ADDENDUM: (Click each image above for larger view. Last three images click on twice for expanded view). This article first appeared in print in the Detroit News, Sunday Magazine, August 16, 1970. Written by News Television and Radio critic Frank Judge. Special thanks goes out to Jim Heddle for providing Motor City Radio Flashbacks with this Detroit News magazine featured article on WWJ-AM radio from 43 years ago!
From the MCRFB radio scrapbook: 1945
World’s First Radio Station Celebrates 25th Birthday
DETROIT, August 25 — A quarter century ago, commercial* radio broadcasting began. On August 20, 1920, the “billion year silence of the ether” was broken by WWJ, originally 8MK, The Detroit News radio station.
Many broadcasting “firsts” followed.
WWJ was America’s first commercial radio station to broadcast daily programs. First to broadcast election returns. First to broadcast World Series results. First to broadcast a complete symphony concert. First to organize a broadcasting orchestra.
Throughout 25 years of existence, WWJ has maintained its leadership in public service, entertainment and ethnic responsibility. Recently, it demonstrated its initiative by becoming the first station to ban transcribed announcements and transcribed singing commercials. And immediately after Pearl Harbor it eliminated middle commercials from newscasts.
Looking ahead, WWJ established a Frequency Modulation station — WENA — which has been in constant daily operation since May 9, 1941. Ten months ago an application was filed with the Federal Communications Commission for permission to construct a television station.
The pioneering spirit which actuated the establishment of America’s first commercial broadcasting station lives and thrives at WWJ after 25 years of broadcasting in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” END.
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*WWJ acknowledges the pioneering research efforts of such scientists as Dr. Lee de Forest, Dr. Frank Conrad and others operating under experimental and amateur licenses.
WWJ OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE DETROIT NEWS (The Home Newspaper) 950 KILOCYCLES — 5000 WATTS
The GEORGE P. HOLLINGBERY COMPANY, National Representative; NBC BASIC NETWORK
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 25, 1945).
From the MCRFB news archive: 1970
WKNR’s Broussard Makes Radio Programming Without Time Constraints While at Helm
DETROIT — It isn’t often you’ll see a radio station program director in a record store, let alone see one sitting there all day. And even less often you will see a program director there taking notes about what kind of people are buying what kind of records. Skip Broussard, a program director whose next job is to aid WKNR here and attempt to put it firmly into the ratings picture used information gained at record stores this way to built a pretty good success story in Knoxville at WKGN. He was involved in the same type of programming at WMPS, Memphis, until getting an offer for the Detroit job.
To gain a representative picture of the audience available in Memphis, Broussard surveyed record shops in all geographic locations of the city. “I found that in a area heavy populated with blacks, the stores would be selling some Beatles and other records by white artists. And, in a very posh area, the shop would be selling soul records. Some very high class whites were buying soul records especially high school kids and young adults of college age.
“There seemed to be a breaking down of the old barriers — at least in Memphis.”
Broussard spent at least one day each weekend for six weeks in local stores in Memphis. During the week, he sent his air personalities out to spend time in the record shops.
All of this data was translated into the station’s programming. Broussard admitted, “I was targeting a black and white audience. I was after the audience of the other pop station and the audience of WDIA, a soul station that has been No. 1 in Memphis for several years.”
The playlist under WMPS under Broussard’s direction became 50 per cent soul in nature, “but only the soul records that was selling to both white and black people. We were trying to avoid any ethnic image. If we could have gained both audiences, WMPS would have achieved giant ratings. And blacks listened longer so that would have helped ratings too.”
Research and Sales
WMPS based its playlist on the results of the in-store research, plus sales figures garnered by telephone and telephone requests from listeners. Each request over the phone was listed and identified by age. “Gradually, the black listeners grew as we added soul records,” Broussard said.
“This type of programming is a whole new untapped area. Many stations are afraid at the moment to play soul records — afraid it will drive off their white listeners. Bit I feel records don’t have to be considered black and white. Because black and white people are finally getting together. I can see it happening in the same degree that they’re digging each other’s music.
“The program director could play an extremely important role in racial harmony by giving both types of music exposure within the realm of good programming. When I get a black person requesting a record by a white, it makes me feel good. And the same goes for a white requesting a soul record.”
Broussard got his start in radio in 1961part-time working KSIG in Crowley, Louisiana, while attending the University of Southwest Louisiana at Lafayette. He later worked part-time at KALB in Alexandria, La., then became program director full time at KXKW, Lafayette while still attending school. In 1966, he joined WLCS in Baton Rouge , but after a year was called into the Army reserves for six months. Then he returned to WLCS for a year before joining WTIX in New Orleans as music director under program director Buzz Bennett. He was there two years and admitted he “learned a lot from Buzz Bennett during that two-year stint there.”
But after joining WKGN in Knoxville as program director, he took graduate courses in market research and the psychology of mass communications which also shaped his present theories on researching for programming.
“There are environmental factors in any market which stimulate and influence the people living there,” Broussard continued. “And these generally relate to music. In Memphis, there’s a heavy black population and it’s the home of the blues — these factors have influenced the whites towards the blues. A southern white animosity counteracts this slightly. But you’ll still find 50-60 percent of the records on WDIA’s playlist selling to whites, which would indicate some of their listeners are white. “WDIA,” he said, was playing such artists as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Dusty Springfield at one time. I admire them for that. I don’t know who was responsible, but he was thinking big.”
An unusual factor about Memphis was that soul records companies provided poor record service to the pop stations, Broussard said. “Stax Records really didn’t work the white stations. Same with Motown Records. And its unfortunate. I wanted to play their records. These companies were missing the boat. Not just in record sales alone, but something much more important was missed than just putting out a finished product.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 14, 1970).
From the MCRFB notebook: 1971, 1981 and 1982
WDRQ-FM
DETROIT (June 10, 1971) — Al Casey has been slated to program Bartell’s St. Louis operation, which is still pending FCC approval, so he’s in Detroit programming WDRQ-FM. Andy Wilson is music director. Ron Thompson and Jay Stone are among the air personalities at the new Top 40 station in the Motor City. George Wilson, national director of Bartell, is managing WDRQ-FM. END.
DETROIT (August 1, 1981) — Bill Garcia, has been hired away from WDRQ-FM Detroit to be program director at WOMC-FM. Garcia has been moving the Hot 100 formatted WDRQ into a more adult contemporary mode and into direct competition with Metromedia’s WOMC. Charter Broadcasting has WDRQ on the block. Garcia succeeds Dave Shafer, who’s moved over to WCZY-FM, which is running the syndicated Shulke II vocal-oriented Beautiful music format. END.
DETROIT (January 30, 1982) — Alan Furst is the new program director at WEEP-AM in Pittsburgh, succeeding Barry Mardit, who has moved on to become program director at WWWW-FM in Detroit. Mardit succeeds Dene Hallan, who has left to become program director at WHN-AM New York (Billboard; December 12). Furst continues to work the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.air shift. Furst is not the only new program director in the Motor City. Cliff Winston has taken over full programming duties at WDRQ-FM. Operations director at “The Q” Rick Torcasso has transferred to KSLQ-FM to program that station. Both WDRQ and KSLQ are owned by Charter Broadcasting. Torcasso succeeds John Larabee, who left the station. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine. All excerpts culled as was published from the dated editions noted above).
