When What Is Now WLNK-FM Had The WBT-FM Call Letters The Second Time Around, The Literally Pleasant Mainstream Adult Contemporary Format, And Had Utilized The “Sunny” Moniker.
The first time around what is now WLNK-FM had the WBT-FM call letters was when Jefferson-Standard had put another FM offspring of WBT-AM the second time around in 1961 (the first WBT-FM was on the air from 1947-1954; before Jefferson-Standard began to perceive that FM Radio was a fad and did not have an everlasting future, the company began to focus more of its resources on WBTV as it began to match WBT-AM dollar for dollar in profitability, took the original WBT-FM off the air, deleted its license in the FCC’s database; and donated the equipment of the original WBT-FM to the University of North Carolina for the start up of their
Then, likewise to when WJQI-FM in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia had gone to the dark side in 1996 when it took the despicable and repugnant Hot Adult Contemporary format and changed its call letters to WPTE-FM in the process; and WJR-FM in Detroit had gone to the dark side several times since 1982 when it had taken the Mike Joseph-consulted “Hot Hits” Top 40 format and changed its call letters to WHYT-FM in the process; had later taken an Urban Contemporary format in 1989 while still retaining the WHYT-FM call letters, had taken an Alternative Rock format in 1994 and changed its call letters once more to WPLT-FM in the process; and had also taken the the despicable and repugnant Hot Adult Contemporary format in 2001 and changed its call letters to WDVD-FM in the process; in 1997, WBT-FM/WWSN-FM had gone to the dark side by taking the the despicable and repugnant Hot Adult Contemporary format, and changed its call letters to WLNK-FM in the process.
Such a belittlement to the heritage of Jefferson-Standard/Jefferson-Pilot Communications, WBT-AM, and WBTV-TV; with the adoption of the the despicable and repugnant Hot Adult Contemporary format by the former WLNK-FM, and the change in call letters to WLNK-FM in the process.
A Time Prior To Having A Flattop Haircut, When MLB Player Ben McDonald Had The Ideal Male Haircut, With Bangs Covering His Forehead.
I, personally; would prefer if Ben McDonald forevermore continued to wear the ideal Male Haircut, with bangs covering his forehead; instead of ever having a Flattop Haircut.
Image courtesy of the Internet Retailer and Auctioneer EBay
Jim Ladd Of KLOS-FM And KMET-FM, Chuck Blore, Charlie Douglas, And Byron MacGregor Of CKLW-AM; Among Others Being Inducted In The Radio Hall Of Fame For 2024.
It does not matter whether the recipient is dead or alive at the time the recipient is inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame at any given year.
Survivors Of Hurricane Katrina That Are Proponents Of AM/Mediumwave Radio, And They, Like The Owner Of This Very Blog; Are On A Mission To Keep AM/Mediumwave Radio From Going Extinct.
Around the time of writing this post, 50 kilowatt Class I-A “Clear Channel” Radio Station WCCO-AM is celebrating it’s 100th Anniversary.
The call letters WCCO-AM stand for the Washburn-Crosby Company, which had put the Station on the air in October, 1924.
The Washburn-Crosby Company would eventually be absorbed into General Mills.
In 1932, CBS had purchased WCCO-AM from General Mills.
In 1939, WCCO-AM had put the Experimental APEX Station W9XHW on the air.
In 1952, CBS had sold majority control of WCCO-AM and FM to Midwest Communications, a company founded by the McNeil and McNally families; and was a joint venture between the McNeil and McNally families, CBS, the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, and the Minneapolis Tribune Company.
CBS’s reason for selling a majority control of WCCO-AM and FM is because CBS did not want to accede the amount of Radio and Television Stations that they owned and operated beyond the limit imposed by the FCC as of this time, where an individual or a business couldn’t own more than a maximum of 7 AM/Mediumwave Radio Stations, 7 FM Radio Stations, and 5 Television Stations; and they chose to sell a majority control of the WCCO Radio Stations in exchange for purchasing the KMOX Stations in St. Louis, Missouri; in order to remain within the quota set forth by the FCC.
With the quota set forth by the FCC as to how many AM/Mediumwave, FM, and Television Stations that an individual or a business could own having been enlarged by the early 1990’s; Midwest Communications had filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 1992, and CBS had not only repurchased the WCCO Radio Stations, but they had also purchased WCCO-TV (originally WTCN-TV, and originally the offshoot of WTCN-AM; as Midwest Communications had owned and operated WTCN-AM as of the time what is now WCCO-TV was put on the air in July, 1949; before Midwest Communications had to sell the WTCN Radio Stations in exchange for acquiring majority control of the WCCO Radio Stations, and had changed the call letters of the Television Station to WCCO-TV in 1952).
As of the time of writing this post, what is now WCCO-TV remains under the ownership of CBS (itself under the ownership of the original CBS’s Television Film Sales and Home Video business arm that was founded in 1952, prior to spinning off this business arm in 1971; due to the FCC enacting a rule that would later be repealed (known as the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, also abbreviated as the Fin-Syn Rules) where at the time, the Big Three Television Networks could not own any Television Syndication or Home Video business arms in an effort to keep the Big Three Networks from potentially monopolizing the entire Television Broadcasting and Home Video industries; Viacom.
Like the rest of CBS’s heritage owned and operated Radio Stations: WCBS-AM-FM, WBBM-AM-FM, WPHT-AM (nee WCAU-AM), WOGL-FM (nee WCAU-FM), KMOX-AM, KNX-AM, KCBS-FM (nee KNX-FM), KCBS-AM in San Francisco; and KLLC-FM (which at one time, held the KCBS-FM call letters; as CBS was late to the game, so to speak, on building or acquiring an already existing FM sibling of KCBS-AM); CBS had sought to divest itself of its owned and operated Radio Stations in 2016, in 2017; CBS had sold all of its owned and operated Radio Stations to Entercom as part of a Tax-free transaction known as a Reverse Morris Trust, and Entercom had changed its name to Audacy in 2021.
CBS, having merged with Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W in 1995; as part of yet another effort to not accede the amount of Radio Stations that they own and operate; had sold off KLOU-FM (nee KMOX-FM) to Entercom (long before Entercom, later Audacy would acquire all of CBS’s owned and operated Radio Stations) in 1995. Entercom, in turn; would sell KLOU-FM (nee KMOX-FM) to Clear Channel Communications/IHeart Media in 1999. As of the time of writing this post, IHeart Media continues to own and operate KLOU-FM.
Photos that fellow Broadcasting enthusiast Scott Fybush had put on his own, personal website of the WCCO-AM 50 kilowatt and 5 kilowatt Transmitter Sites during his visits to the WCCO-AM and FM Studios and the WCCO-AM Transmitter Site in 2005, and later, again in 2014:
I am saddened by the recent death (as of the time of writing this post) of French Actor Alain Delon.
In the early 1980’s, when the Mazda Motor Corporation had put into production the GC Capella/626, and their the Oceanic business arm of their then-partner, the Ford Motor Company; had simultaneously put their version of the GC Capella into production, the AR/AS Ford Telstar; Alain Delon had appeared in Television Commercials for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) version of the GC Capella, with songs by Japanese Musical Artist Akira Fuse, and Canadian Music Artist Vicki Moss (famous for at one time; dating and courting NHL Player Wayne Gretzky) used in the Audio of these Television Commercials starring Alain Delon:
In the late 1980’s, Mazda’s then-Korean partner Asia/Kia Motors had begun to build under license the GC Mazda Capella as the Kia Concord and Capital models; even as Mazda and Ford, themselves were in the process of halting production of the GC Capella and AR/AS Telstar, and putting into production the following generation GD/GV Capella/626, the AV/AV Telstar, and their platform mate that has largely been reengineered by Ford; in order to pass as a nearly indigenous product of the Ford Motor Company: the Ford Probe.
Kia would continue to build their license-built version of the GC Mazda Capella that they called their Capital and Concord models until 1996; when they would begin to build under license a version of the contemporaneous GE Mazda Capella/626 and the AX/AY Ford Telstar; that Kia would call their Credos model.
Kia would continue to build the Credos through the time they had filed for bankruptcy in 1998, would be acquired by the fellow Korean automaker, the Hyundai Motor Company after outbidding the Ford Motor Company for acquiring Kia outright, would receive a mid-cycle refresh in 1999; and would be discontinued altogether in 2001; as Kia was in the process of ending their relationship with Mazda, and the Hyundai Motor Company was in the process of ending their relationship with Mitsubishi Motors as of this time.
I am deeply saddened over the death of Electronic Journalist and Talk Show host Phil Donahue, who had undoubtedly paved the way for Oprah Winfrey, her protégé Dr. Phil McGraw, and their Talk Shows; and also for the likes of Sally Jessy Raphael, Montel Williams, Maury Povich, Jenny Jones, and Ricki Lake; and their (sometimes Trash) Talk Shows.
Phil Donahue, at one time; had worked for Crosley/Avco Broadcasting, and WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio; before moving to fellow Crosley/Avco-owned Television Station in Dayton, Ohio; WLWD-TV (now WDTN-TV), where his Talk Show would originate from as a locally produced, in-house production of WLWD-TV starting in 1967; before becoming nationally syndicated starting in 1970, and eventually moving the production of his Talk Show to Chicago, and ultimately; to New York City until it’s ending in 1996.
Phil Donahue, for a time; had also worked at WHIO-AM-FM-TV; prior to working at a couple of the Crosley/Avco Television Stations, and ultimately, launching his local, and later nationally syndicated Talk Show.
WHIO-AM was the very first Radio Station to be owned by what is now the Cox Media Group, as the Founder of the Cox Conglomerate; one-time Governor of the U.S State of Ohio by the name of James Monroe-Middleton Cox, had put WHIO-AM on the air in 1935 as an offshoot of one of Cox’s Newspapers, the Dayton Daily News.
A few years later, in 1939; Cox would purchase the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper and their Radio Station; WSB-AM. Over time, Cox would put WHIO FM and TV, WCON-FM, and WSB-FM and TV on the air.
Well into the present day, Cox retains ownership of The Dayton Daily News Newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper, the WHIO Stations; and the WSB Stations.
A good year (1994), and better times when this photograph inside the old Studio located in Downtown Tiffin of WTTF-AM, an AM/Mediumwave Radio Station licensed to the City of Tiffin, Ohio; was taken.
Note: The City of Tiffin, Ohio; does not have anything to do with the RV Coachbuilder Tiffin, and the founder of Tiffin Motorhomes; Bob Tiffin.
Former WTTF-AM-FM afternoon announcer Ken Hawk in 1994, taken in the main on-air studio at former 185 South Washington Street studio location. The DW-76 is seen just below microphone boom (gray panel with two switches). Radiohawk at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I Am Disheartened Over The Fact That The Canadian-Based Corporation Corus Entertainment; The Final Owners Of The CFCF Radio Stations: CINW-AM (Formerly CFCF-AM And CIQC-AM) And CFQR-FM (Originally VE9CM, Later CFCF-FM, And Now CKBE-FM), and CFCX-SW; Had Shut Down Another Heritage AM/Mediumwave Station In Canada, CHML-AM In Hamilton, Ontario.
Recently, as of the time of writing this post; I had a dream in my sleep where NASCAR Driver Clint Bowyer had restored a GMC Motorhome.
General Motors had developed the GMC Motorhome originally as a Dial-A-Ride Minibus, and also as a Multi-Purpose Vehicle that could serve as an Ambulance, or a Bookmobile; and the like.
General Motors had also developed the GMC Motorhome using the front portion of the frame of the General Motors E-Platform, the Oldsmobile 455 cubic inch Rocket V8 Engine and the TH-425 Automatic Transaxle from the E-Platform Oldsmobile Toronado, and Airbag Suspension and a Dual Fuel Tank system that were designed by the Truck and Coach Division of General Motors.
Personally, I would have utilized the larger and more powerful Cadillac V8 500 cubic inch V8 Engine that had powered the Toronado’s platform mate; the Cadillac Eldorado, to power the GMC Motorhome.
An article about the development of the GMC Motorhome can be found at the link below:
An Article In The Broadcast Trade Publication Radio Incorporated About The Upheaval Caused By Many In The Broadcasting Industry Due To Small, Medium, And Large Radio Ownership Group Companies; And Individually Owned Radio Stations Alike Laying Off Employees, And Downsizing Their Workforces:
Motion Picture Stuntman John Bernecker, who had passed away in 2017 due to an accident while on the job; while still alive on this Earth prior to making the transition to Heaven and other celestial realms, needed to comprehend how much more important the Automotive world as a whole, the worlds of Amateur/Ham Radio and Commercial Broadcast Radio and Television, and Electric Fans all are than Sports and Fitness.
I Am Saddened By Audacy (Formerly Entercom Communications), A Successor Company To CBS Radio And Westinghouse/Group W; Pulling The Plug On The All-News Format Of WCBS-AM, A Format That Is A Brainchild Of William S. Paley; The Founder Of CBS.
WCBS-AM was originally put on the air in 1924 as WAHG-AM by Alfred H. Grebe (whose initials had served as the Station’s original call letters).
In 1925, WBOQ-AM (whose call letters stood for the Borough Of Queens) was also put on the air by Alfred H. Grebe. From 1928-1940, WBOQ-AM would share time with the AM Radio Station that would eventually become WCBS-AM.
In 1926, the call letters were changed to WABC-AM (which stood for the Atlantic Broadcasting Company, and no relation to Leonard Goldenson’s American Broadcasting Company, and WJZ-AM; which would later take the call letters WABC-AM).
In 1928, after a short time airing CBS Radio programming three days a week; William S. Paley would purchase Alfred H. Grebe & Company, Mr. Grebe’s Radio Stations WABC-AM and WBOQ-FM.
Alfred Grebe’s publicity manager, Bill Schudt Jr.; would stay with CBS long after the purchase of WABC-AM and WBOQ-AM; would go on to become CBS’s very first Director of Television when Bill Paley and his company had put their experimental Television Station that would ultimately become WCBS-TV on the air in 1931 with the call sign W2XAB; and Bill Schudt Jr. would retire from CBS in 1966. By the time of his retirement, Bill Schudt Jr. had held the position at CBS as the Director of Television Affiliate Relations.
In 1941, WBOQ-AM was taken off the air, and deleted from the FCC’s database of licensed AM Radio Stations; and WABC-AM would remain on the air full time from this point forward.
In 1946, Bill Paley and his company would change the call letters of his AM Radio Station, his relatively new FM Radio Station, and his Television Station from WABC-AM-FM and WCBW-TV to WCBS-AM-FM-TV.
William S. Paley, gravely concerned about the basement-low ratings of WCBS-AM and FM in the mid-1960’s; as the Old-Time Radio era had given way to Television, WCBS-AM’s part-time Middle Of The Road format was not faring as well as local competitors WNEW-AM and WOR-AM; and WCBS-FM (originally experimental FM Station W67NY) was still simulcasting WCBS-AM, and had yet to begin airing its own programming.
By and large, WCBS-AM and FM were still airing the last of CBS Radio’s Old-Time Radio programming by the mid-1960’s, and part of the time; had aired a Middle Of The Road format whenever the AM Station (and the FM Station piggybacking the AM) had aired any Music.
In 1967, WCBS-FM; along with CBS’s other owned and operated FM Radio Stations in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, Boston, and in Los Angeles; would finally cease to simulcast the programming their AM parents; and begin to air the automated Easy Listening format known as “The Young Sound”.
Also in 1967; as fate would have it, due to a small Airplane crashing into the dipole Tower of WCBS-AM on a Transmitter Site that is shared with WNBC-AM on High Island, New York (located off of the Coast of the Bronx) due to the Aircraft flying in a rainstorm with limited visibility, and accidentally crashing into, and dismantling WCBS-AM’s Tower as a result. The dipole tower is also shared with WNBC-AM, and both WCBS-AM and WNBC-AM had transmitted their signals from this very same tower. This incident, in turn; had resulted in both WCBS-AM and WNBC-AM being taken off the air, and leaving CBS with no other choice than to debut the All-News format on WCBS-FM; while the dipole tower of WCBS-AM and WNBC-AM was in the process of being reconstructed, and an Emergency/Reserve/Backup Tower that is shorter in height was also constructed in the process.
WCBS-FM would cease to air the automated Easy Listening format coined “The Young Sound” in 1969, would begin to air a live, Disc Jockey-oriented Progressive Rock format instead of the automated “The Young Sound” format; Disc Jockeys Bill Brown and Don K. Reed would both start their jobs at the FM Station right when it took its Progressive Rock format in 1969, would take the nascent and newfangled Oldies format in 1972; and Bill Brown and Don K. Reed would both stay with the FM Station long after it took the Oldies format, right up until they had both retired in 2005.
Matthew Parij 