Recently, somebody posted on Facebook a composite of the launch of The All New WIBG from 1976, which brought back a ton of memories. (You can hear what I heard by clicking on the link at the bottom of this tale.)
It all started back at CKY in Winnipeg in 1963, when I was a board op, and my boss, Jimmy Darin (Hilliard), was the program director.
Shortly after leaving Winnipeg, Jim became the PD of WFIL in Philadelphia, where he completely demolished WIBG, which the legendary Paul Drew was programming.
Okay, fast forward ten years to when Jim is the CEO of Fairbanks Broadcasting, and I’m his National PD.
Now, what I’ve always known about Jim is that even though he loves radio, he’s always been a businessman first.
So, with that in mind, and even though Fairbanks was mostly an FM company, when Jim was offered WIBG for pennies on the dollar, he couldn’t resist.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park, which I blame on Hilliard because back in the day, he’d scorched Wibbage so badly that they barely made the rating book anymore.
Unlike in Dallas, where we slowly built KVIL into a powerhouse, we decided to go full-throttle in Philadelphia.
Figuring that the call letters may still have some value, we freshened them up a little by adding “All-New” to them.”.
The first thing we did was get Hugh Heller in LA to create a bunch of new jingles and then in Indy, we produced some great promos using one of the best voices in America, Chuck Riley.
Next, we gathered together some of the talent from the Fairbanks stable: Bill Gardner and Larry Dixon from KVIL in Dallas, The Magic Christian from F105 in Boston, Chuck Riley from WIBC in Indianapolis, and old pal, Chuck Knapp from KSTP in Minneapolis.
Lord knows what went on in that huge suite that we stuffed them in, but whatever it was, I wish I could have bottled it because, for the next five days, they pounded Philly unmercifully with some great radio.
Oh, and did I mention how hilarious the dinners were every night at the Hungry Pilgrim?
When the dust finally settled and most of the guys headed home, Bill Gardner and Chuck Knapp stayed behind as Co-Program Directors.
We also hung on to Don Cannon, featured in the first Rocky movie, and then hired a couple of talented folks that Bill and Chuck knew to round out the air staff.
Speaking of talent, we had Ken Matz, Richard Hunt, Mary Margarite Myers, and Don Henderson doing news you could dance to.
And speaking of news, the good news was, with some help from the Phillies, our first book came in at a 6.9.,
Unfortunately, though, the bad news was we were living in an FM world. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given to have “All New” on an FM signal; it would have melted Philadelphia.
However, today, I’m very proud to say that it was some of the finest radio I’ve ever heard or been associated with.
(Click the link below to hear how great those guys sounded even though the engineers were still crawling around wiring stuff.)
Audio: https://app.box.com/s/ikh34k9p9hfmlsz0mr6ufk8it45hdzsc
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS
All we have left is the rest of our days, and what we do with them is entirely up to us.
I find it interesting that most women have spent their lives training to be mothers, but men who haven’t even trained for a day are expected to pick up half the workload.
Almost everyone likes progress; however, most folks dislike change but one without the other is almost impossible.
I’ve worked with a lot of good air talent over the years, and one of the best was Bill Gardner. Whenever I hired a new Jock, and they’d ask me what I wanted them to do, I would answer, “Just copy Bill.”
Women forgive, but they never forget. Men forget, but they never forgive.
After retiring from Rogers Broadcasting, CEO Gary Miles said, “Those return calls just don’t come as quick anymore.”
I find waiting for permission much too time-consuming.
A person’s name is their most prized possession, so if you spell it or say it wrong, you are in deep doo-doo, my friend.
My Daughter Candis recently told me, “Dad, I no longer listen to the words; I need action.”
When I was the National PD of Fairbanks Broadcasting, all my ideas got on the air. Unfortunately, when I became a radio consultant, I was lucky if a third of them did.
In order for radio to stay alive, it needs to do two things: move some product and prove they moved it.
Jim Hilliard had a standing order at Fairbanks, “Only George Johns gets to see the new rating book before I do because if anyone can find some good news in it, it’s gonna be him.
Has anybody ever seen any government worker who appears overworked?
So in a gay relationship, who gets fucked over?
Am I the only one who’s noticed that the girly guys only compete in non-contact female sports?
The first step is always the hardest.
The only way to skip having to say you’re sorry is by not doing what you’re sorry for.
COMMENTS
Steve Eberhart: “If you can see it, you can be it.” I paused when reading that this morning. When I was at my first radio station at the age of 16, a co-worker and I visited KVIL in Dallas. It was thee station I aspired to work for. They let us see the control room, and we stood there and admired the guys on the air. It was almost noon, so we saw Bill Gardner do his last break, and Jack Schell do his first break of the day. Behind us in an office, Ron Chapman walked out and said hello. He couldn’t have been nicer and said, “Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like; just stay out of the way.” I stood there mesmerized. It was a funky old control room with a huge Gates board, and they even still played records on turntables. I watched and could figure out what knob controlled what and envisioned myself there being on the air. A few years later, I was hired at KVIL, and my first night stood there, where I watched Bill and Jack. I felt perfectly comfortable operating that board my first night because, in my mind, I had already done it over and over. I could see it, and I did it. (To Play or Not to Play)
Geo: You understood visualization early on, Steve, and it’s probably why you own a radio station today.
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