------------------------------

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 285

Table Of Contents: 

	 Re: Clear Channels
	 Clear channel memories
	 Re: UNSUBSCRIBE
	 KFI
	 KFI, Los Angeles
	 New York (previously clear channel) radio
	 RE: Clear Channels, WBZ, Norm Nathan
	 KFI/KECA [removed]
	 Re: Re: clear-channel KFI-LA
	 clear channels
	 Re: Fwd: [removed] Digest V96 #283
	 RE: Subscribe

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 17:33:21 -0400
From: "Michael A. Carraher" <carraher@[removed]>
To: <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Re: Clear Channels
Message-Id: <m0urWZn-0004hEC@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The Havana Treat of 1940 which set up frequency allocations for North
America defined certain FREQUENCIES in the AM band as clear channels --
protected against interference from other stations at night.

I have provided original call letters and network affiliations during the
OTR era when available (but this information is not complete).

The following are the US Clear Channels (Class I-A) and the dominant
station assigned to each.

640	KFI, Los Angeles	OTR: NBC-Red
650	WSM, Nashville		OTR: NBC-Red, Grand Ol' Opry Station
660	WFAN, New York	OTR: NBC-Red, WEAF, WNBC
670	WMAQ, Chicago	OTR: NBC-Red
700	WLW, Cincinnati	OTR: NBC-Red, MBS
	KIRO, Seattle
720	WGN, Chicago		OTR: MBS
750	WSB, Atlanta		OTR: NBC-Red
760	WJR, Detroit		OTR: CBS
770	WABC, New York	OTR: NBC-Blue, WJZ
780	WBBM, Chicago	OTR: CBS
820	WBAP, Fort Worth	OTR: NBC Blue
830	WCCO, Minneapolis	OTR: CBS
840	WHAS, Louisville	OTR: NBC-Blue
870	WWL, New Orleans	OTR: CBS
880	WCBS, New York	OTR: CBS, WABC
890	WLS, Chicago		OTR: NBC-Blue, WLS/WENR (Shared-time)
1020	KDKA, Pittsburgh	OTR: NBC-Red
1030	WBZ, Boston		OTR: NBC-Red
1040	WHO, Des Moines	OTR: NBC-Red
1100	WWWE, Cleveland	OTR: NBC-Red, WTAR
1120	KMOX, St. Louis	OTR: CBS	
1160	KSL, Salt Lake City	OTR: CBS
1180	WHAM, Rochester	OTR: NBC-Red
1200	WOAI, San Antonio	OTR: NBC-Red
1210	WGMP, Philadelphia	OTR: CBS, WCAU

The following are the US Clear Channels (Class I-B) and the dominant
station(s) assigned to each.

680	KNBR, San Francisco	OTR: NBC-Red
710	WOR, New York	OTR: MBS
810	KGO, San Francisco	OTR: NBC-Blue
	WGY, Schenectady	OTR: NBC-Red
850	KOA, Denver		OTR: NBC-Red
1000	WMVP, Chicago	OTR: WCFL, "The Voice of Labor"
	KOMO, Seattle
1060	KYW, Philadelphia	OTR: NBC-Red
1070	KNX, Los Angeles	OTR: CBS
1080	WTIC, Hartford
	KRLD, Dallas		OTR: CBS
1090	WBAL, Baltimore	OTR: NBC-Red
1110	WBT, Charlotte
1130	WBBR, New York	OTR: WNEW "Make Believe Ballroom"
	KWKH, Shreveport
1140	WRVA, Richmond	OTR: NBC-Red
1170	WWVA, Wheeling	OTR: NBC-Blue
	KVOO, Tulsa
1190	WOWO, Fort Wayne	[Recently reduced night-time power]
	KEX, Portland, OR
1500	WTOP, Washington	OTR: CBS, WJSV
1510	WLAC, Nashville
	KGA, Spokane
1520	WWKB, Buffalo		OTR: WKBW
	KOMA, Oklahoma City
1530	WSAI, Cincinnati	OTR: WKRC
	KFBK, Sacramento
1540	KXEL, Waterloo, IA
1560	WQEW, New York	OTR: WQXR "New York Times Station"
	KNZR, Bakersfield

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 16:56:54 -0500
From: Steven Lewis <lewis@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Clear channel memories
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I remember that as a child I listened to several clear channel stations
at night in the '60s:

WWL out of New Orleans. I listened to the live broadcast of the Leon
Kalna orchestra from the Roosevelt Hotel.

WOAI out of San Antonio. I listened to the Allan Dale talk show
regularly.

WHO out of Des Moines. I listened to the Dave Ulner talk show and, of
course, Minnesota Twins baseball ... Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall et al.

Steven Lewis

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 19:06:29 -0400
From: JSSTEITZER@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: UNSUBSCRIBE
Message-ID: <960816190629_180771042@[removed]>

Dear OTR,
     I hope I'm going about this the right way (you used to include this
information at the end of the newsletter, didn't you?).  I have to leave town
for almost three months.  During that time my kids will have the use of my
computer.  The last time I was gone, they let the newsletters pile up,
without either deleting them or printing them out, so I've decided to drop
off your list for a while.  Hopefully I will get back on when I return.
 Thanks for all the interesting chat!









                                                                   JSSteitzer

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 96 16:11 PDT
From: lois@[removed] (Lois Culver)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: KFI
Message-Id: <m0urY36-0007fRC@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From: kg@[removed] (KEN GREENWALD)
>Subject: KFI, Los Angeles

As an ex-employee of KFI, I'd like to stick my oar in here.

I remember Earle C Anthony well.  When I knew him (beginning about 1944), he
was a grumpy old man, and everyone in KFI watched their p's and q's when his
long black chauffeur-driven car rolled slowly up in front of the station on
Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles.  He'd get out with his cane, and laboriously
come into the lobby and down the hall to his office.  His secretary and
right-hand lady, Winnie Scott, would have been warned so she could wave the
cigarette smoke out of the office, and those of us who might have been on
our knees playing with his toy train that blew out real smoke, could get up
off the floor and scurry into our respective offices.

Mr. Anthony was obsessed with movie stars and Hawaii, not especially in that
order.  His studios were painted different colors, one being coral, for
Hawaii.  He would occasionally phone in late at night and have the DJ on
hand play a program of Hawaiian music for his, and his friends',
[removed] with whatever had been scheduled!

Unfortunatly, occasionally when I was caught there in the evening, I had to
sit in for the switchboard operator for a short while.  When Anthony's
switchboard light went on, I would panic.  He would say, "Get me (choose
name of star)!"  I frantically looked in the little black book, and called
all the favorite haunts, even the star's barber, looking for him.  

>2. Does anyone know if David Starling, KFIs host, is still living? 

I had lunch at Pacific Pioneer Broadcaster meeting about 3 years ago with
Dave, and he was alive and well.  I believe he lives in Laguna Niguel, and
is a neighbor of Bill Stulla, KFI's well-known "Engineer Bill".  He can no
doubt be reached by sending a letter to Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.

Lois Culver
KWLK, Longview WA - 1941 - 1943
KFI, Los Angeles CA - 1994 - 1953

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 96 16:23 PDT
From: lois@[removed] (Lois Culver)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: KFI, Los Angeles
Message-Id: <m0urYEM-0007fSC@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

KFI, Los Angeles, is 640 on your dial.

Lois Culver
KWLK, Longview WA - 1941 - 43
KFI, Los Angeles CA - 1944 - 1953

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 22:46:02 -0500
From: vintage@[removed] (Andy Blatt)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: New York (previously clear channel) radio
Message-Id: <v01540b01ae3ae7783857@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The history of NY radio as addressed in the previous edition of the Digest:
AT & T inaugurated WEAF in 1922 (after what is considered to be the first
station, KDKA, Pittsburgh).  WEAF was the first station to air commercials.
Shortly thereafter, the Federal Radio Commission ordered AT & T (who
provided the phone lines) to sell the radio property, so they sold out to
RCA for $1 million in 1926.  WEAF was the NBC-Red station and WJZ (at the
time 760 am) was NBC - Blue).  Until the FRC forced RCA to sell the station
(to ABC), they owned two radio properties in NYC.  RCA sold WJZ in 1943.
At 880, CBS had already set up a station, with the curious call letters
WABC.  (CBS was then previously known as the Columbia Phonograph Record
Company or Columbia for short).  Later,
CBS gave up the WABC call letters, WJZ was renamed (WJZ is a Westinghouse
station in Baltimore now), the frequency changed to 770, and 880 became
WCBS.
I'm not sure when WEAF became WRCA which in turn became WNBC.  In 1945, 660
am was still known as WEAF.  When RCA started regular TV broadcasting
(1947-1949)
their TV station was called WNBT, so possibly around that [removed]

For those people interested, the other stations in NYC in 1945 were:
WMCA 570 am; WOR 710 am; WNYC 830 am; WAAT 970 am; WINS 1010 am; WHN 1050 am;
WNEW 1130 am; WLIB 1190 am; WFAS 1240 am; WOV 1280 am; WEVD 1330 am; WBBR
(no relation to current Bloomberg Radio) also at 1330 am (sharing time with
WEVD);
WBNX 1380 am; WBYN (Brooklyn?) at 1430 am; WHOM 1480 am; WQXR 1560 am and
at 1600 am, WWRL.  FM had not become a factor, but those stations that
owned an FM
basically simulcast the entire broadcasti day of the am.  Most stations,
even in large cities, did not operate for the full 24 hours.  Most signed
off at 2 or 3 am.  WOR, WINS, WCBS, WJZ/WABC, WEAF, WHN WNEW & WQXR were
all 50,000 watts, but not all were clear channel; certainly WQXR, WNEW and
WHN were not (ever)...

I hope this wasn't too [removed] I consulted some reference books,
tapped some personal knowledge and checked some old newspapers for this
information, to correct and clarify what was printed previously.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 23:42:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: RE: Clear Channels, WBZ, Norm Nathan
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

	Ken Piletic told us that there are no more clear channels, [removed]
Last week when I was tuned to WBZ-Boston AM 1030, they regularly ran a promo
about 50,000 Watts of clear channel power, covering 38 states" or words 
to that effect.
	Since more people seem to be getting the Digest now, Let me 
repeat my question about Norm Nathan.  Anyone know much about him?  He 
was filling in the week I heard himm, but when is he usually on the air?

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 23:37:00 -0500 (CDT)
From: Railbuff <railbuff@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: KFI/KECA [removed]
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

One more question about early radio in Los Angeles, if I may. It has been 
noted here that Earle C. Anthony, the [removed] auto dealer who ran KFI, 
essentially gave most of the station's air time over to NBC, tho the 
network did not own the station. All well and good.

Now, the Blue Network also needed an outlet in La-La Land as well, since 
at least in prime time both nets were airing programs simultaneously 
(like the earlier-mentioned KGO and KPO (later KNBR) up nawth in SFO). My 
researches seem to indicate that the Blue outlet in [removed] was KECA. Note 
that the call letters suspiciously resemble the initials of a certain car 
dealer referred to one paragraph up in this post.

Two questions, actually, then: How could one entity own more than one AM 
in that era, and did the redoubtable Mr. Anthony have the same sort of 
deal with NBC vis-a-vis the Blue as he did with the Red?

BTW, KECA evolved into KABC, today a Disney/CapCities/ABC O&O. I might 
also ask how that happened, when KFI remained independent.

Richard Kunz

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 00:52:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: KEN GREENWALD <kg@[removed]>
cc: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Re: clear-channel KFI-LA
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On 16 Aug 1996, KEN GREENWALD wrote:

> One last thing: No need to call me Kenneth. It's too formal. Ken or 
Kenny is > fine among OTR people. Thanks.
> Ken G.
	Sorry if you didn't catch the obscure reference, but I couldn't resist
the joke.  i put "What's the frequency, Kenneth" in quotes because it's a 
well known phrase, or so I thought.  Several years ago, a bigtime 
hot-shot network newsman was mugged and roughed up in NYC (was it Dan 
Rather?) and the mugger kept saying that to him.  I don't think anyone 
knows what he meant by it.
	Anyway, it's doubtful that I could pick up KFI in NYC, even if we knew
the frequency.
	Just sign me Herr Doktor Maximillian von Schmid. (but Herr Doktor 
will do).

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 00:58:16 -0500
From: vintage@[removed] (Andy Blatt)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: clear channels
Message-Id: <v01540b02ae3b0eacf757@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The latest thing now is radio stations buying up other stations and either
moving them or taking them off the air permanently.  WLIB AM 1190 in NYC
wanted to go full-time and increase power from 10,000 to 25,000 so they
bought WOWO in Indianapolis to reduce WOWO's power on the same frequency.
WOWO is/was 50,000 watts.  A better example is Westinghouse/CBS WINS in New
York, 1010 am and 50,000 watts (but not clear channel).  Not until they
bought WRNJ 1000 am 2500 watts and moved it to 1510 am (and presumably sold
it again).  The FCC would NEVER, EVER have allowed this.  They would have
argued that it affects the local communities and dilutes local radio.
Certainly if they had forced AT & T to sell WEAF and RCA to sell one of its
two Networks and local NYC radio stations, they wouldn't have allowed it.
But, these days, the FCC would argue there's enough competition and news
sources with all the cable offerings and satellites.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, Aug 17 1996 02:44:31 EDT
From: Thomas Heathwood <theathwo@[removed]>
To: <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Re: Fwd: [removed] Digest V96 #283
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

Thanks to Max Schmid for telling of his listening to Norm Nathan on WBZ,
Boston, during his recent trip North.
Norm celebrated 50 years in broadcasting in the Boston market, last year.
His wife was a well-known witer for the Boston Herald, Norma Nathan who
passed away a few years ago.
Norm does talks on OTR at nursing homes, senior citizen complexes and
other locations. He does a fantastic Jack Benny imitation, and has a
great memory for radio history. He has worked in the Boston area ever
since his discharge from the armed forces after WW II, and did the
American Airlines Show, Music 'Till Dawn for years. He, at one time or
another, worked at just about every Boston station and was particularly
interested in Jazz and interviewed everyone of note in that field who
ever came to Boston to appear.
You can hear Norm now on Friday and Saturday nights from 11PM to 5AM and
on Sundays from 11PM to 1 AM. He loves to talk about OTR.
WBZ is a clear-channel station now owned by Westinghouse/CBS at 1030 AM,
and can be heard (at one time or another) in 38 states at night.
You can call call him and tak on the air too.
<<TOM HEATHWOOD - YESTERDAY-USA RADIO>>  8/17/96
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 10:40:29 -0700
From: Don Busenbark <dbuse@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: RE: Subscribe
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I have a new e-mail service and would like to now subscribe to the otr 
digest.  Thanks

Don Busenbark




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End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #285
*******************************************

