BIGGEST TECH STORIES OF THE MILLENNIUM
At any given time, three factors have tended to impact Radio’s evolution: technological developments, business interests and regulation. But it all starts with technology. From telegraph to Radio. From AM to FM. From analog to digital. Willingness to abandon the tried and true regardless of promised improvements is the biggest challenge. As David Martin, former group head, consultant and author of the upcoming book “Leadership in the Creative Organization” puts it, “The replacement of embedded technology has been and will continue to be a very, very important part of what happens to our media.” Just as it was hard to switch to FM when your car only had an AM Radio, it will be difficult for new technologies to displace current systems. Difficult, but not impossible. Here are some of the changes we’ve already seen.

1) “THE TUBES”
With the 20th century came a rapid evolution of inventions, business interests, university experiments and consumer curiosity, all of which were critical to making Radio a reality. Marconi was not the only person working on Radio prior to 1910. From Sir John Fleming’s diode tube to Lee de Forest’s Audion tube, Radio signals were improving, but it was not until 1918 that Edwin Armstrong invented one of the most important wireless technological advancements: the Superheterodyne system, which decreased the “howling” sound of AM. Radio was now ready for listeners, and by 1922, $60 million would be spent on Radio sets.


2) 8XK (later KDKA) Philadelphia
On November 2, 1920, the returns were in. Coverage of the Harding-Cox presidential race made news, and Westinghouse engineer Dr. Frank Conrad made history with the broadcast of those results. While there is some debate as to which station was actually first (C.D. “Doc” Herrald’s KQW San Jose started in 1909; Station 8MK, later WWJ, Detroit ran some programs earlier in 1920. WBZ Boston, WHA Madison and CFCF Canada are among those who share the claim), it was 8XK who continued with regularly scheduled broadcasts designed to reach the public, as opposed to intermittent, experimental attempts.
When a Westinghouse VP discovered a newspaper ad offering Radio equipment “for those who want to tune in the Westinghouse station,” he realized for the first time the impact those modest broadcasts were making in the community. The company then moved forward with plans to formalize the station, which took the call letters KDKA.


3) CAR RADIOS
In 1927, the development that allowed “drive time” became reality with the introduction of automobile Radios. While almost all early Radios were battery sets, especially in rural areas where there was no electricity, by the late ’20s Radios running on electricity were increasing, with battery-operated units finding a new home on the road. By the ’30s, car Radios were becoming “standard equipment,” with manufacturers like Crosley advertising that listening in-car was “as easy as sounding your horn.” By 1946, 35 million homes and 6 million automobiles had Radios.


4) FM
Given the massive communications explosion created by the arrival of AM Radio, it may seem surprising that FM did not garner the same excitement for quite some time. In fact, when Edwin Armstrong demonstrated FM for his old friend David Sarnoff at NBC, the idea was summarily dismissed as too threatening to AM. In 1935, the FCC allocated some channels to FM, but the frequencies were largely unsuitable and scattered all over the dial. The FCC authorized commercial FM broadcasting in 1940, but it would not be until after World War II that FM would be assigned its current spectrum. Ironically at that time, FM frequencies were being used by Crosley to broadcast to the first home facsimile machines, a technology that would virtually disappear for another half-century. Although Armstrong had demonstrated that FM had several advantages over AM, including no static and noninterference with other stations, FM still had naysayers and challenges. “Some guys didn’t want to be in stereo because in stereo you lose anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent of coverage,” according to Rolleye James. Cost containment was also an issue. “Even though they were a full Class C, some operators were running 18,000-20,000 watts just to save money”. Others simply turned their licenses back in to the FCC. However, by 1947, some 2 million FM sets were in use, with 238 stations on the air, and another 680 construction permits granted. By 1961, the FCC finally authorized FM Stereo, which combined with the already clean sound on FM, began to attract the Baby Boomer generation to the band. “FM Radio really took hold when that next generation of receiver technology presented FM as an option,” says David Martin. At the same time, the FCC turned down a petition for AM Stereo — a move that eventually allowed FM to overtake AM as the preferred sound medium.

5) MAGNETIC AUDIOTAPE
Up until the early ’50s, it was quite common to hear that a program had been “transcribed, or electronically reproduced.” Electrical transcriptions (ETs) were glorified records which some stations refused to air because of dubious quality, and wire recorders had been relegated primarily to archival use. In 1947, Ampex was among the first companies to offer reusable, recordable electromagnetic audiotape, which revolutionized broadcasting. Bing Crosby’s “Kraft Music Hall” was one of the first shows to be regularly recorded, since Crosby did not like being tied down to a weekly live broadcast. Within a few years tape became the industry standard. By the mid-’60s, Vernon Nolte, a station producer and continuity writer, found himself frustrated by miscues and operator error with commercial tapes. His solution: an endless loop of tape, “where the operator only had to push one button then wouldn’t have to think about it again.” After discussion with some engineering colleagues, the cart machine was born. Shortly thereafter, companies like IGM and Schaeffer merged tape and cart technologies for the first automation systems. Cassette tape arrived in the ’60s (close on the heels of the short-lived 8-track “consumer cartridge”), and audiotape remained the standard well into the 1990s.


6) RECORDED MUSIC
From Radio’s earliest days, music has been an integral part of the programming mix. While some of the earliest broadcasts involved Thomas Edison’s 78-rpm “Victrola” technology, most early music was performed live, emanating from hotel ballrooms and specially built studios. Even though many stations had their own staff orchestras, as early as the 1920s, artists complained that Radio stations were using their works without permission, and usually without compensation. By 1922, ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) was formed, followed in 1939 by BMI. By 1948, RCA introduced the 45-rpm record and Columbia released the first 33 1/3-rpm long-playing record. The “little record with the big hole” later came to be largely associated with teen-oriented Top 40 Radio, while “the big records with the little holes” became the preferred mode for more “serious” music genres such as Classical, Jazz and Album Rock. Records remained the industry standard until the arrival of the compact disc (CD) in 1979. Within 10 years vinyl had become a rarity.

7) REGULATION, RE-REGULATION AND DEREGULATION
When Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927 the Federal Radio Commission was created to oversee the issuance of licenses, the allocation of frequency bands to various classes of station (including ship and air), the assignment of frequencies to specific stations and the designation of station power. It did not, however, control telegraph and telephone carriers. That came with the Communications Act of 1934, and the creation of a new, more powerful Federal Communications Commission. Among the regulations: all new stations must have a four call letter designation, with stations East of the Mississippi starting with a “W,” and those to the West starting with a “K.” With Docket 80-90, additional stations were “dropped in” to existing markets, and a “use or lose” provision forced broadcasters either to operate at their fully licensed power, or forever operate at a lower level. By the early ’80s, public service requirements were discontinued, the 18-minute commercial limit was removed, program logs become optional and the famed third class Radiotelephone operators license (and broadcast endorsement) were eliminated. President Bill Clinton, in his 1996 State of the Union address, talked about this “age of technology, information and global competition.” Shortly thereafter, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the entire communications landscape, reversing laws, rules and regulations that had been built up over decades. Anti-monopoly rules were virtually eliminated, as were cross-media ownership considerations. An FCC Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) auction raised a total of $735 million, and auctions of the wireless telephone spectrum yielded $10 billion. As for the impact on individual Radio stations, “the hope for some people was that when a company would own eight stations in a market, they try to experiment with the seventh or eighth down the line,” says Rolleye James. But with the prices, that’s not been the case. Instead of taking chances, they’re trying to find ways to be more cost effective.”


8) SATELLITE

First there was Sputnik. Then Telstar. Then the United States issued the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, marking the beginning of some dramatic advances in satellite communications. By 1974, Western Union’s Westar, with RCA technology, marked the first use of a satellite for domestic communications.
By the early 1980s, most Radio stations had at least one Scientific Atlanta dish receiving network feeds, wire services and other program materials. By the late ’80s, hundreds of stations were broadcasting satellite-delivered formats, returning almost full-circle to the pre-television days of “network Radio.” By the late ’90s, Direct Broadcast Satellite providers CD Radio (later called Serius) and XM Satellite Radio begin staffing up, with anticipated launches set for early in the 21st century.

9) COMPUTERS
Technology transformed Radio once again with the advent of computers. Where traffic and bookkeeping for a single station could take three or four full-time employees, computerized traffic systems could allow one traffic person to do two or more stations. Word processing, sales presentations, ratings analysis and even technical operations began to be handled quickly and (usually) efficiently with computers. There were also applications for the programming side, most notably in the area of music management. Radio Computing Services (RCS) of Scarsdale, NY, introduced Selector in 1979. With the introduction of the IBM-compatible personal computer (PC) in 1981, demand became widespread. “Up until then, program directors were basing their entire program schedule on what we used to call ‘style books’ … pages of marked sheets with either checkoffs or initials or bar codes or stickers or letters or numbers, or in many cases, all of those,” says RCS’ Tom Zarecki. “What Selector did was take the opinions or abilities of the program director and put them in the computer, so that when the computer schedules, it schedules based on the rules the PD would have followed manually, which many people were doing up until that date.” As information technology has become more affordable, its applications are more widespread. A check of a recent broadcast directory revealed more than 100 companies offering software solutions to broadcasters, not including Internet service providers. As one programmer commented, “where it was once a rarity to see even a laptop computer at a convention, now it’s unusual not to see people jotting notes in their Palm Pilots, sending faxes and e-mails, and even monitoring their stations via the Web.”


10) INTERNET — Webcasting

Now at the dawn of the 21st century, multimedia, computer-based communications are rolling out at unprecedented rates. The global information society is virtually here. As David Martin put it, “Once we have arrived at that world of broadband interactive wireless, once that becomes the new technology, the entire world will change again.” Radio stations are beginning to use the Internet as both a marketing arm and a distribution channel, with current opportunities for user choice, interactivity and e-commerce barely scratching the surface. “In our lifetime we will see media created, and delivered and fulfilled in ways we never thought of,” adds Martin.


10 TALENT WHO HAVE HAD THE MOST IMPACT & WHY

1) H.V. KALTENBORN
Regarded as Radio’ s first commentator, Hans V. Kaltenborn came to WEAF New York as a lecturer on current events, and became one of the most important voices in Radio history. How big was he? After the panic caused by Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast, his wife commented: “Why, how ridiculous. Anybody should have known it was not a real war. If it had been, the broadcaster would have been Hans.”


2) ARTHUR GODFREY
You couldn’t call him a singer, though he sang. He wasn’t a comedian, although he kidded around. Of his ukulele, the less said the better. But call him a “personality,” a “communicator” and “host,” and the description gets closer. He invented the daily talk show, which began on CBS Radio in the ’40s and was simulcast on TV into the early ’60s.


3) AL JARVIS/MARTIN BLOCK — MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM
While neither of these guys was the first to play a record on the air, both are credited, almost in tandem, with creating the “Disk Jockey” concept. Al Jarvis presented the “Make Believe Ballroom” on KFWB (then KELW) in 1932. By 1935 Martin Block rolled out a show with the same name on WNEW New York, and became the first DJ to cross over to movies when “Make Believe Ballroom” was released in 1949.


4) PAUL HARVEY
Perhaps the greatest wordsmith of broadcasting’s 20th century, Paul Harvey earned distinction during his colorful coverage of World War II. By the later ’40s he was doing the daily commentaries that continue to this day. “As a boy I fell in love with words and ran away from home to join the Radio,’ he says. One of the most-listened-to voices in America, Harvey became so popular that the city of Chicago renamed the street in front of his studios “Paul Harvey Drive.” And that’s the rest of the story!


5) J.P. McCARTHY
In the arena of full-service morning hosts, one name keeps coming up: Detroit’s J.P. McCarthy. “This guy was a part of your life, and that’s a status that very few people achieve,” says veteran Detroit broadcaster Dick Kernan. “You get to a certain point on the Radio where people listen to you because you’re part of their life, which is where the ‘legendary’ thing comes in, and when McCarthy died, people missed that.” Equating it to cartoonist Charles Schultz retiring, he adds, “Reading the paper is about reading ‘Peanuts,’ and getting up in Detroit for a whole lot of people for 30 some years was about listening to J.P. McCarthy.”


6) ALAN FREED
While others were working on the formatics that would create Top 40, “The King of the Moondoggers” was making up his own rules, and embracing the rock ’n’ roll music that would become the focus of the format. From Akron to Cleveland to New York’s WINS, he was a rock ’n’ roll star, if not the strongest performer on-air. “When you listen to tapes of Alan Freed, you don’t hear somebody who is a marvelous format jock,” says Rolleye James. “What you hear is the fact that he knew the music. He was into what was going to motivate his listeners. For the jock of the ’50s, the music was an extension of his personality.” He further extended the art form by appearing with artists like Little Richard and Bill Haley in “Rock Around the Clock” (1955), “Don’t Knock the Rock” (1956) and “Mister Rock and Roll” (1957).


7) GARY OWENS
The talent that began to emerge at KOIL Omaha really blossomed by the time Gary Owens got to Hollywood. He became a true multimedia star, with Radio success leading to notoriety as the ear-cupped announcer on Rowen & Martin’s “Laugh-In,” followed by countless commercial voiceovers and even cartoon voices.
“Gary has become one of the most decorated broadcasters in Los Angeles Radio history,” says Don Barrett, author of “Los Angeles Radio People, Vol. 1 & 2.” His star on the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame is right next to Walt Disney’s, and he has received tremendous national recognition including the NAB Lifetime Achievement Award.


8) RICK DEES
Ben Fong-Torres, in his book “The Hits Just Keep On Coming,” calls Dees “the poster boy of contemporary Top 40, its most vocal champion, and its greatest success story.” With his novelty hit “Disco Duck” having already topped the charts, his move up the legendary KHJ happened just as AM Top 40 was starting to go down. Fortunately, he ended up at KIIS-FM, where he achieved tremendous success, leading to his own weekly syndicated Radio show and various TV projects along with numerous broadcasting awards.


9) HOWARD STERN
With a list of Radio renegades that includes Joey Reynolds, Wolfman Jack, the Greaseman and many others, the concept of pushing the envelope is nothing new. But as the self-proclaimed “King of all Media,” Stern, whose brilliant but sometimes raunchy antics have netted both a fanatical audience coast-to-coast, and over $2 million in FCC fines, has successfully tackled Radio and TV, and his book “Private Parts” was made into a popular movie.


10) RUSH LIMBAUGH
When Ed McLaughlin first broached the idea of a nationally syndicated daytime talk show, the prevailing logic was that it would never work. However, times were changing. “By the early 80’s, we weren’t saying ‘is Radio dead’, we were saying is AM Radio dead, so again we had a non-viable, worthless medium, so what happens? … we were able to challenge some basic assumptions,” says James. With a program focused on entertainment value as much as politics, he “became an anchor for stations that heretofore could never have afforded to be talk,” she adds. Today he boasts an audience of more than 20 million avid “dittoheads,” tuning in for a program that entertains, provokes and sometimes persuades, with his “talent on loan from God.” Very simply put, Rush is the Michael Jordan of Talk Radio,” says Andrew Ashwood, operations manager for Clear Channel flagship WOAI San Antonio. “He set the standard for an entire generation of hosts, very few who actually get anywhere near his daily level of execution and entertainment,” he adds.



10 PDs WHO IMPACTED OUR BUSINESS

1) BILL STEWART
Working first with McClendon, then Storz, he was the prototype and role model for the National Program Director position, who popularized the concept “play the hits.” He is also credited with the concept of category rotations (playing the “best” songs more frequently than the rest), and adding form and structure to the evolving Top 40 form.


2) BILL DRAKE
Inventor (with PD Ron Jacobs) of the “Boss Jock” format at KHJ and other RKO stations, creator of “The History of Rock & Roll” (syndicated by Drake-Chenault), and instrumental in the early success of K-EARTH 101. Drake was, as the late Robert W. Morgan put it at KHJ’s 25th anniversary party, “the only guy who never had to copy the Drake format.”


3) RICK SKLAR
“Rick was a master showman,” says Steve Goldstein, former APD at WABC, now VP/programming for Saga Communications. “Groundbreaking contests, incredible forward momentum, and ultra tight music. The famous axiom ‘play it until you are sick of it and then play it for one more month’ originated at WABC.”
Under his reign, WABC became known as “the most-listened-to station in the nation.”


4) LEE ABRAMS
When ABC decided to try Album Rock on their FM O&O’s (what’s this??), Detroit’s WRIF proved to be the right place at the right time for Lee Abrams as the next generation of mass appeal Radio was beginning to take shape. “He took the Top 40 principles he learned at WQAM and at Storz, and applied them to Progressive Radio, and came up with ‘Superstars’ which was basically a Top 40 format of album cuts,” says James. In 1986, he helped launch the 24-hour heavy metal format, Z-Rock, and is currently charting a new course again as senior VP/content and programming for XM Satellite Radio.


5) JIM SHULKE
Although synonymous with the “Beautiful Music” format he perfected, Shulke’s tight formatics and strict guidelines lead to a major milestone: the first FM station in history to have more listeners than AM Radio in the market. Many of his innovations remain in use by PDs today. “The concept of long music sweeps, recorded station liners, matched music flow, short commercial breaks and even dayparting all started with Schulke,” says Peter McLane, VP/GM of KGGO/KHKI/KKDM Des Moines. “He also brought to us continuity control, which forbid the airing of strident commercials or anything that would break the mood of the Radio station”. Once it was proven that FM could dominate listening shares, more and more broadcasters began paying attention to their FMs, and at one point, more than 150 FMs from coast to coast were “Shulke stations.”


6) RON CHAPMAN
When Fairbanks Broadcasting entered the Dallas market in 1973, KVIL-FM was a low-rated station playing what incoming GM George Johns referred to as “cocktail music.” “The marketing budget was nil, but one resource already on board was morning man/PD Ron Chapman,” Johns recalls. An original McClendon guy, (who was also the original “Charlie” of “Charlie and Harrigan” fame), Chapman was the perfect choice to lead the charge, reshaping the best of McClendon-style Top 40, not only for FM, but for a new target demographic. “KVIL was the first Radio station in the USA to do adult Radio using hit records,” adds Johns. The new Adult Contemporary format was a success, first in ratings, then in revenues. “When the billing hit $2 million a month, my phone went off the hook with everyone asking questions.”


7) RANDY MICHAELS
As head honcho at Jacor, his antics were the stuff of legends. From a convention appearance in red, white and blue boxer shorts to being carried in on a mobile throne preceded by a bevy of beautiful women dropping rose petals, he knows how to make an entrance. But behind the showmanship is a savvy programming, marketing and operational mind. As PD, he revitalized a floundering WLW in Cincinnati, returning “the BIG One” to legendary status at a time when many AMs were in decline. As president of Clear Channel Radio, that deep-rooted love and respect for “big stick” AM Radio is apparent in any number of markets, with the example he set at WLW leading the way.


8) BOBBY RICH
In the fall of 1977, San Diego’s KFMB-FM (B-100) made history as the first Contemporary Hit FM to reach No. 1 among total persons 12+. PD Bobby Rich recalls, “When we put that thing on the air, our idea was to keep the AM (targeted) 25+, and FM could be a 12-24 target, and we wouldn’t get in each other’s way.” After tremendous success with a “screaming high-energy Top 40,” Bobby then moved on to stations in New York, LA and Philadelphia, only to return in 1983 to face a new challenge: skewing the station a bit older, while retaining an uptempo, contemporary feel. That’s when the concept of “Hot AC” was created. “Musically, literally it was all the songs of the last 10 years that shared chart success on both AC and CHR,” says Rich. “Presentation-wise, it was a grown-up Top 40 station. Lots of fun, great jocks, great promotions, but all with a good, natural presentation,” he adds. The popular “Rich Brothers” morning show which featured Bobby along with Frank Anthony, Pat Gaffey and Scott Kenyon, B100 also contributed to the ratings leadership that lasted for years to come.


9) LARRY DANIELS
As Country Radio came into dominance in the late ’80s and early ’90s, KNIX Phoenix was one of the most respected, most honored and most imitated Country outlets in the nation. Under PD Larry Daniels, the Buck Owens-owned station introduced the concept of “Continuous Country,” while adding fresh, contemporary production values to the format. During this time, KNIX also took concert and event marketing to new levels, while introducing some of the first formalized “at-work listening” and database programs, earning numerous national awards while maintaining market leadership in ratings, revenues and community service for more than a decade.


10) SCOTT SHANNON
In 1982, Contemporary Hit Radio came back with a vengeance, and when it did, it was largely at the hands of Z100 New York’s Scott Shannon. Although Hit Radio had begun to make a comeback on stations like KULF (KKBQ-AM) Houston, and even Shannon’s Q105 Tampa, it was Z100 that became the role model for a new generation of Hit Radio stations. “I certainly hope that future generations will be able to look back and understand just how powerful and influential Scott Shannon really was,” says Talentmasters President Don Anthony.
I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone who cared so much about the quality of his work,” he adds, noting a passion for excellence. “Scott is also an inventor, and (with the morning ‘Zoo’) he created a concept that changed the way a lot of morning shows do morning shows.”


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