Ac Radieo: The wad it was ... The wad it is

By Gary Berkowitz

My introduction to AC radio came in the hack In no time I knew all about Charlotte, thanks Miami. As new stations that appealed to adults were WWI (Q95)/Detroit, WQAL (0104) /Cleveland to 1110 WBT; Boston like it was right next seat of my parents' car in the mid -'60s. I vivid- seemed popped up on FM, AM stations, both Top 40 and and WBMX (Mix 98.5)/Boston. Unlike the Soft ACs,

ly remember driving home from my cousins' door, thanks to The Spirit of 103," WBZ; I thought MOR, began to feel the ratings pinch. AC as we these stations played hotter and newer music by house in New Jersey to my home in New York Ft. Wayne, IN was a huge city, thanks to 1190 know it today was well on its way. and hearing a simple jingle that still echoes in WOWO; and I knew I had hit the jackpot when I AC Arrives Today's AC radio continues to my mind: "W- N -E -W, 11 -30 in New York." That discovered WCFL and WLS in Chicago. In the early '80s stations were leaving the Beau- was my parents' favorite radio station. To me, As a kid, of course I loved the Top 40 stations. tiful Music format and transitioning to what was embrace favorites from the

I lived for Harry Harrison and Jack Spector on AC. It was vocals, it mixed it was the ultimate uncool station. Each trip called Soft all and '60s, '70s and '80s but has would begin with, "Ma, can we pleeeeeeease WMCA. WABC's Herb Oscar Anderson and Cous- mostly gold -based music with a few of the best listen to WABC or WMCA ?" Of course. the an- in Brucie were "Kings of the songs of the day. also made room for swer was always, plain and simple, no! Kids." However, those adult sta- In 1979, after a long career contemporary artists such Looking back, WNEW was quite a radio sta- tions always had that aura of big - as a Top 40 PD at PRO -FM/ tion. The industry referred to it as an MOR sta- time radio for me. Providence, I moved on to the as Sheryl Crow and PD gig tion. I knew it as a station that played my par- The Beautiful at WROR /Boston. ents' favorite music. The music they grew up with, Music Era Then -GM Tom Baker ex- Three Doors Down. as well as new releases from their favorite artists Back in the mid -'60s we all plained that his vision for of the day. It was Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, knew there was this thing called WROR was to transition from artists like Whitney Houston and Phil Collins, who Steve & Edie and many others from the '40s, '50s FM. It was the home to different Oldies to this new contempo- were up- and -coming artists at the time. and '60s. It was music that our parents were com- kinds of radio stations than those rary format called AC. We had Before long it seemed as though every market fortable with because they could not stand all that on AM. In many cases they were great resources: Bill Moyes had not just one, but sometimes two or three AC rock 'n' roll that we liked from The Beatles and simulcasts of the big AM stations and the Research Group, a stations. Usually, one was soft, one mainstream The Rolling Stones. or formats that were referred to generous TV budget and a siz- and one hot. Before long a merger took place, and AC Everybody on WNEW was a celebrity. Klavan as "underground." I discovered able talent budget. Soft and mainstream became just about the Gary B & Finch in the morning. William B. Williams, Julie Dan Ingram on WABC -FM/New erkowitz Ratings grew quickly. At the same format, while Hot AC continued to stand on LaRosa and Ted Brown. Even the overnight jock York (now WPLJ), and it sounded very different time the leading stations doing this new AC for- its own. was a star, because he hosted The Milkman's and almost weird without all the reverb. mat were WFYR/Chicago, WAXY/Miami and, of Today And Tomorrow Matinee. Also, big stars were always stopping by FM took off, and with it came FM car convert- course, Ron Chapman's incredible KVIUDallas. AC continues as a leading format across the WNEW. ers. If you were wealthy, you actually had a built - Core artists were Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton - U.S. For the most part, the AC in town is always WNEW seemed to be the station that every- in AM -FM radio in your car (it was always an op- John, Kenny Rogers, Barbra Streisand and Air top five 25 -54 and usually No. 1 with women 25- one's parents listened to. It captivated them and tion). In markets all over the country there were Supply. New emerging adult artists were Gloria 54. Today's major- market AC leaders include held their interest. Sure, there were other adult new formats, all on FM and all mostly instrumen- Estefan, Lionel Richie and a new duo named Hall WMJX/Boston, KOST /Los Angeles, KOIT/San stations in New York (WNBC, WOR), but WNEW tal. Known as Beautiful Music stations, they quick- & Oates. Francisco and WBEB /Philadelphia. Medium -mar- seemed to be the one. Interestingly, it had no po- ly grew in listenership. By the late '80s-early '90s, AC radio was in full ket winners include great stations such as WDOK/ sitioning statement, played commercials after In New York it was WPAT, WRFM and WTFM. swing across the country. Women were captivat- Cleveland, KEZK/St. Louis and WEAT/West Palm In San Francisco it was KABL. Chicago had WLAK ed by the format, and AC stations dominated Ar- Beach. Even in the smaller markets, AC domi- Barbra Streisand, Neil (FM 100), Pittsburgh had WSHH (Wish), and in nates. The sound of AC is everywhere you go. Boston it was WJIB. These were very soft stations By the late '80s -early '90s, Diamond, Johnny Mathis and From KIST/Santa Rosa, CA to KELO -FM, Sioux with very little, if any, personality. Core artists were AC radio was in full swing Falls, SD, AC is a winning format. Kenny Rogers Percy Faith, Frank Chaksfield and many others. began As it always has, AC music continues to tran- Turns out that most of these Beautiful Music sta- across the country. Women sition. In the early days it was all about Percy Faith, appearing on formerly tions' programming was provided by syndicators Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond. Today's AC such as Jim Shulke, Bonneville and a few others. were captivated by the instrumental -only stations. radio continues to embrace favorites from the The late '60s and early to mid -'70s were great format, and AC stations '60s, '70s and '80s but has also made room for This was the beginning of the years for Beautiful Music, then the transition be- contemporary artists such as Sheryl Crow and gan. The big question of the day was "Should we dominated Arbitron. format now known as AC. Three Doors Down. add vocals ?" As in most format progressions, The hallmarks that have always made AC ra- there were many opinions, but before long, Bar- bitron. From Chicago's WLIT to New York's dio great still exist today though: music that is each song and never talked about commercial - bra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Johnny Mathis and WLTW, AC was hot. familiar and comfortable for adults and warm and free hours or "22 in a row." It was adult, and it Kenny Rogers began appearing on previously in- Hello, Hot AC friendly DJs to present it. was contemporary, so I guess you could say it strumental -only stations. This was the beginning was one of the first AC stations. of the format now known as AC. This was also when the first AC format split Gary Berkowitz is President and founder of A About the same time that I became aware of that At the same time this was happening, so was occurred. The format was so successful that oth- Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting. former air per- great WNEW jingle, the radio bug bit. The GE AM the migration of mainstream formats to FM. Top ers wanted to join in. Research was conducted, sonality, PD, OM and Station Manager, he spe- radio in my room allowed me to not only listen to 40s began to move from AM to FM. Among the and programmers realized that, in order to com- cializes in the programming of AC stations in all local stations, but stations up and down the East- earliest were WOR -FM/New York, which went on pete, they had to be different. Hot AC was born. sized markets. Contact him at 248 -737-3727 or ern seaboard and throughout the Midwest as well. to become RKO's now- famous "99X," and WMXJ/ Some of the earliest converts to this format [email protected].