts and KNX clobbered them. Could be a ratings anomaly.
KFI in '69 and '70 was tremendous. All that talent with a decidedly younger music mix and an irreverent attitude. When KFI was doing that, I had to remind myself to tune to KMPC...and then only for Geoff Edwards (a recent KFI refugee), Gary Owens and Johnny Magnus. I don't think I listened to Whittinghill, Ira Cook or Roger Carroll at all those two years.
In hindsight, it was early for that kind of approach...and KFI's existing audience was sure to be offended, thus the drop in the ratings. Old listeners leaving without new ones to take their place. And so they opted to go chasing the old audience in '71 (Dave Garroway replacing Jay Lawrence in afternoon drive?!?), and it more or less worked. For a while.
---Michael Hagerty
A PS:
Larry Van Nuys, Ted Quillin (ex-KRLA) and Ted Randal (ex-KFWB) were also on the KFI airstaff in '69.
---Michael Hagerty
Larry Van Nuys, Ted Quillin (ex-KRLA) and Ted Randal (ex-KFWB) were also on the KFI airstaff in '69.
---Michael Hagerty
In my area, there are several that could be classified as failures. 950 in Moncks Corner (near Charleston) has a 10,000 watt signal, that covers almost all of the Charleston area well (especially inland, which very few AMs do up there).
They have been stuck with a classic country format (with NASCAR) for several years, and they have never gotten good ratings. They started as a local station serving Moncks Corner, WMCJ, which was religion. After Kirkman (who owns four other stations in town) bought it, they've tried at least five different formats, including two versions of sports, a hyper-local talk format which lasted literally three weeks, and others.
If FM could also be included, one is that 98.9 signal from McClellanville. It has a good signal, covering areas between and including Charleston and Myrtle Beach.
They were beach music, and did well for a while, but a new owner bought it and flipped it to Urban. They only got like mid 1s with that, so they flipped it to Spanish, which had done well, being the only one in town, but they sold it to Kirkman, who now runs a very interesting AC format there.
It's not Hot AC, it's not straight ahead, and it is perhaps a Modern AC. It has a local morning show, and still is stuck with a low 1 in its first book.
They have been stuck with a classic country format (with NASCAR) for several years, and they have never gotten good ratings. They started as a local station serving Moncks Corner, WMCJ, which was religion. After Kirkman (who owns four other stations in town) bought it, they've tried at least five different formats, including two versions of sports, a hyper-local talk format which lasted literally three weeks, and others.
If FM could also be included, one is that 98.9 signal from McClellanville. It has a good signal, covering areas between and including Charleston and Myrtle Beach.
They were beach music, and did well for a while, but a new owner bought it and flipped it to Urban. They only got like mid 1s with that, so they flipped it to Spanish, which had done well, being the only one in town, but they sold it to Kirkman, who now runs a very interesting AC format there.
It's not Hot AC, it's not straight ahead, and it is perhaps a Modern AC. It has a local morning show, and still is stuck with a low 1 in its first book.
schmave said:
I forgot about "Hanky Panky". WLW also played Jimmy Buffet's "Why Don't We Get Drunk...".
Bob E. Nelson said:
WSM Nashville is the worst performing of the original 1A clear channels. It bills about one-20th of the lowest tier of 1A billers, WHO,WHAM, WOAI. It has nearly no 25-54 listening, and certainly can't be making any money.
This is why the "almost" format change for them that never was, was such a big mistake for them, back in 2002. They flirted with a format change back then, but were "shouted down" by all their listeners at that time. I say that not going forward with the change was a mistake, because it only postponed the "day of reckoning" that is still coming for them. If they had taken care of this seven years ago, everyone would have gotten over it by now.DavidEduardo said:
schmave said:
I had to laugh when i read this because I was dialing around last night and caught CKLW visiting the hot topic of whether it's better that city employees pick up the garbage in the city of Windsor; or, would it be better to contract that out. Wow, scintillating stuff! Worse yet, the host was a woman with a voice that would put NPR to sleep! I wouldn't even listen to that snoozefest if I lived right in the city of Windsor - forgetting that this 50 kw blowtorch covers all of southwestern Ontario.
So I am in agreement with you guys on that one. Though it's still not the extreme waste of juice that KAAY and WPTR represent. At least there's a warm body (I think) at CKLW's studios! We'll give them credit for that - even if it sounds like a high school station. The Bible thumping at KAAY and WPTR, on the other hand, would continue to drone on right through a tornado, hurricane, tsunami or plague of locusts!
Then again, that describes hundreds of EMF's holdings as well.
michael hagerty said:
I listened to KFI full time in 1972, that was the best format they ever had. Today's KFI is crap, but that may be due to the fact that I don't fit very well into their political demographic. I agree, Michael, they have programmed the station well for what audience they are after, but I strongly disagree with you about the Total Spectrrum Format of 72-73
ercjncpr said:
Ercjncpr:
If you look at my post again, you'll see I don't offer an opinion on Total Spectrum Radio, I just mention that it was an experiment with virtual block programming. As late as 1971-1974 (it actually began in '71 and ended in '74) in a major market on a big signal, it was absolutely an experiment.
In terms of ratings, Total Spectrum was actually an improvement over their early Adult Contemporary approach in 1969 and 1970. From Pulse (numbers are M-S 6AM-12Mid Total Audience 6+):
1969: KFI 2.8 (tied for 12th)
1970: KFI 2.3 (15th)
1971: KFI 3.0 (13th)
1972: KFI 4.0 (6th)
1973: KFI 3.6 (tied for 5th)
1974: KFI 2.3 (14th)
So, Total Spectrum worked very well for a while...but ultimately, fans of the individual formats that made it up found stations that delivered those formats 24/7. KFI rebounded to a 3.8 (only 2/10ths of a point below Total Spectrum's peak) and 9th place in 1975 by returning to a pure Adult Contemporary.
Interestingly, 1972 was the only year that Total Spectrum worked in almost all dayparts....Mornings, Afternoons and Evenings were all in the top 10, and the combination of Chuck Cecil's "Swingin' Years" and Country with Bob Kingsley put KFI #4 from 7PM-12 Midnight, behind KABC, KLOS and KRTH, but ahead of KMET, KBCA, KHJ and KKDJ and Wolfman Jack on KDAY.
In '71 and '73, KFI's overall numbers were mostly due to stronger Lohman & Barkley morning numbers and Dave Garroway's afternoon ratings. By '74 though, all dayparts were off, including Lohman and Barkley, and a change had to be made.
Oh, and a correction...I said KFI "always" trailed KMPC...KFI beat KMPC in '72 4.0 (tied for 6th place) to 3.3 (11th) and '73 3.6 (tied for 5th) to 3.5 (8th).
In '72, Lohman and Barkley tied Dick Whittinghill with a 5.0 (tied for 5th place), and Garroway tied Gary Owens with a 3.0 (tied for 9th).
In '73, Whittinghill pulled ahead again, but Owens had a disastrous book and Garroway beat him...2.6 (6th) to 0.5 (22nd).
In '74, Garish had the 2.6 (12th) and KFI was down to a 1.0 in afternoons (29th).
Lohman and Barkley finally beat Whittinghill in the fall 1977 Arbitron and never looked back from there on.
catfishal said:
It's about 15th in billings in Nashville, and that is about $18,000 a month... not ever $800 a day. It's obviously an icon of sorts for the Opry and the related enterprises, but it can't be making money. Of course, the same applies for just about all non-ethnic music AMs.
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