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Miami radio trivia

Re: FM's decade of decline... the 50's

> WQAM-FM 95.5..Miami..I don't have the date but I believe it
> was 45 or 46..Frequency changed to 94.9, but there is no
> relation to the current occupant of that frequency.
>
> See, here's the thing...Storz Broadcasting (or
> "Mid-Continent Broadcasting", as they were called), were
> very progressive in inventing Top 40 as a radio format, but
> they lacked foresight in one thing: They did not believe in
> FM...Every market they'd buy an AM station at, and that AM
> had an FM, they'd literally turn the FM license in..Such was
> the case in Miami, where they bought the Knight Newspaper's
> WQAM AM/FM, shutting down and turning in not only Miami's
> first FM, but Florida's First.

In 1950 there were severela hundred more FMs than in 1960... the total went form around 900 to under 700 licences by the end of the decade. Nearly nobody wanted them, as, after a decade, nobody made any money.

It took the FCC's non-duplication rule which went into effect around 1967, to make FMs start to become viable... over a decade more.

It was not just Storz who did not want to spend the money year after year on something that had no apparent future. Nobody wanted those stations.
 
Re: FM's decade of decline... the 50's

>
> In 1950 there were severela hundred more FMs than in 1960...
> the total went form around 900 to under 700 licences by the
> end of the decade. Nearly nobody wanted them, as, after a
> decade, nobody made any money.
>
> It took the FCC's non-duplication rule which went into
> effect around 1967, to make FMs start to become viable...
> over a decade more.
>
> It was not just Storz who did not want to spend the money
> year after year on something that had no apparent future.
> Nobody wanted those stations.

Right you are David. Add Jefferson-Pilot (in those days it was called Jefferson-Standard) to the list. They unloaded the first WBT-FM which was in the middle of the dial at 99.9 in Charlotte. Later they got an FM license for 107.9.

MikeM
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

>
> So when did 1450 sign on?

Just guessing at Late '40's early '50's. If you can find an old Broadcasting Yearbook (like from the late '60s or early '70's) it will list the date.

The trouble is the stations report this information and sometimes do it incorrectly. I think one of those was WTMI which listed the station's start date as of when the calls changed not when 93.1 actually started. Mistakes like this are made all the time.

MikeM
 
WINZ had Cousin Bruce Morrow of NYC fame around 1962.

> I was in Miami in 1962 when there was WQAM and WFUN. We used
> to cruise Collins Ave.As I was a visitor, I assumed WFUN was
> bigger than WQAM because they had music after 11PM when WQAM
> went to talk.
>
> Two questions: This did not seem to hurt WQAM. Why?
> Was there ever another major AM Top 40
> station in Miami besides those two?
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

WINZ-FM used to be WBUS. The Magic Bus.


> Didn't know that there was WOCN-FM. I remember WINZ-FM
> and Zeta-4 and I-95, though.
> <P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

> WINZ-FM used to be WBUS. The Magic Bus.
>
>
> > Didn't know that there was WOCN-FM. I remember WINZ-FM
> > and Zeta-4 and I-95, though.
> >
>

IIRC WBUS was on the 93.9 frequency, eventually becoming WWLV (? or similar letters ?) finally settling on WLVE. However, both WINZ-FM and WLVE are lisenced to Miami Beach. I remember for a time, WZTA (which had been WINZ-FM) had a clever legal ID, using the theme for the Jackie Gleason show, spoofing that show open with the announcer saying 'FROM THE FUN AND SUN CAPITAL OF THE WORLD...(wzta) MIAMI BEACH! THIS IS 94.9....ZETA---4!" This was duirng their classic rock permutation - late 80's - early 90's.
 
Re: Miami FM in 1948

> Miami was assigned channels 226, 230, 235, 242,247, 269, 275 and 286.

226 93.1
230 93.9
235 94.9
242 96.3
247 97.3
269 101.7
275 102.9
286 105.1

> Ft. Lauderdale was assigned channels 278 and 293.

278 103.5
293 106.5

Little has changed, plus or minus one channel, and a few dropins.
<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
_______________</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

>
> The trouble is the stations report this information and sometimes do it incorrectly.
> Mistakes like this are made all the time.
>

WTVJ still claims to be Florida's first TV station, and channel four might very well have been, but channel six signed on in nineteen sixty eight.
So, who should have the bragging rights, WTVJ or channel four?
Did channel four change call letters or did WTVJ change channels?<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
_______________</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

> WINZ-FM used to be WBUS. The Magic Bus.

Nope.

I'm pretty sure WINZ-FM was the predecessor of Zeta, I-95,
and today's WMGE on 94.9.

WBUS was the predecessor of today's Love94, WWWL and then
WLVE. (I should know. I was listening until the last minute.)

If 93.9 was ever WINZ-FM, it was before WBUS, which ceased
operations in spring '75.

> > Didn't know that there was WOCN-FM. I remember WINZ-FM
> > and Zeta-4 and I-95, though.

73s from 954<P ID="signature">______________
Prairie Home Companion Coming To Miami in Feb! South Florida Radio Pages (since 1995)</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

> >
> > The trouble is the stations report this information and
> sometimes do it incorrectly.
> > Mistakes like this are made all the time.
> >
>
> WTVJ still claims to be Florida's first TV station, and
> channel four might very well have been, but channel six
> signed on in nineteen sixty eight.
> So, who should have the bragging rights, WTVJ or channel
> four?
> Did channel four change call letters or did WTVJ change
> channels?

WTVJ - Florida's first TV station - moved from Channel 4 to 6, and WCIX moved from Channel 6 to 4 (and became WFOR). This was during the middle-1990s (post Hurricane Andrew). WTVJ has been WTVJ for some 58 years now - the first 45+ on Channel 4, and the last decade or so on Channel 6.

THE MAJOR
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

>
> WTVJ - Florida's first TV station - moved from Channel 4 to
> 6, and WCIX moved from Channel 6 to 4 (and became WFOR).
> This was during the middle-1990s (post Hurricane Andrew).
> WTVJ has been WTVJ for some 58 years now - the first 45+ on
> Channel 4, and the last decade or so on Channel 6.
>
> THE MAJOR
>

Because I love a good argument...
Channel four - Florida's first TV station - changed their call letters from WTVJ to WFOR during the mid nineteen nineties. If your forty five year figure is correct, then 1949 + 45 = 1994. "Channel four, since nineteen forty nine".
<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
_______________</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

> >
> > WTVJ - Florida's first TV station - moved from Channel 4
> to
> > 6, and WCIX moved from Channel 6 to 4 (and became WFOR).
> > This was during the middle-1990s (post Hurricane Andrew).
> > WTVJ has been WTVJ for some 58 years now - the first 45+
> on
> > Channel 4, and the last decade or so on Channel 6.
> >
> > THE MAJOR
> >
>
> Because I love a good argument...
> Channel four - Florida's first TV station - changed their
> call letters from WTVJ to WFOR during the mid nineteen
> nineties. If your forty five year figure is correct, then
> 1949 + 45 = 1994. "Channel four, since nineteen forty
> nine".

Well I don't really like to argue, but Channel 4 is a channel not a station. So Miami's Channel 4 may be 'Florida's First TV Channel', but WTVJ is 'Florida's First TV Station'.

THE MAJOR
 
Channels 4 & 6 ... and Markets and I don't mean Publix

> > WTVJ - Florida's first TV station - moved from Channel 4
> to
> > 6, and WCIX moved from Channel 6 to 4 (and became WFOR).
> > This was during the middle-1990s (post Hurricane Andrew).
> > WTVJ has been WTVJ for some 58 years now - the first 45+
> > on Channel 4, and the last decade or so on Channel 6.
> >
> Because I love a good argument...
> Channel four - Florida's first TV station - changed their
> call letters from WTVJ to WFOR during the mid nineteen
> nineties. If your forty five year figure is correct, then
> 1949 + 45 = 1994. "Channel four, since nineteen forty
> nine".

I understood the first switch well enough.
It was Jan 1 1989, the day after the Miami News
stopped publishing. (The Sun-Sentinel's TV editor
Tom Jicha had been TV writer for the News and
I was a stringer covering Broward.) There were
changes in the WPB market, too.

But the second switch got me so confused. So I
just remember that Channel 4 is now CBS, like
it used to be in the days of Ralph Renick.

But Channel 6 is no longer WCIX.
It's WTVJ, which was the old Wometco 4.
And CBS's channel 4 is WFOR, I think.

But no one cares because of their non-standard
IDs, like NBC6.

How's that? Am I right???
(Not sure of italicized items.)

To add something to the local TV discussion,
I am very pissed that the cable companies in
Broward don't carry the WPB stations,
especially channel 29.

I'm just a 15 minute drive from the Boca/the
PB market via the Turnpike and more than
twice as far from the Dade County line.

Like many people around here, I'm much more
interested in finding out about WPB and Boca
than South Beach and Kendall, and I don't
give a [fill in blank] about what David has
to say about his markets. Doesn't matter.

73s from 954<P ID="signature">______________
Prairie Home Companion Coming To Miami in Feb! South Florida Radio Pages (since 1995)</P>
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

>
> Well I don't really like to argue, but Channel 4 is a
> channel not a station. So Miami's Channel 4 may be
> 'Florida's First TV Channel', but WTVJ is 'Florida's First
> TV Station'.
>
> THE MAJOR
>

Excellent.
Why can't we all be this diplomatique?<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
_______________</P>
 
Re: WWPB

> > What was (were) the first commercial (92.1 & higher) FM
> > station(s) in the Miami market, and when did they go
> > on-the-air with their respective formats ?
>
> Good question. WWPB in '48?

WWPB was 1450 AM. Ir went on in 1947, in time to earn a listing in the 1948 Broadcasting Yearbook.
 
Re: Channels 4 & 6 ... and Markets and I don't mean Publix

> But Channel 6 is no longer WCIX.
> It's WTVJ, which was the old Wometco 4.
> And CBS's channel 4 is WFOR, I think.


So...let me get this right. WSVN was an NBC station, and the NBC affiliation moved from 7 to 4 (WTVJ). Channel 6 became a CBS station with the WCIX calls.

I wasn't living in Miami at the time of the BIG switch, but I do remember WCIX/WTVJ switch on 9-1-95. I'm not quite sure how it all went down, as it was 3am and I was about to start the 10th grade at the time. Does anybody remember how it went? (Was anybody up that late at night?)

Just wondering if anybody had some old WCIX or channel 4 WTVJ graphics around that they can put on the web for my curiosity as well.


Radio-X<P ID="signature">______________
Send lawyers, guns, and money...
The s**t has hit the fan...
-Warren Zevon</P>
 
> WINZ had Cousin Bruce Morrow of NYC fame around 1962.
>
> > I was in Miami in 1962 when there was WQAM and WFUN. We
> used
> > to cruise Collins Ave.As I was a visitor, I assumed WFUN
> was
> > bigger than WQAM because they had music after 11PM when
> WQAM
> > went to talk.
> >
> > Two questions: This did not seem to hurt WQAM. Why?
> > Was there ever another major AM Top 40
> > station in Miami besides those two?

When I was in Miami, WINZ was a full service MOR. When did it switch?
> >
>
 
Re: Channels 4 & 6 ... and Markets and I don't mean Publix

> So...let me get this right. WSVN was an NBC station, and the
> NBC affiliation moved from 7 to 4 (WTVJ). Channel 6 became a
> CBS station with the WCIX calls.
>
> I wasn't living in Miami at the time of the BIG switch, but
> I do remember WCIX/WTVJ switch on 9-1-95. I'm not quite sure
> how it all went down, as it was 3am and I was about to
> start the 10th grade at the time. Does anybody remember how
> it went? (Was anybody up that late at night?)
>
> Just wondering if anybody had some old WCIX or channel 4
> WTVJ graphics around that they can put on the web for my
> curiosity as well.

Before the 'big switch' in the late-1980s WTVJ-4 was CBS, WCIX-6 was FOX, and WSVN-7 was NBC. After the 'big switch' WTVJ-4 was NBC, WCIX-6 was CBS, and WSVN-7 was FOX.

And then there was the WTVJ-4 becomes WTVJ-6 and WCIX-6 becomes WFOR-4 switch in 1995.

WPLG-10 (ABC) was not affected by any of these network and channel changes.

My favourite TV news station is WTVJ NBC-6, and they occasionally show archival footage from years gone by when they were on Channel 4. Every August we're reminded of Hurricane Andrew when WTVJ NBC-4, Meteorologist Bryan Norcross, and the rest of the news team stayed on-the-air throughout and guided us through the horrors of that dark and destructive night.

OK back to radio memories. This is my 30TH post, and the '30' is dedicated to 30 years ago in 1976 when I discovered the magic of FM stereo via 'WPGC AM & FM Morningside'. (They were the hot TOP 40 station back then in the Washington D.C. area at AM 1580 and FM 95.5.)

THE MAJOR
 
Re: Miami radio trivia & picking nits

Yes, you are correct. It has been a while. I actually have the aircheck of the change from WBUS to WWWL.

> > WINZ-FM used to be WBUS. The Magic Bus.
>
> Nope.
>
> I'm pretty sure WINZ-FM was the predecessor of Zeta, I-95,
> and today's WMGE on 94.9.
>
> WBUS was the predecessor of today's Love94, WWWL and then
> WLVE. (I should know. I was listening until the last
> minute.)
>
> If 93.9 was ever WINZ-FM, it was before WBUS, which ceased
> operations in spring '75.
>
> > > Didn't know that there was WOCN-FM. I remember WINZ-FM
> > > and Zeta-4 and I-95, though.
>
> 73s from 954
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
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