We created a new format
which became
radio’s new way
It turned out so good
 I still use it today

When I worked in Canadian radio, a radio station license was predicated upon what programming you promised the CRTC (FCC) you would do.
When Ted Rogers applied for CFTR’s license, he pledged to program to adults.

When I showed up in Toronto, CFTR was playing standards which included Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, and others.
The format wasn’t successful because the biggest station in town was not only doing the same kind of thing, they were doing it so much better.

My job was to develop a plan as quickly as possible for as little money as possible.
When I presented it to Ted Rogers and Keith Dancy, I began with a question.

“Gentlemen,” I said, “At what age do you become an adult in Canada?” They responded, “Twenty-one.”
“Then,” I asked, “Why aren’t we playing music for all adults rather than just for people older than my parents?”

“My wife is 30,” I said, ‘Why can’t she and her friends find the music they like on the radio?”
Nervously, Ted said, “George, are you planning on playing rock music because, as you know, our license won’t allow it?”

“Absolutely not,” I told him, “My wife and her girlfriends don’t like rock music almost as much as they don’t like the music you’re currently playing.
When I told them that I planned to play nothing but hits except for the loud ones. they looked at each and then Ted said, “George, take your plan to the CRTC; if they buy it, so do I.”

Even though I’d vowed never to return to Ottawa, there I was on the front steps of the CRTC building.
The CRTC folks couldn’t have been more cordial; not only did they greet me warmly, but a few even claimed that they were fans of my work at CFRA and congratulated me on my new job at CFTR.

After thanking me for not having a bunch of lawyers with me, they asked how they could help.
I told them I wanted to make major musical changes at CFTR, but Mr. Rogers insisted I run my plan by you first.

When they said, “We don’t care what kind of music you play; we only care about who’s listening,” I was shocked.
“We, like you,” they continued, “Will be very interested in what the ratings say. If they say that CFTR’s audience is mostly adults, you won’t hear from us, but if not, tell Mr. Rogers that we’ll be in touch.”

At that moment, Adult Contemporary Radio was born, and all I had to do now was figure out what the hell that was.
After I brought Ted and Keith up to speed  about my CRTC meeting, their only question was, “When does it start?”After hearing “When does it start,” which was Ted and Keith’s only but me question, I realized that I had a program director’s dream job.
I could do anything I wanted whenever I wanted to.

However, I also realized that with that freedom came the responsibility of succeeding.
There I was with no money, no research, nobody to copy, and nobody to blame but me.

Talk about pressure; not only did I have to figure out what tunes would attract adult women without attracting teens, but I also had to do it quickly.
Luckily a few days earlier, I had a very productive dinner with Buzz Bennet from San Diego. (Buzz pictured above)

Buzz told me that when he was programming KCBQ, the ratings exploded when he began playing a bunch of oldies along with the currents.
He also showed me the clocks he used at the “Q” and told me the reason for saying the call letters first, which he got from Marshall McLuhan.

CFTR had an extensive music library, so I had an intern dig out all the top 10 records from the last ten years and leave them for me in the corner of the music library.
Then when nobody was around on the weekend, I began listening to them.

What I was looking for were the perfect 100 records to kick off the new format with.
Having been involved in music my whole life, I kinda had an ear for it, but mostly, I was looking for the records I didn’t want to play.

It was easy to eliminate the ones that were too loud or too old or corny, but figuring out whether a tune had any class or not was a whole other thing
The toughest part about all this was, like I said, unlike CHUM, who were copying CKLW in Detroit, I had nobody to copy

Once I found the perfect records, I only needed the perfect moment to launch.
That moment arrived on March 14th, 1972, when an ice storm took CFTR off the air.

When Keith Dancy and his secretary, Janine, picked me up that day to ride to work, she asked if I had any idea when I would launch the new format, I said, “The moment we go back on the air.”

Within a few hours after the world’s first Adult Contemporary Radio Station hit the airwaves, the Toronto radio community was in an uproar.
They were calling the CRTC and asking how we could play top-40 music without a public hearing, but the CRTC just ignored them.

They didn’t get it, and neither did the sales staff at KVIL when a little over a year later, we launched the same thing in Dallas.
The only people who got it were the listeners, but then again, the sales folks in Dallas kind of got it when they became the #3 biggest biller in America.

Radio folks, for whatever reason, all believe that hit records are rock records, but what we were really doing was just a modern version of MOR, but instead of Sinatra, Tony and Ella, I played, Elton, Cher and Billy.
The format would eventually be called Adult Contemporary when KVIL in Dallas became the industry’s new darling.

Back in ’72, though, I was wishin’ hopin’ and prayin’ that the Toronto ladies had better ears than the Toronto Broadcasters.
Oh, and Ted Rogers was betting his license on that being true.

The station sounded great; not only was the music familiar, but so were our announcers.
We had some of the best voices in Canada, Bob McAdorey, Earl Mann, Roger Klein, Sandy Hoyt, Don Parrish, The Magic Christian, Doc Harris, and Stirling Faux.

Most of these guys did all the national commercials, so their smooth and rich delivery added to our adult sound.

However, as I said back in Chapter XIX (What IF), I was pissed at CHUM for what I felt was their abandonment of me in Ottawa.
So needing an enemy, they, of course, were an easy choice even though what we were doing at CFTR had little to do with them.

Before long, we started dropping juicy tidbits to the record ducks, which we knew would soon make it over to CHUM.
Then when we heard that they had placed a spy on our staff, I claimed that I had one at their station, which I didn’t, but I couldn’t resist feeding their guy a lot of misinformation.

I also had a replica of their current billboard hanging in my office, but instead of it saying, “CHUM ROCKS,” it read, “CHUM SUCKS.”
I also stole the Magic Christian from them because I wanted to use the KCBQ formatics, and he already knew how to do them.

I bet they were also pissed when they heard that Duke Roberts and I had dinner and a pleasant chat at my place.
As I said, though, what I was doing at CFTR had nothing to do with them; I only wanted to make them squirm a little.

Then when Ted Rogers popped into my office to tell me that he had just gotten a call from Allan Waters saying some very nasty things about me, I knew I’d succeeded.

Thinking back, I was much more excited about our air talent than our music, so I couldn’t help but send my mentor, Jim Hilliard, a little bragging demo tape.
After hearing it, Jim said, “Your jocks sound stiff, man; in fact, most of them sound like production guys. Your music, however, is fu*king incredible; let’s talk about that.”