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Radio in Cleveland
- 2. WHK & THE EARLY DAYS 1921-1947
- 3. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WHK early years • Began as 8ACS, amateur license • Became WHK in 1922, 52nd license in the nation (15th oldest still active) • National Radio Conferences, 1922-25 • Bought by Forest City Publishing (The Plain Dealer and Cleveland News), 1934
- 4. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Forest City Publishing • Secret deal with Scripps-Howard, owner of Cleveland Press, for newsprint. • Forest City agreed not to promote its newspapers on the radio
- 5. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Newspapers & radio • 1938: Bill introduced to block paper ownership • 1941-44: FCC decides on newspaper licensing on case-by-case basis • 1975: FCC completely bans newspaper/broadcast combinations in same city
- 6. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Forest City & radio • Buys WJAX in 1937; changes name to WCLE • Mid-40s: Under FCC pressure, moves license to Akron; adds stations in Columbus, Cincinnati, Youngstown • 1953-4: Sells out-of-town stations • 1950s: Drops plan for UHF station (Ch. 19); passes up chance to buy Ch. 8 • 1958: Sells WHK
- 7. BLACK RADIO
- 8. Record stores & radio Mary Holt, co-owned store on East 55th, did commercials, got hired as DJ. WJMO.
- 9. Record stores & radio Bill Hawkins, owned store, DJ’d and did commercials. WSRS (now WERE)
- 10. Record stores & radio Lynn Tolliver Jr., engineered WZAK’s success after working for MCA Records in Detroit
- 11. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WZAK • Began as ethnic, brokered station. Hosts died or retired by 1980. • 1981: Urban adult contemporary. • 1982: Tolliver arrives as PD and DJ. • Promotions: Come to station wearing underwear on your head, bring in the biggest cockroach
- 12. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WENZ • 1958: Standalone FM station, before its time • 1975: WDMT (We’re Dyn-O-Mite!) disco • 1978: Urban; one of first to bring street jocks on air • 1987-99: Sold and resold, switches formats
- 13. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WJMO • 1950s: WERE, top-40 format • 1960s: Shifts to bland music, then edgy talk. Populist redneck Gary Dee
- 15. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WJMO • 1975: Sold to City Council President George Forbes. Sold and resold. • 1992: Audio simulcast of CNN Headline News • 1994: Sold to Clear Channel, brokered shows
- 16. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WERE • Began as WSRS in ‘40s • 1958: Becomes WJMO, R&B • ‘60s: Sick-out because of conditions, lack of black managers • 1992: Sold to white owner with black front men (Tolliver & Bobby Rush); SCLC protests • 1994: SCLC gets control, replaces DJs with syndication
- 17. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Today • WZAK: Sold to Radio One, 2000. Only one local DJ • WENZ: Sold to Radio One, 1999. Syndicated AM show, rest local • WJMO: Sold to Radio One, 1999. Syndicated gospel, one local DJ • WERE: Sold to Radio One, 2000. Syndicated talk and brokered shows
- 18. ALAN FREED & THE DESEGREGATION OF MUSIC 1947-57
- 19. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Music revolution • TV arrives (1947 in Cleveland) • Live music too expensive • Radio goes mobile (1946: 9 million AM car radios in U.S.) • Transistors (invented ‘47) make radios portable. First handheld radios arrive in mid-’50s
- 20. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP New music • Freed playing classical music, jazz • Leo Mintz, owner of Record Rendezvous, notices white kids buying “race” records, offers ads if Freed plays those songs • July 11, 1951: Freed starts first R&B show on “white” radio
- 21. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Moondog howls • March 21, 1952: Moondog Coronation Ball, world’s first rock ‘n’ roll show • Hundreds to thousands more tickets sold than capacity; others show up without tickets • Police stop the show amid the crush, after just one act
- 23. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Moondog’s rise and fall • 1954: Goes to New York • 1957: TV show cancelled after (black) Frankie Lymon dances with white girl • 1958: Arrested for incitement to riot • 1959: Accused of payola; refuses to deny • 1962: Pleads guilty to commercial bribery • 1964: Busted for tax evasion • 1965: Dies at 43
- 24. PETE ‘MAD DADDY’ MYERS & THE NEW YOUTH CULTURE 1958-60
- 25. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Beginnings • 1950s Air Force radio: Fake sea monster story • Tries acting • Switches to radio, gets job in Akron, then Cleveland • Begins to play original R&B and rockabilly from obscure labels, calls it “wavy gravy” • Does lots of on-air dedications, emcees dances and sock hops
- 26. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Late ‘50s youth • Generation that didn’t go to war • First teen generation to own its own cars • First generation with time of its own, away from adults • First generation to develop its own culture, separate from adults
- 27. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP The Mad Daddy • Played records no one else did • Used acting skills to adopt persona, added black cape • Combined beatnik and jazz slang with rhyming • “Howard Stern of his day”: When would he cross the line
- 29. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Dig it • Girls: mellow muffins • Boys: Ghoul rockers • Hot rodders: Throttle jammers
- 30. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP The long fall of the Mad Daddy • Leaves WJW in less than a year • Parachutes into Lake Erie • 1958: WHK, adds more top 40, reduces dedications, gets more teen-oriented ads • 1959: Leaves WHK for NYC. • Bombs on Great American Songbook station • 1968: Returns to Cleveland for concert; later kills himself
- 31. WIXY 1260 & THE TOP 40 ERA 1960-1970
- 32. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Birth of WIXY • WHK dominating with top 40, sponsors Beatles’ 1964 show; rival is KYW (WKYC) • 1965: 3 WHK sales guys buy WDOK, change name to WIXY • 1966: WIXY steals Beatles sponsorship • 1967: WHK bails on top 40, switches to easy listening and old-people call-in shows • 1969: WKYC, burdened by NBC ownership, bails on top 40
- 33. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Rock breaks out • 1964 Beatles show: Plain Dealer sends classical music critic • Jane Scott, 44-year-old “young people” columnist, talks to fans • She persuades PD to let her cover music, makes fans the focus • First and eventually “world’s oldest” rock critic, retiring at 82
- 34. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Jane Scott in the Rock Hall
- 35. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WIXY’s decline • 1970s: FM radio quality and move beyond top 40 hurt AM stations • WIXY promotions: Golden Legs, hot pants, Lady Godiva • Sold, renamed, shifts to adult contemporary
- 36. WMMS & THE FM ERA 1970-96
- 37. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP The Buzzard’s born • 1967: FCC bans FM stations from simulcasting AM partners • 1968: WHK-FM becomes WMMS, briefly plays progressive rock • 1970: Returns to AOR (album-oriented rock) • 1973: John Gorman hired as program director • 1974: Buzzard debuts
- 39. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP WMMS glory years • Steals DJs from WIXY, other stations; keeps them in place about 15 years • Live concerts and interviews • Introduces Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf, The Pretenders, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick • World Series of Rock, ‘74-80, at Stadium
- 40. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Ch-ch-ch-changes • 1983: Morning show becomes “morning zoo”; shifts toward CHR -- Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince • 1984: Weekends devoted to oldies (“classic rock”) • Gorman, DJs quit in ‘86 for rival WNCX • 1993: Howard Stern syndicated on WNCX crushes WMMS morning show • 1994: WMMS sabotages live Stern show in Cleveland
- 41. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Another rise and fall • 1994: Gorman returns, shifts to alt rock. Old listeners peeved, but ratings soar • 1996: Sold again; Gorman quits • 1997: Kills Buzzard (briefly), drops alt rock, replaces DJs with talk, syndicated shows and automated music
- 42. WHY RADIO DIED IN THE ‘90S 1996-PRESENT
- 43. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Regulation • 1922: AT&T uses phone lines to “chain” stations • 1926: RCA forms NBC. Argument: Small stations can’t provide quality entertainment • 1927: Federal Radio Act creates FRC, which assigns permanent frequencies • 1934: Communications Act creates FCC, which uses “public interest” clause to limit owners to single stations in each city • 1941: Chain Broadcasting Regulations • 1975: Cross-ownership banned
- 44. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP Deregulation • 1981: Reagan-era FCC eliminates program logging and guidelines for advertising and non-entertainment programming • 1996: Telecommunications Act requires rule reviews, leading to end of ownership regulation • 2003: FCC wipes out cross-ownership rule
- 47. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0 Kroll BoP 2005 “Rock radio … has become the last option, the thing you listen to only when all other options fail, when you're too tired to pop in a CD or too lazy to reach for the iPod …. In short, rock radio is for people who buy their Matchbox 20 CDs from Target.” -- Mark Morford, San Francisco Chronicle
Editor's Notes
- 1923: 1/3 owned by radio makers or stores (including WHK); less than 1/10 each by department stores and publishers; rest by schools, churches, government and clubs (500+ total) Concerns about wanting to block advertising. Commerce Secretary Hoover: the radio listener does not have the same option that the reader of publications has--to ignore advertising in which he is not interested--and he may resent its invasion of his set. It has been pointed out over and over again in previous conferences, and it might well be reiterated by this one, that advertising in the intrusive sense will dull the interest of the listener and will thus defeat the industry. Furthermore, it can bring disaster to the very purpose of advertising if it creates resentment to the advertiser. If we can distinguish, on the one hand, between unobtrusive publicity that is accompanied by a direct service and engaging entertainment to the listener and unobtrusive advertising, on the other, we may find solution.
- Newspaper battle over news: Wanted to limit stations to a few minutes of news per day; to keep wire services from providing news
- 1938: ““to guarantee the average individual safety from the danger of monopolistic control of public opinion” Newspaper counterargument: Radio stations, under fairness rule, have to give all qualified opponents equal time, even commies. Papers don’t, so they’re better for the country. 1938: About ¼ owned by papers, 1/3 of new licenses in year went to publishers
- Forest City under control of banker who runs family trust. Retains WHK station manager who hates “fast and loud” music – jazz, swing, R&B, rock.
- Mary Holt: “You ever heard a rose petal talk? She had one of the sweetest, most delicate voices.” Did everything, including country as Hillbilly Cindy Lou, who was assumed to be white.
- Mary Holt: “You ever heard a rose petal talk? She had one of the sweetest, most delicate voices.” Did everything, including country as Hillbilly Cindy Lou, who was assumed to be white. Tolliver won $1.2 million suit against Black Eyed Peas for sampling his song, “I Need a Freak,” in “My Humps.”
- Tolliver won $1.2 million suit against Black Eyed Peas for sampling his song, “I Need a Freak,” in “My Humps.”
- Just two small Spanish stations, one non-commercial
- 1920s: Hoover tried to ban recorded music on powerful radio stations. ASCAP fought over copyright. 1940 RCA v. (Paul) Whiteman, band leader. Stations have to pay songwriters, but not record company owners, when records are played on air. 2014 Flo & Eddie (the Turtles) sue Sirius XM and win in NY and CA; FL judge says otherwise vased on state law.
- Rock ‘n’ roll said to be coined by Freed to avoid saying “race music” or R&B MCB: 2/3 of crowd white
- Billy Ward and The Dominoes
- 1958: “It looks like the Boston police don’t want you to have a good time.” Took songwriting co-credits, alloiwng him to get royalties on songs he promoted on air
- “Honker” music – for the bleating sax
- Andre Williams
- Bumpa dumpa jing jing, On we go. This is Mad Daddy on my final show. But don’t tune out ‘cause we’re not through yet. We haven’t done my alphabet! Here we go, let’s scare them to death. From A to Z all in one big breath! (Deep intake of breath.) Aviating, bobbalating, crashevading, danceapating, elevating, fanagating, groovygating, hoopalating, idolating, jigglating, koolaidabating, lollypoparating, mutating, noisemaking, oobladobedating, poopaquating, quaking, raking, shaking, taking, ubulating, vegelating, wigglating, x-rating, yoyorating and zoomerating. Still got breath to say.... you’re tuned in here to WHK!
- WJW rumor: Hang loose, Mother Goose! Dipped her rag in tomato juice! 4.5 hours of unscripted rhymes. Other fast-talking rhyming white DJs used scripts, often written by blacks Victim of the Drake format – less patter, less freedom to choose music
- Also KYW / WKYC, but NBC net responsibilities cut into freedom 5000 watts, small. Promotions, giveaways, careful selection of songs and order, exclusive plays Rush Limbaugh gets his radio start as (real name) Jeff Christie, DJ on WIXZ in Pittsburgh, sister station
- Big red glasses, paper sack with ear plugs and peanut butter sandwiches Buying a Caddy with Jimi Hendrix Qs: What is your favorite color, where di you go to high school
- Plays off sour image of the city
- Contemporary Hits Radio … corporate ownership pays attention to MMS, wants to duplicate NYC success
- 1996-2002