Ever since recently attending a KVIL reunion in Dallas, a ton of memories started coming back to me like when I was hired by Fairbanks Broadcasting who had just purchased KVIL in Dallas, so it became my first project.
The reason we were stalling was because we were waiting for Arbitron to combine the Dallas and Fort Worth rating books which would put the market in the top 10. Surprisingly, the “build your own radio station” concept, which we used as our stalling technique, became so popular, that I used it to launch the Class/Classy format across North America.
When the rating books were finally combined, KVIL caught everybody flat-footed when we started unveiling our giant promotions. Our specific target was 30-year-old women so we did very well with the 25-34-year-old ladies right away. However, that didn’t translate into big 12+ numbers so the trades didn’t write about us. This though ended up helping us because the rest of the radio stations just ignored us. We could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, and we could do it unchallenged.
KVIL was becoming so popular with women of all ages that I’d even win free drinks when I claimed that I could predict a flight attendant’s favorite radio station. I, of course, only did that when I heard that Dallas accent.
Thank God cooler heads prevailed, and Jim Hilliard, who not only my boss but also a lot smarter than me, said, “Johns, don’t touch it, it’s perfect.” Sure enough, when the next rating book came out, KLIF went from first to worse and KVIL had doubled its audience and never looked back for over 20 years.
Genius secretly yearns for fame.
Bobby Orr, the world’s greatest hockey player, calls Sportsnet’s firing of Don Cherry, disgraceful.
Jed Duval George: When I worked for you at Fairbanks, you rarely dropped names. Whenever you spoke, it was to put something into motion or make a relevant comment about the direction you wanted to take the next task forward. Your blogs fill in the missing pieces of your fantastic journey thus far, but you generously credit all of those who made such an impact in your life. Thank you for the narrative, and keep them coming! (Hollywood Knights)
Hi George, Please let Bob Hill know that I remember getting the baseball from him over 40 years ago. I still have it, and I’ve added many Hall of Fame names to it. I have Mays, Mantle, Berra, Aaron, DiMaggio, and several others on the ball. It’s one of a kind. It will be passed on to my son and grandchildren. I have always appreciated his help in getting it to me.
Concerning my advancing years, I’m just elated that I’m still here. I just wish radio was as healthy as I am.
Stay well, George. (Whose Caddy Is That?)
Your Eldorado story reminded of Charlie Van Dyke, who came to KLIF the Mighty 1190 in 1977 to do mornings for one last gasp for a formerly AM legend. He bought a beautiful black Biarritz when he got to Dallas.
I worked mid-days, and when we looked out the window to the north, there was a KVIL billboard with Ron, Larry, and Seldon. Taped to the window of our studio was a sign with an arrow that pointed toward the billboard. It simply said, “Get ’em.” :o) After KLIF, I moved with Edd Routt to Mobile to program WKRG-FM. I took all the knowledge I had learned from KLIF and from listening to KVIL and applied it. We went from a 4 share to a 20.8 12+ in our first book. Flipped the market leader WABB on its ass. A year later I came back to Dallas as Production Director of WFAA/KZEW. That lasted a few years and finally, Dave Spence called me and offered me my dream job, working at KVIL as Operations Manager. That lasted until Mel bought the place and the economy went to hell. Billing dropped significantly and my job was eliminated 2 weeks before Christmas 87. I left radio for advertising, production, and jingles. Best move I ever made. Much more lucrative. But I miss what radio used to be. Thanks for your column. I enjoy it. (Whose Caddy Is That?)
Geo: Great seeing you, old friend. “Oh What A Nite.”
Wow. First I’d heard this story of how unscrupulous KLIF was. Too bad I didn’t know this at the time, because Arbitron would have been VERY grateful to know they were committing diary distortion, or if they technically weren't, maybe ARB would have modified their rules. This is how lame KLIF was in the mid-70s: Driving around one day Becky & I heard the Mighty 11-90 play James & Bobby Purify, I’m Your Puppet. We were talking, not really paying attention to the radio when we were suddenly distracted by the song JUMPING A GROOVE about 2/3 into the song. Now remember, their music was on cart at the time. (How did they not catch this?) So we used to call at various times of the day to request Puppet We requested it numerous times over a year until they finally noticed. Talk about attention to detail. No wonder we beat them.
Fairchild (KLIF’s owner) hired RKO’s Paul Drew to Craft “one last dance” in 1977. I was fortunate enough to be the PD at that time. I was surrounded by a magnificent staff and great leadership under Edd Routt Who was a friend until his passing. while the end was inevitable, it will always remain as one of the text book examples of what a great staff can do when they play to win.
Never realized that Paul Drew was involved, Jim. How fun!
I grew up in Dallas and for me personally there was a big difference between KLIF and KVIL. When I was a kid I’d stay up after my bedtime and listen to KLIF on my transistor radiio under the covers. When I was a young adult I’d listen to KVIL on my bad ass stereo system and on top of my covers. Long live radio!
Thanks for the read, Chris.