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
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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
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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
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, DJâd and did commercials. WSRS (now
WERE)
10. Record stores & radio
Lynn Tolliver Jr., engineered WZAKâs success after working for
MCA Records in Detroit
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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
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WENZ
⢠1958: Standalone FM station, before its
time
⢠1975: WDMT (Weâre Dyn-O-Mite!) disco
⢠1978: Urban; one of first to bring street
jocks on air
⢠1987-99: Sold and resold, switches
formats
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WERE
⢠Began as WSRS in â40s
⢠1958: Becomes WJMO, R&B
⢠â60s: 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
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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
19. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
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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 â47) make radios
portable. First handheld radios arrive in
mid-â50s
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New music
⢠Freed playing classical music, jazz
⢠Leo Mintz, owner of Record Rendezvous,
notices white kids buying âraceâ records,
offers ads if Freed plays those songs
⢠July 11, 1951: Freed starts first R&B show
on âwhiteâ radio
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Moondog howls
⢠March 21, 1952: Moondog Coronation
Ball, worldâs first rock ânâ 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
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Moondogâs 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
25. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
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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 âwavy gravyâ
⢠Does lots of on-air dedications, emcees
dances and sock hops
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Kroll BoP
Late â50s youth
⢠Generation that didnât 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
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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
⢠âHoward Stern of his dayâ: When would he
cross the line
30. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
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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
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Birth of WIXY
⢠WHK dominating with top 40, sponsors
Beatlesâ 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
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Rock breaks out
⢠1964 Beatles show: Plain Dealer sends
classical music critic
⢠Jane Scott, 44-year-old âyoung peopleâ
columnist, talks to fans
⢠She persuades PD to let her cover music,
makes fans the focus
⢠First and eventually âworldâs oldestâ rock
critic, retiring at 82
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The Buzzardâs 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
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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, â74-80, at Stadium
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Ch-ch-ch-changes
⢠1983: Morning show becomes âmorning zooâ;
shifts toward CHR -- Michael Jackson,
Madonna, Prince
⢠1984: Weekends devoted to oldies (âclassic
rockâ)
⢠Gorman, DJs quit in â86 for rival WNCX
⢠1993: Howard Stern syndicated on WNCX
crushes WMMS morning show
⢠1994: WMMS sabotages live Stern show in
Cleveland
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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
43. AprilKillingsworth/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
Kroll BoP
Regulation
⢠1922: AT&T uses phone lines to âchainâ stations
⢠1926: RCA forms NBC. Argument: Small stations
canât provide quality entertainment
⢠1927: Federal Radio Act creates FRC, which
assigns permanent frequencies
⢠1934: Communications Act creates FCC, which
uses âpublic interestâ clause to limit owners to
single stations in each city
⢠1941: Chain Broadcasting Regulations
⢠1975: Cross-ownership banned
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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
âRock 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 âŚ. In
short, rock radio is for people who buy their
Matchbox 20 CDs from Target.â
-- 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: ââto guarantee the average individual safety from the danger of monopolistic control of public opinionâ
Newspaper counterargument: Radio stations, under fairness rule, have to give all qualified opponents equal time, even commies. Papers donât, so theyâre better for the country.
1938: About Âź 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 âfast and loudâ music â jazz, swing, R&B, rock.
Mary Holt: âYou ever heard a rose petal talk? She had one of the sweetest, most delicate voices.â Did everything, including country as Hillbilly Cindy Lou, who was assumed to be white.
Mary Holt: âYou ever heard a rose petal talk? She had one of the sweetest, most delicate voices.â 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, âI Need a Freak,â in âMy Humps.â
Tolliver won $1.2 million suit against Black Eyed Peas for sampling his song, âI Need a Freak,â in âMy Humps.â
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 ânâ roll said to be coined by Freed to avoid saying ârace musicâ or R&B
MCB: 2/3 of crowd white
Billy Ward and The Dominoes
1958: âIt looks like the Boston police donât want you to have a good time.â
Took songwriting co-credits, alloiwng him to get royalties on songs he promoted on air
âHonkerâ music â for the bleating sax
Andre Williams
Bumpa dumpa jing jing, On we go. This is Mad Daddy on my final show. But donât tune out âcause weâre not through yet. We havenât done my alphabet! Here we go, letâs 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.... youâre 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 â 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