Select Area Radio Stations
These radio stations had a strong significance to me.
Here is a group of stations that got my attention back from the early '70s through the mid-late '70s. I have worked with a few of these, such as my longtime association with WDNL, WTIM-FM(later WEEE, now WQLZ), WDZ, and WDBR. These are the things I remember about the formats and the stations, along with some noted contributions. Just when I thought I had completed all that could be done....along comes more information about some of these stations. Updates continue as more history is collected.....check back often. So, enjoy in alphabetical order....
KGRS (FM) 107.3 Burlington, Iowa
This aircheck is from 11:06 pm to 11:45 pm, April 15, 1976. A good example of following the Drake-Chenault format. Nothing fancy here. Listen for dead air. Obviously, a reel had run out and wasn't changed.
(top photo): courtesy of Tim Brown
(bottom photo): Doug Quick Collection
I discovered KGRS when I was at Western Illinois University during 1976-77. It was airing Drake-Chenault's XT-40 format, pretty much how Drake would have set it up. The station was formerly KBUR-FM and programmed a beautiful music format when it was changed to KGRS and the Drake-Chenault XT-40 format on December 31st, 1975. There is little local input besides commercials and the usual weather breaks, local PSAs, and the back-timed instrumental cuts leading into ABC network news at 15. I visited the station in early '77 and saw the station was running a Harris 9000 system using Revox reel-to-reel recorders/players as playback-only decks(Why they were using the more pricey record/playback decks as playback decks is a mystery to me). They were following the Drake-Chenault formula to the letter. I found it interesting that the FM automation was located what seemed to be miles away from the KBUR(AM) studios within the sprawling facility on Roosevelt Road on Burlington's west side. The antenna array was also somewhat strange, as it had separate antennas for horizontal and vertical polarization.
KGRS call letter change from Nov 13, 1975.
KGRS billboard from 1976, Doug Quick Collection
1998-0928 KBUR/KGRS Sells, from Tim Brown
KGRS call letter change from Nov 13, 1975.
WBNQ (FM) 101.5 Bloomington, Illinois
This Sept 12, 1961 ad is from the Bloomington Pantagraph
This Sept 11, 1961 ad is from the Bloomington Pantagraph
Winnter of 1983 promotion with Pepsi-Cola, Bloomington Pantagraph
This Sept 12, 1961 ad is from the Bloomington Pantagraph
WBNQ is the FM side of Bloomington heritage station WJBC. My earliest recollection of WBNQ goes back to 1971 or so when the station was broadcasting an automated oldies format from Draper-Blore, “Olde Golde,” the same format that WDZ(1050AM-Decatur) was airing. Denny Adkins, the WBNQ PD at the time, said the station dropped the format because of problems with quality and updates and replaced it with Drake-Chenault's “Solid Gold” format. WBNQ was doing a great job in localizing the station and going far beyond the basic design of the Drake format. The station had what was the best broadcast facility in central Illinois during the ’70s. The original FM automation, another Gates product, overlooked the main office and lobby from its loft. The studios are still located on the southwest side of Bloomington, on the old beltline, US 66, now known as Veteran's Parkway.
(left): This photo of WBNQ Gates automation was taken sometime in early 1977. It shows, from left to right, the Gates 55, 4 Ampex reel to reels, the random select carousel controller and carousels, and the main control unit with cart decks. It's Interesting to note that much of the automation shown here ended up at WDAN(AM) in Danville back in the late '70s.
(top photo: courtesy of Jeff Norton
(all others: Doug Quick Collection
This ad from the Bloomington Pantagraph is for WBNQ on September 13, 1980. This was after the Drake-Chenault era.
I included this ad from the Pantagraph because of the picture of Denny Adkins, who contributes to this site. He would later work for Drake-Chenault, the programming provider for WBNQ, during much of the 1970s. It is from 1972. His voice is included in the air check below from July of 1974.
This aircheck was recorded during a thunderstorm during a hot 1974's summer's overnight. There are no commercials, just music and many oldies blended with a few currents. This is an aircheck of around 45 minutes of air time with the Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" format.
This aircheck was recorded during the 8 am hour on August 16th, 1976. The station was using the Drake-Chenault XT-40 format.
page background picture: WBNQ Automation 1979 is courtesy of Jeff Norton
All airchecks were recorded by Doug Quick
Newspaper items from the Bloomington Pantagraph
This aircheck was taken on Easter Sunday, 1977. This is a half hour scoped down once again using the Drake-Chenault XT-40 format.
WCVS 1450AM Springfield, Illinois
The WCVS playlist and the WCVS entryway pictures are courtesy of Randy Miller
The WCVS broadcast tower picture is from the Doug Quick Collection
This is a priceless aircheck with longtime WDBR jock Steve West. Here is a radio segment from his early days at Springfield's AM Rocker and Top 40 station WCVS.
(Thanks to Rich Styles for this contribution)
To the right are pictures taken, probably in the 1940s or 50s after WCBS became WCVS and its relocation to the Leland Hotel Annex just west of the main hotel building.
(photos from Randy Miller)
WCVS(formerly WCBS) was the first top 40 rockers in Springfield. Some of the jocks of the early to late ’60s included “Skinny Jim” Palmer, Jim Wingo, Doug Segal, Steve West, Greg Thomas, and others. The station was very active with teens in the area and maintained its popularity until FM rocker WDBR came about in the early ’70s. The station is now WFMB-AM and programs satellite sports with some local talk. The calls for classic rocker WCVS are being used by former Virden station WRVI(FM) and was co-owned by Neuhoff Broadcasting's Country WFMB-FM and sports/talk WFMB-AM. In 2006, WFMB AM/FM, as well as WCVS(FM) ownership, returned to the Neuhoff family and Neuhoff Media, having been a property of Clear Channel for several years.
WDZ 1050AM Decatur, Illinois
The History of WDZ, Illinois First Radio Station
WDZ is well known as Illinois' first commercial radio station, having its early days of broadcasting from Tuscola, Illinois, as station 9JR. It's also regarded as the third oldest in the nation. The date was March 17, 1921, when WDZ began to broadcast grain market reports for the agricultural community twice an hour between long stretches of dead air. It was reported that there were a total of two receivers in the area to actually hear the original broadcast. It was originally licensed to operate at 350 watts of power at 833kc. The station changed frequency to 1080 kc as power output was reduced to 10 watts in 1923. The original station broadcast from an antenna that was a simple wire strung between two buildings in Tuscola. To that date, it appeared that there were only three radio stations on the air. They were KDKA in Pittsburgh and WGY in Schenectady, New Jersey. By 1927, the station was given a full-time license to broadcast at 100 watts with the slogan "The Buckle of the Corn Belt." That arrangement didn't last long as the Radio Act of 1927 once again changed the license of WDZ to broadcast only during the daytime at 1070 kc. Again, in 1936, the power changed to 250 watts, but so did the frequency, which was then at 1020am.
Broadcasts continued to come more regularly over the years, and by 1941, WDZ had a new home with a 250-foot tower broadcasting mostly agricultural information to its audience, with a frequency of 1020 kc and 1,000 watts. Entertainment did come to play, though, with the broadcast of live entertainment, mostly "hillbilly" music and humor. The station drew performers from Kentucky, Tennessee, and other hotbeds of "hillbilly" music and talent. One of the "stars" of the station who went on to a national career in show business was Smiley Burnette, who later teamed with Gene Autry on network radio and in movies and TV.
The station had a short-wave remote broadcast facility by 1938 in a panel van that traveled the area to broadcast from the various towns in its coverage area. In 1941, the frequency was changed to 1050 kc, which remains today. During that time, the station broadcast a variety of entertainment programs such as children's programming, local big band music shows, contests, religious programming, and its mainstay "hillbilly" music and comedy. Also, in the late 1930s, WDZ added four broadcasting studios in other Illinois communities. Studios were opened in Danville, Mattoon, Effingham, and Paris. Each location had its own "studio band" for a while which would host programming from these remote locations, broadcast on short wave back to the master control in Tuscola to be broadcast to the Midwestern audience.
By 1949, the owners of WDZ found that a move to Decatur would benefit the station and bring more profitability and more programming options. At that point, the history of the station blurs. There seems to be more written about the station's early days than it's the time from 1950 to the present. With the other local AM station WSOY which was a CBS affiliate from its time, it could have meant that WDZ would have been an NBC or Mutual affiliate, but being confined to broadcast only during the daytime, this would have not been an ideal situation for a broadcast network at the time. It seems apparent that the station continued its heavy farm/agriculture programming along with recorded "hillbilly" and western music, perhaps with some other block programming from the 1950s through the early 1960s. In Decatur, the transmitter was on Decatur's southwest side, across the Wabash(Norfolk and Southern) tracks just off Illinois Route 48. The short single tower broadcasts a 1000-watt signal during the daytime on 1050 kc, a clear channel frequency.
Sometime during the early 1970s, the station underwent a big format change. The automated format "Olde Golde" from Draper-Blore(see Automated Radio Formats) was utilized and promoted, which changed the station's variety format to that of Oldies. Later, though, around 1972, the station went to its own automated format, which split the broadcasting day between two of its announcers, separated by a local call-in talk show. The station's chief engineer, Fred More, did the morning show with live elements and recorded talk tracks, followed by Lois Howlett, who hosted a midday hour-long talk show. The afternoon to sign-off show was recorded on track by Larry Limbach who was also a sales representative of the station (Listen to the 1975 WDZ aircheck above). WDZ at that time was owned by Steve Bellinger as Prairieland Broadcasting, who was also part owner of the Mumbles Corporation with WWDZ(FM), which went on the air in the mid-1970s as a country station. Both stations, by that time, had second-floor studios just off Central Park on Park Street in Downtown Decatur. The author of this website was employed by WDZ/WDZQ during the Summer of 1979 as a salesperson and as a jock with WDZ(AM)(listen to the 1979 WDZ aircheck above).
Sometime in the 1990s, the station transferred ownership to NextMedia and to Tom Joyner Broadcasting. During 2008, the format of WDZ changed from Urban to Sports Talk. In December of 2008, it was announced that ownership would change to Neuhoff Broadcasting, which owns a group of stations in Springfield(WFMB AM/FM, WCVS(FM)) and in Danville(WDAN(AM), WDNL(FM), WRHK(FM)).
WDZ Musicline ad from the Decatur Herald/Review placed in 1969.
This was recorded in either late August or early September of 1975 and features Larry Limbach doing the jock work. It sounds live, but it was an early example of pretty good voice tracking for the 1970s....or anytime. The DJ would record his talk track with a list of songs that would play in a distinct order. He/she would record talk positions, which would talk up each song in the same order. When you would want the song to begin under you, you would push the secondary tone which would start the next song in order.
IGM Automation Methodology
If you knew the song intro time, you could talk up the first second of the vocal every time. Unfortunately, with this system, you never hear the actual song intro, so delivering your vocals in pace with the music would be difficult. Larry did a superb job of working his vocals on each song. It was obvious to me that he knew the songs very well. See the analysis of the format on the left. You will notice one exception to the format. It seems that the novelty song "Mr. Jaws" was dropped manually to the format as it didn't fall into the regular pattern of being preceded by a voice track and followed by the weathercast. It was probably inserted in the commercial carousel manually (Fred Moore was the Chief Engineer and morning DJ, Larry Limbach was the afternoon jock, Sonny Carter did evenings during the summer and weekend jock shifts, and later did a regular weekday shift. Jeff Balding was the News Director.
On May 19, 2018, I was having a book signing event at the Neuhoff Media-Decatur studios of WSOY, WDZ, WDZQ, and Hot 105.5. It was there I was greeted by Larry Limbach one of my radio mentors and former workmate at WDZ.
The 1975 WDZ Automation system using the IGM System
Source 1: Time Announce machine(actually two cart machines which would normally hold both even and odd time announcements. In this case, it held one TA cart, and one jingle which would lead to the spot sets. This would be set at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40 and :50.
Source 2: The 1st random select carousel which would air the random select commercials at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40 and :50. This would hold the ABC News at 00.
Source 3: A 2nd random select carousel which would air the ABC newscast at :00, then random select commercials at :10, :20, :30, :40 and :50 This would allow commercials to be programmed back to back in spot clusters. This would hold the Local Newscast at :00.
Source 4: A single play cart machine that would hold the local weathercast done by the DJ. It would end with a sounder which would mix into the talk track.
Source 5: Set at "all" it would always be ready to air to match the setting of music(the next source) also set at "all." Talk track, either a cart or reel to reel deck which the jock would record his voice talking over a timed segment that would match the song intro. It would overlap the next source which would be music.
Source 6 and 7: Both set at "all" but designed to alternate use by alternating random select. Probably carted music from carousels which would support the music order by alternating the use of them to allow for music to air nearly back to back, just separated by the voice track.
Here is about a 30-minute aircheck from July 1979
while I was at WDZ. Along with being an AE, I was
also the mid-day-afternoon jock via talk track.
It was one of the strangest formats I'd ever worked with. Basically, each voice/track was recorded without me knowing what came before or after the talk track aired. There was no song intros or outros, and there was no knowledge about where it was running within each hour. The voice track was recorded on reel to reel, while the music was on carts on a simple IGM system. You could "dial in" your talk track to air at timed intervals of 5, 7.5, or 10 minutes(see WTIM automation for the full explanation). I believe I set mine for every 5 minutes, but based on other events within the hour, you couldn't count on all 12 to run each hour. Instead, it usually ended up being 9-10 times an hour.
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This is me from the Summer of WDZ, 1979.
From September of 1990, a new host for "The WDZ Breakfast Club." From the Decatur Herald/Review
WDBR (FM) 103.7 Springfield, Illinois
The Early History of WDBR(FM)
The first FM station in town was WCVS-FM at 102.9. The FM license of WCVS-FM was surrendered in 1953, and the allocation for 102.9 was moved to Decatur, which became WSOY-FM. When WCVS-FM went off the air, the topmast to the WCVS-AM tower on South 4th St. in Southern View/Springfield was used for the transmitter antenna to WICS-TV when it went on the air in 1953. WTAX-FM was Springfield's second FM station. Oliver J. Keller purchased WTAX in 1946 when it was located on the Reisch Building on the west side of the Springfield Square, around the County Building, which is now the Old State Capitol Mall. It was a 100-watt facility and broadcast from a long wire antenna strung between two towers on the roof. In the late '40s, WTAX moved to its location on Bypass 66 between Illinois Route 29 and U.S. 36(later 712 South 31st Street, Dirkson Parkway), where it broadcast from a four-legged self-supporting tower and went to 1000 watts daytime/250 watts nighttime. Keller died in 1967. Around that time, Sangamon Broadcasting, consisting of Shelby Harbison and others, purchased the stations. Harbison continued as GM during the Sangamon Broadcasting years and for some time after before retiring. Sangamon Broadcasting was also the owner of WDAN/WDNL in Danville, Illinois, from 1977 to 1987.
WTAX-FM either simulcast or featured an easy listening format using a "homemade" automation system developed by the IBEW Local 1292 engineers on staff. During the late 1960s and into the very early 1970s, here was the programming schedule of WTAX-FM: WTAX-FM would simulcast WTAX-AM from 5 am to 8 am. During the day, from 9 am to 10 pm, the station would feature a beautiful music format. From 10:10 pm to 11 pm, it was "Night Line," a local talk show, followed by a record show with Coley Cowan. WTAX-AM then would simulcast WTAX-FM's beautiful music format until sign-off at 1 am.
At Noon on January 14, 1972, the station began its Top 40 history with a broadcast of Drake-Chenault's 48-hour radio special "The History of Rock and Roll," which was followed by Drake-Chenault's “Solid Gold” format. Station manager Joe Jackson, who was promoted from engineering, developed the station and led its building through 1977, when he was transferred to be GM at WDAN/WDNL. Even though the "Solid Gold" format ran from sign-on at 5:30 am to 7 pm, the station began experimenting with a “like live” format during their Nighttime daypart with local AE Rich Styles doing the jocking via “talk track.”
(continued below)
An early picture from 1973, when WDBR welcomed "The Raspberries" to Springfield for a concert. Center: Rich Styles, far-right Steve West with members of the group including John Aleksic, Jim Bonfanti, Eric Carmen, and Wally Bryson.
(Left): From Radio and Records, which published promotional pictures from radio stations. From WDBR, Rich Styles along with winners of a suntan contest from the 1980's. (Right): An ad for "Fantasy Park II" How do I explain what this is? Well, it's a fake concert with sound effects, echo and using the studio recordings to simulate an actual broadcast of a concert. WDBR ran at least a couple of these in the 70s.
WDBR's Gates SP8-10(above) includes the main control unit, 4 single play carts, 2 large cart decks for time announcements, a random select carousel control unit, twin carousels, and 4 Ampex reel-to-reel playbacks. The Magnicord record/playback deck above the cart machines was used to record reels and for an emergency playback when one of the Ampex machines failed(which was more often than one would think). Note also the large carts on the automation system. Those were time announcements and talk track carts for the various jocks.
Frank Darnielle Jr. was one of the union operators of WTAX/WDBR. This demonstrates what I called the "Frankie Darnielle stretch," which could be necessary whenever the automation goes astray from the format. The operator would have to correct the automation by going into "manual" mode and starting the various format elements to get it back "on track."
(pictures from the Doug Quick Collection)
(above): Rich Styles in the WDBR studio during a late Sunday night edition of "The Gold Mine." This weekend program would include oldies from the 50s and 60s along with audience participation games and contests. Rich took over the show after Bob Taylor left in 1975.
(above): Rich Styles at the door of the small WDBR air/production studio.
(pictures from the Doug Quick Collection)
(right): Station Manager Joe Jackson, during the pre-WDBR days at the WTAX/WDBR studios located on Dirkson Parkway at the base of the existing WTAX tower near the corner of East Cook and Dirkson Parkway in Springfield. At the top left, Joe is pictured in the WTAX master control area. Note the open Mel-O-Creme donut box on the turntable (Great lunch, Joe!).
(center right): Joe is at the WTAX master control center. It wasn't a pretty studio, but it was equipped to operate both WTAX and
what was then WTAX-FM in the very early 1970s.
(bottom right): Joe is in front of the WTAX Collins AM 1,000-watt transmitter.
Joe is my nomination for the Broadcaster Hall of Fame for his part in the development of the first automated radio voice track system, in which
the jock could hear the intro of the song he/she was "talking up." It is the basis for all voice tracking today. Keep in mind it was his theory that jocks could double as account executives, program directors, and any other position within the radio station that enabled the jock to increase his income and opportunities
without being strapped to a live control board.
(pictures courtesy of Joe Jackson and his daughter Jill Bulgin)
This was from December 1972. This is the earliest air check I recorded. WDBR was just about one year into the Drake-Chenault Solid Gold format. It was just a couple of months later that WDBR dropped Solid Gold and went with their own automated format. A couple of the future jocks were heard here(also account reps) Bob Taylor and Rich Styles. Longtime newsmen at WTAX Dave Anderson and Coley Cowen are also heard.
Bob Taylor's Gold Mine ran beginning sometime in 1972 while the station was doing the Drake-Chenault format "Sold Gold." It aired every Sunday night from 8 to Midnight through around 1975 when Rich Styles took it over. Bob's interaction with the audience made him a natural when the format was dropped in favor of the self-produced automated format. Bob continued as a morning jock and in his role as an account executive. You'll also notice him mentioning a fan, who was to work with Bob several years later! Despite what the slate is showing on the video, this one is from New Year's Eve, December 31, 1972.
This short aircheck is from WDBR(FM) in Springfield, Illinois, during its days of programming the Drake-Chenault Solid Gold during the day and doing a "live" sounding talk track(voice track) during the evening with Rich Styles as the DJ. Notice the use of the "Solid Gold" jingle and the automated time announcement. Rich was one of the best-known jocks in the area at the time and also was one of the most successful account executives in the market. This aircheck is from the Rich Styles Collection.
This is from December of 1973. The jock is the late Steve West. He was so incredibly smooth.... he was known to slide into the studio just seconds before he was to go on the air. From there, he would voice track the rest of his show and be finished in no time. Here is a great air check from right before Christmas.
Thanks to contributor Mark Nielsen, a former Central Illinois resident and fan of WDBR, we have been able to unearth another radio "time capsule" from over 42 years ago! Mark as a young boy recorded the entire "Recycled 1976" year-end review show which was hosted by Rich Styles, just like the 1973 version above. Unfortunately, there are no commercials as he edited them out at the time, not expecting this recording to ever be heard by the public. The recording, however, is terrific and you'll hear the incredible talent of Rich come through along with the hits of the bicentennial year, the year I worked at WDBR (edited, sorry--YouTube frowns on copyrighted music being included). I thank Mark for sharing his incredible recordings!
This aircheck is from New Year's Day, 1974. The DJ was Rich Styles, one of the most popular DJs in the market at that time. Along with being a jock at WDBR, he was also a very successful account executive and hosted a cable TV dance program for a while.
I bring you an air check from WDBR on June 13, 1976. The jock is Skip Joeckel, on talk track through the Gates SP8-10. The segment is from about Midnight to 12:30 am. It contains an 8-minute newscast, as WDBR had a heavy news commitment at the time, which ran at about 12:23 am. I was a very young newscaster. WDBR was known as "Music 104" with TM-Century Jingles.
I was a young 22-year-old, only two years into my broadcast career, and was on the air at "my ultimate" radio station! This was my chance of a lifetime, and no one appreciated it as much as I did. Hell, I would have done this for nothing...maybe even paying for the opportunity! With that in mind, was I nervous? You bet, and it shows. It's one of those occasions that I wish I knew then what I know now. At the risk of embarrassing myself, I present myself from October 3, 1976, at the great WDBR! Voices include Rich Styles, Skip Joeckel, and Steve West. The picture at the right is me in 1976.
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One of several great lineups at WDBR pictured from the late 1970s. This one was during a lineup of one of the Illinois State Fair Parades. From left to right: Steve West(10am-3pm), Rich Styles(3pm-7pm), Diane Martini(12Mid-6am), Bob Logan(7pm-12mid) and Skip Joeckel(6am-10am).
The History of WDBR (continued from above)
It was so successful, and Styles gained so much popularity in the market that he eventually hosted a local cable TV dance program. Bob Taylor, who joined the WTAX staff in September of 1971, joined WDBR as host of "The Gold Mine", the station's Sunday Night audience participation oldie show. Bob brought personality to the "Gold Mine" with various features like "Cheap Thrills Trivia" and "Dedications on the Huggy Bear Kissy Face" segment and introduced listeners to "the sexy voice secretary." Other station promotions during that time included "The Buck a Throw Picture Show," which took place at Midnight on Friday nights at the Esquire Theater(near McArthur and So. Grand), a concert appearance of the "Raspberries" at the Holiday Inn-East(across from the Capitol Cities Shopping Center) and parking lot sock-hops at a Pizza Hut restaurant(near Chatham Road and Lawrence Street). Rich Styles later hosted the "Gold Mine" in the mid to late '70s. Even though the station was airing a Top 40 format through the '70s, it still maintained a very heavy news commitment. Newscasters included Coley Cowen, Marge Kimacki, Jo Warfield, Rick Derrick, Tim Schweitzer, and Patrick Gordon.
Later the next year, Joe Jackson took the station to an all-automated “like live” format, becoming “WDBR, 103.7FM, Stereo Rock.” The original jocks were Bob Taylor, Rich Styles, and ex-WCVS(AM1450) jock Steve West. Other jocks over those years included Skip Joeckel, Rick Ramsey, Dan Scott, Greg Lawley, Bob Logan, Diane Martini, Sam Kaiser, and others, including this website host Doug Quick. Read more about the talk track system and how it worked on the History of WDNL page on this website. The station continued using a newer version of the old Gates SP8-10 with the “like live” format under the logo “Music 104” until the early ’90s when ownership under Sentry Insurance took the station live. Added competition in the market caused the station to falter during the mid to late ’80s, and they felt the need to go live would bolster their position in the market. WDBR is now owned by SAGA and operates a very successful CHR station and is once again back on top in the Springfield market. The original studio at 712 Dirkson Parkway(originally bypass 66, South 31st Street) near Cook Street was torn down sometime in the early 1990s, although the original 1949 tower and transmitter building remained to broadcast the signals of WTAX and WDBR until a tornado destroyed it on March 11, 2006. The tower was later replaced where it broadcasts today. WDBR today...
thanks to Al Germond for his contribution to the history of WTAX/WDBR.
WDBR June 19,1974 Playlist with Steve West
Doug Quick, WDBR Memories
Personal Note: I first walked into WDBR in the Spring of 1973. I wasn't necessarily looking for a job, although I would have worked for nothing if I was asked. I ended up talking with owner/GM Shelby Harbison. Despite having more important duties I'm sure, he chose to spend about 45 minutes talking to me about broadcasting and the stations, primarily WDBR. He then passed me off to Bob Taylor, who was the morning jock and host of "The Gold Mine" on WDBR. Believe me when I say I was certainly star-struck to talk to probably one of my primary radio mentors. I knew the station was automated, but to that point, I'd never seen a system in operation. He explained to me how it worked while allowing me to stand there and watch it for quite a while. He answered my questions as the automation performed the format of the station flawlessly.
By 1973, the station was producing its own music tapes and had ended its association with Drake-Chenault. The contemporary format of WDBR was more adult than, say, WLS, KXOK, or WCVS. During my visit, I also met Steve West, who produced the tapes from LPs and even 45s, recording them to large 10-inch reel-to-reel tapes that would be used on the automation. He was precise in placing the 25 kc tones on each that would tell the system to maintain the audio from the music, but at the same time begin the next audio source to create an overlap of sounds. Because WDBR was producing its own music tapes, Steve didn't have to conform to some "cookie-cutter" playlist determined by a national publication or corporate music director.
I did get a job at WTIM AM/FM in June of 1974. WTIM-FM was an automated beautiful music station where I produced a contemporary/gold mix of music every night live. That was one awesome sales job I did on Jon Ulz, the station's primary owner and general manager. By the summer of 1975, I was still working at WTIM and looking forward to attending Western Illinois University. I changed my major from pharmacy to mass communications radio/TV because I worked full-time at the radio stations and decided that was the direction I wanted to go. Plans were made when I got a call from Bruce Bagg at WTAX, as they needed a DJ/newscaster at WTAX. I told him I planned to go to Western Illinois University and turned him down. That was painful...
In the Spring of 1976, I sought a full-time Summer job at any broadcast facility. I applied to the TV and radio stations in the Springfield, Decatur area, and almost immediately, I heard from Bruce Bagg once again. I was hired to start when classes at WIU were over, and I began as a newscaster/reporter for WTAX. That wasn't my objective, but I ended up rotating around the shifts doing other things, including newscasts for WDBR and WTAX. Live jocking on WTAX was a blast. I took phone calls and played big band selections, clips from old radio shows (all on file at WTAX), and various MOR hits. Coley Cowen would come in every hour and update news and sports, and we would banter awhile each time.
By the end of the Summer, my duties began to shift to the WDBR side. Steve West, along with Rich Styles, were the two people who talked the Station Manager, Joe Jackson, into allowing me to do a weekend talk track when my time at WTAX was through as summer help. So, while I was a student at Western Illinois University, I did a Sunday afternoon track, along with occasional overnight tracks during the week. It was a terrific experience at a truly outstanding facility and a fantastically talented group of people! I had very little sales experience at the time, but seeing how successful Rich Styles was in sales and air work was a great influence on my future career!
Steve West is no longer with us, having passed away in the early 1990s. Not only was Steve a great programmer and one of the best broadcast voices in the industry, but he was also an outstanding TV repairman and friend. I learned much from him about recording, choosing, editing, and "sweetening" music for automated formats. The last time I visited Steve, he was doing afternoons on sister station WTAX. I couldn't believe he wasn't on WDBR! His talents and abilities were wasted. With his passing, the Springfield market lost a real pro. The WDBR history segment is my tribute to him. We also note the passing of the former WDBR News Director Pat Gordon in the late 1990s. At the time of his passing, he was the morning co-anchor on WICS-TV. Also, former WDBR Program Director Jim Moore, who was in control of WDBR for many years, passed away in 2023.
WHTT (FM) 96.9FM Moline, Illinois
1976, from Tim Brown
1970s newspaper ad, From Tim Brown
1976, from Tim Brown
It was February of 1977, and I was getting ready to make my exit from Western Illinois University after finishing at the end of the second quarter. I wanted to collect a few airchecks from some of the stations that interested me, mostly those that were automated and, in particular, the Drake-Chenault subscribed stations.
I lived facing north-northeast on either the 12th or 14th floor of Higgins Hall (I can't recall which), a 21-story dormitory at Western Illinois University. Facing that direction, it was impossible to receive anything from the south, west, or extreme northwest, including Cedar Rapids, Quincy, Hannibal, Columbia, Missouri, and other radio markets in the area shaded by the building. When I first went to WIU, I was on the west side of the building but failed to collect any good airchecks, although I would listen to stations west of Macomb as far away as Columbia, Missouri!
I recorded some KGRS from Burlington that was airing the Drake-Chenault XT-40 format and a seemingly meek FM station licensed to Moline, Illinois, at 96.9 FM. The signal was weak most of the time, but occasionally, I'd listen while studying to the “mellow” contemporary version of the Contempo 300 format from Drake-Chenault.
I ran at least a brief sample of WHTT, 96.9FM, in Moline, Illinois, before I left WIU. This is the scoped recording of the station (to avoid copyright claims). As far as I know, I recorded the only airchecks of WHTT during that era. Remember, the recording was made from a signal over 70 miles away. The station was a 50-thousand-watt powerhouse on a 500-foot tower/antenna.
The history of WHTT goes back to 1970 when it signed on as a religious station WMDR(FM). Its transmitter was located in Orion, Illinois. According to sources on Wikipedia, it was purchased five years later by KSTT Broadcasting, owners of the Quad Cities Top 40 station, WSTT, 1170AM.
The new owners had the city of license changed to Davenport and used an analog automation system (unknown make/model) to broadcast the aforementioned Drake-Chenault format, Contempo 300. The owners went all out and ordered one jingle with “Stereo 97, WHTT.” I say that with sarcasm as a minimum jingle package would typically include over 15 jingles with variations.
Three years later, the owners would flip the format to country. I assume it was the Great American Country format, also produced by Drake-Chenault, but I'm not sure. Evidently, the country format wasn't able to catch on since heritage stations WHBF-AM flipped to country the year before. After facing the music from an uninterested audience, WHTT became WXLP on the last day of August 1978. It used the 97X logo with an album rock format where eventually it would become one of Quad City's leading stations. Over the years since, the format has ranged from hard rock to classic hits. It's now WXLP(FM), Davenport, Iowa.
WHTT (FM) was recorded in December of 1975 from Macomb, Illinois, at Western Illinois University. It's kind of scratchy, but I think you'll get an idea of how it sounded with the Drake-Chenault Format.
(YouTube)
WHTT (FM) was recorded in February 1977 from Macomb, IL, at WIU by yours truly.
(YouTube)
Source:
Newspaper Ad from Tim Brown
Wikipedia (WXLP, X-97, Davenport, Iowa
WLRW (FM) 94.5 Champaign, Illinois
(top-above): WLRW's studios, presumably from the early 1970s
(bottom left): Chuck Kelly inserted a cart into one of the IGM carousels in the WLRW IGM automation system. The cart would contain an endless tape loop of a recorded commercial. At the end of the commercial, a "step tone" (as IGM called it) or OM (end of message) secondary tone was recorded with the commercial on the third audio track, which would indicate to the system that it should go to the next event. The reel-to-reels
shown were Revox decks used to broadcast the "Drake-Chenault" Solid Gold format mix of oldies and contemporary top 40 songs. See automation formats for more on the Drake-Chenault automation formats.
(top-center): The WLRW studios in the early 1970s showed the showcase window and the IGM automation on the other side of the window.
(top-right): a side view of the IGM automation unit also showing the large Skully reel to reels (14" reels), which contained the background music service which was transmitted "multiplexed" with the main L and R channels of the signal. You needed a special receiver to listen to the "multiplexed" signal that was used to provide music for retail stores and offices by subscription. (MUZAK type of system)
It was not part of the primary IGM automation system but operated on a separate controller.
(pictures courtesy of Mark Spalding and Chuck Kelly)
The Early History of WLRW
WLRW was the first stereo FM station in Champaign going on the air in January of 1965 and was contracted to supply beautiful music in-store background service and commercials for the Eisner grocery stores in town. WDWS-FM was already "store-casting" to another grocery chain, the IGA stores. Frank Stewart owned Putt-Putt Golf and built WLRW, and pretty much paid his operating expenses with the Eisner contract.
Sometime in the late '60s, Stewart purchased WKID(1580AM). It’s interesting to note that the Champaign News-Gazette did not include the program listings of WKID(AM) along with the other radio listings of the day. The News-Gazette listed WDWS(AM), which was owned by the newspaper.
The newspaper competitor, the Champaign-Urbana Courier, included the listings and advertising of WKID, choosing to omit WDWS. So much for objective journalism of the C-U newspapers!
Before 1960, WKID was the original license holder for 103.9FM. Around 1960, 103.9FM went dark, and that allocation was later assigned to WTWC, which later became WKIO(FM) or K-104.
My source told me that WLRW programmed country for a time as did its AM sister station WCCR after it was sold to a different owner (name unknown). It was said the call letters WLRW stood for "We’re the Little Red Wagon." “The Little Red Wagon” was used in advertising for the station when it ran the country format, but actually the call letters actually originated by being the first stereo station in Champaign-Urbana. The call letters L stood for Left, and R stood for Right, surrounded by W’s...WLeftRightW.....get it?
In the early 70s, the station made the shift to automation, as many FM stations were doing across the country. It's quite possible, that WLRW broadcast the Drake Chenault "Great American Country" format for a short time, then went more contemporary with the “Hit Parade” format and later the “Solid Gold” Drake-Chenault formats on an IGM automation system. See samples of other central Illinois stations airing the format in Springfield and Bloomington by visiting this link and listening to the WLRW air checks below from 1974 and 1976.
Using an IGM automation system had to be a bit of a challenge for the engineers at the station as IGM designed their systems to use 22.5 kc tones on the music reels to cue the next broadcast event. IGM also sold their own music formats using the 22.5 kc tones to make it more difficult for stations to use other format suppliers.
WLRW, though, chose the popular Drake -Chenault formats that used 25 kc tones. The station would continue with the "Solid Gold" format through the late 70s when it went to a live CHR format where it continues to be one of the market's leaders today.
It’s now owned by Saga Communications with Country sister stations WIXY(100.3FM), WYXY(99.1FM), eXtra(96.9), Oldies(97.9), EZ99(99.7FM), and Rewind(92.5FM) Most offer digital programming and a number of subcarriers with multiple formats.
Much of the info above was submitted by Fred Seibold.
Here is the earliest aircheck I've heard of WLRW-FM returning to September 7, 1969! This is from the Bob Jones Collection and posted by Ellis Feaster. This is an overnight Saturday into a very early Sunday morning sample. The newscaster's name is John-something as he says his name so fast-so he remains unnamed. The person doing the commercial for RoboWash Car Wash, pronounces "wash" as "worsh" indicating he has to be a native of southern Illinois. The ID of the young woman jock is unknown. Comments are favorable on her presentation, and IMO, with a little work, she could have made a great overnight AOR jock!
Here is an aircheck of WLRW(FM) from June 19th, 1976, which featured the station running the Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" format. The station did some local programming with the morning show that ran from 7 to 10 am with Jody Anderson and "Sunday Solid Soul," which ran on Sunday evenings. This aircheck includes a Dr. Pepper commercial with Danville native the late Bobby Short.
(YouTube)
This is one of the earliest recordings of WLRW, taken from October 17, 1974. It was recorded in Hoopeston, IL, by Scott Baer, who contributed to this site. It features the Drake-Chenault format "Solid Gold" with the typical IDs and generic logo jingles with custom time announcements. The station programed a local morning show with promos featuring "Jody Lovitt." There are no local commercials included, just a couple of promos for Illini sports coverage on sister station WCCR, 1580-AM, Urbana, IL.
(YouTube)
Paul Harvey News and Comments was a mid-day staple of WLRW, being an affiliate of ABC News during the day. He aired every weekday and Saturday at 11:30 pm.
Pat Quinn, WLRW Memories
“WLRW Mix 94.5. The very first radio station I ever worked at was in 1994. I made my debut on a Friday overnight in October 1994 at age 14. Worked there for 6 years. Loved it. Started with Carts, CDs, mini discs, and reel-to-reels. By the end of 1995, we used David Scott Studios to automate song play. When I was moved to the Saturday 7p to midnight shift in 1995, I was playing music via CDs, carts, and David Scott Studios (DSS). I would get some sleep for a few hours and come in on Sunday morning. I would board-op the last hour of Casey’s Countdown. After that, I’d be on the air live until 2 pm. By 1997 we started voice tracking part of the weekend. I’d go into a booth and voice-track the format you’d hear until 5 pm. They paid me for the extra time. We also recorded phone calls with a new 360 system. Man, I learned A LOT about radio at 2603 West Bradley Avenue. It got me ready for my days at CIL-FM when I was a student at SIU. Love those call letters and that station group: Saga’s Mix 94.5 WLRW, Champaign-Urbana.”
WMBD-FM 93.3 Peoria, Illinois
This is a two-picture image of the WMBD-FM automation. The reel-to-reel decks were AMPEX decks(notice only two are available). The automation system was a GATES-SP8-10, which included the "dial a format" system of placing pulses on a cart. The two oval-shaped screens were time clocks that worked like an old-fashioned digital alarm clock and projected the times by a series of backlit numbers on the plastic screen. It appears that there were cart decks for time announcements and station IDs, and jingles provided by TM Productions. The carousels consisted of two sets of random select systems, which were controlled by the placement of the slider diode pins on the control panels above. There is also an FM receiver that monitors the station.
(pictures from the Doug Quick Collection)
From Southwest Jefferson Street in Downtown Peoria, the old Majestic Theater was the home for WMBD Radio (AM/FM) and WMBD-TV.
(photo from the 20th Anniversary of WMBD Radio in 1957, right before Channel 31 went on the air. This was contributed by the Ron Moses Collection)
It was sometime in 1976 that I visited the studios of WMBD located in the heart of downtown Peoria on Southwest Jefferson. It was located in what appeared to be a former theater (The Majestic Theater). The studios at the time were probably the worst I'd ever seen to that point. Along with desks located in the hallways and the setting appears to be quite worn out and no longer suited for its broadcast occupant, the place was incredibly filthy.
Now, I always felt that a broadcast station was simply a "warehouse" while its on-air product was its "showroom," but this place would've made a warehouse seem quite desirable.
The WMBD(AM) studio was located behind a glass window that overlooked a very large former theater area, which still had a circular layered floor that was higher at the rear of the room and lower toward the window and studio, which contained the operation of the AM station. It was obvious that it once held theater seats that overlooked the main performance studio of the radio station, but the seats were now gone. In that room, concrete blocks were used to level a couple of sheets of plywood that supported the automation system pictured to the right.
The tile floor of the former radio audience theater was considerably worn, with broken tiles, areas of bare floors, and broadcast equipment debris scattered around the room. The WMBD(AM) studio floor couldn't have been any dirtier if it had been located in a barn. The only reason that any tile floor was visible was that the dirt had been worn away by foot traffic. Dirt was literally creeping up the walls, the ancient equipment racks, and the console in the studio. At the time, the station was programming TM "Stereo Rock" but wasn't doing a very good job of it. Using just two reel-to-reel decks and not the minimum of three, the station was prone to many periods of dead air, extreme repetition, and other format errors. The control and operation of the station depended on the attention of the operator or announcer who was on the air with the live operation of WMBD....in a room which was, even though in line of sight, required a long walk to fix any problems....or even change a reel of tape. I couldn't locate an aircheck of the troubled and neglected Adult CHR station of the mid-'70s.
There was no doubt that the station had to relocate, if for no other reason than the health department. A few years later, it would relocate to 3131 North University in Peoria.
WNNS (FM) 98.7 Springfield, Illinois
This station went on the air sometime during the late 70s using an automated urban format run on a Harris System 9000. The studios were located on West Jefferson Street in Springfield in an office complex near Walnut Street. The station was minority-owned during that time. Later, it went to an automated AC format and was purchased by WMAY(AM970).
Sometime during the ’80s, it took a live format where it continues to be a successful AC station in the Springfield market, now co-owned with WMAY and WQLZ(92.7FM).
Here is an air check of WNNS from February 22, 1981, right after its switch from the Urban format to a light AC. I'm not sure of the syndicator. I believe it was running a Harris System 90 from an office/studio, which was located in a complex just east of Walnut on Jefferson in Springfield.
WSOY-FM 102.9 Decatur, Illinois
This aircheck was recorded the first evening of the format change. I guess it's not fair to judge a station from its first day on the air, but this should never have been allowed to hit the air without at least a couple of days to work out the bugs. I don't remember the exact date, as I didn't label it, but I believe it was in 1980.
WSOY-FM, along with being one of the first FM’s in Central Illinois, was grandfathered in at 54,000 watts and originally was an extension of its sister station WSOY(1360AM). As far back as the late ’60s and early ’70s, it was automated country, then during the early 70’s changed to Peter’s Production’s automated beautiful music format, “Music Just for the Two of Us.”
During the early 80s, it switched to Peter’s “Love Rock” automated format using the logo “Y-103.” The format wasn't far from the Drake-Chenault “XT-40” format in sound, but it wasn't administered very well. When it first went on the air, it was common to hear one song, followed by one commercial, then another song, another commercial, etc., with no re-entry jingles after the spots. The “Love Rock” was dropped some years later for satellite rock format. Y-103 continued to hold the market until WEJT went on the air to bring some competition to the market in the early ’90s.
Y-103 went "live" in early 2000 and continues with a CHR format. In December of 2008, it was announced that ownership would shift to Neuhoff Broadcasting, which owned groups of stations in the central Illinois markets of Danville and Springfield.
IMO from Doug Quick
The air-check above for WSOY-FM is one of the most hideous air checks ever. The station has just signed on with the automated format "The Love Rock" from Peters Productions. I can't imagine how Peters would feel about this mangling of their format by WSOY. The lesson is never to put a format on the air, automated or otherwise before you've got the bugs worked out. Most of the automated formats then operated with a mandatory dead roll on all carted material. Obviously, WSOY didn't do that in some situations.
Also, the station breaks every formatting rule possible. From marketing, standpoint count the number of slogans used. Not just one, which would obviously be "The Love Rock," they use "Non-stop stereo rock," "You are the reason we do what we do...(TM jingle package for the Adult top 40 full-service stations)", "for all the rock you need," "central Illinois' best rock," "you can always depend on us," etc. Also, they have the most complex promotion with bumper stickers I've ever heard of. The promo alone was longer than this aircheck. They couldn't have gotten any kind of response from this. This was sort of like a Top 40 station programmed by your great-grandfather.
Fortunately, WSOY-FM has different ownership and management, going back to 1980. It's now the number-one station in the Decatur area!
WWTO (FM) 105.7 Peoria, Illinois
from Broadcasting Magazine December 23, 1969
To hear an interview conducted by Tom Arbogast of Normal, IL, with part-owner Paul Carnegie, who tells the story of how the station began on the air in 1969, click here. Tom has also documented audio interviews with many members of WWCT's management and staff on the Internet archives page, which is available by clicking here.
For what is now WIXO, 105.7FM Peoria, here we look at the early beginnings of the station occupying the frequency, WWTO, owned by Peoria Community Broadcasters.
In the early 70s, it was WWTO and another of the Drake-Chenault “Solid Gold” formatted stations using a Schafer automation system. In October of 1974, WWTO changed programming from the Drake format to another automated format that was produced locally at the station, "Gentle on Your Mind." It was voiced entirely by Paul Carnegie, one of the original owners. The station also aired the syndicated “Bill Balance” show as drop-ins during the mornings.
The syndicated Bill Balance Show was a groundbreaking show dealing with adult topics, relationships, and some rather frank language for the day. Later the station used a syndicated “like live” format, using tracks from former WLS jock Kris Eric Stevens, among others. I have no examples of that format.
In early 1977, the station was still operating through its automation while construction was being done to take it live. At that time, it operated with the audio being “out of phase,” which was surely quite curious for mono radio listeners.
The station later changed calls to WWCT and went AOR during the late ’70s. At that time, the studios were located just a few storefronts down from WMBD, in a second-story walk-up on S.W. Jefferson. In a more recent move, the frequency underwent a call letter and format change on September 20th, 2003, and is now WXMP(Mix 105.7), while the call letters went with another lower-frequency rimshot station at 99.9.
WWTO-105.7FM Peoria was broadcasting the automated Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" Format in July 1973. The exact date is unknown, other than it was recorded during that month, on a Sunday night before the weekly sign-off at Midnight. This was recorded from my hometown of Taylorville, Illinois, 79 miles south of East Peoria, the transmitter and tower/antenna.
WWTO-105.7FM Peoria was broadcasting the automated Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" Format on August 3, 1973. This was recorded from my hometown of Taylorville, Illinois, 79 miles south of East Peoria, the transmitter and tower/antenna.
WWTO-105.7FM Peoria was broadcasting the automated Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" Format on August 5, 1973. This was recorded from my hometown of Taylorville, Illinois, 79 miles south of East Peoria, the transmitter and tower/antenna.
Here's an example of WWTO from 1974. The station dropped Drake-Chenault for its own homemade format called "Gentle on Your Mind." They actually did a pretty good job of formatics, good image pieces, and tight format, but the music mix consisted of a lot of "stiffs." It was entirely voiced by part-owner Paul Carnegie. On the check, there's also a reference to Bill Balance, a syndicated adult talk/music show of the day. See more about Bill Balance below.
The WWTO studios, by then the WWCT studios, were in an upper office just to the south of WMBD along South-West Jefferson in downtown Peoria.
(picture from the Doug Quick Collection)
Bill Balance
Willis "Bill" Balance was from Peoria, Illinois. Born in 1918, he ended up at the University of Illinois before becoming a Marine. He later went into broadcasting and worked at Top 40 stations in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and San Diego.
By the early 1970s, he was an early version of a "shock jock." From the early to late 1970s, he was on KGBS-Radio in Los Angeles. By 1978, he ended up in San Diego at KFMB-AM (owned by WCIA Champaign, Midwest Television also owned KFMB AM/FM/TV). His shows targeted a mostly female audience.
In 1975, he was syndicating program segments from his KGBS(1020-AM) "Feminine Forum" radio show to WWTO(FM) 105.7 FM in Peoria. He also made appearances in sponsored remote broadcasts in Peoria as advertised on WWTO.
He was also allegedly involved in a situation in the late 1990s involving nude pictures of a current well-known female radio personality allegedly taken when he was dating her in the 1970s. She sued him later for selling the pictures to a company that published the pictures on a website as well as the website company. A judge ruled in favor of him, and the internet company website said the pictures could stay.
Mr. Balance also made some guest appearances on network TV in 1973 in "A Touch of Grace," a short-lived sitcom in which he played himself. He also played a radio talk show personality in an episode of "Barnaby Jones."
He suffered a stroke in 2002 and died two years later on September 23, 2004. His funeral service was held in Peoria. He was survived by two sons and two grandchildren.
Here is a collection of segments he did at KFMB from the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Read more from the LA Times here.
I've never seen anything like this before, but I recently came across this while researching WWTO. It's information about the Bill Balance Radio program. To see the information, click here.
Sources:
Pictures and airchecks from The Doug Quick Collection
Broadcasting Magazine
Tom Arbogast-Paul Carnegie Interview from Internet Archive
World Radio History-Bill Balance Show (KGBS)
WHBF-FM 98.9 Rock Island, Illinois
1947 Ad for WHBF-FM, From Tim Brown
WHBF-FM Goes on the Air in October of 1947, from Tim Brown
1990s unknown date, From Tim Brown
1947 Ad for WHBF-FM, From Tim Brown
WHBF-FM, Rock Island, Illinois. This was recorded on November 11, 1975, at Macomb, Illinois. It's a great example of "TM Stereo Rock." According to Scott Davis, the jingle series was from the TM SR-1. "All I Have To Do is Dream" from the Everly Brothers was the only song from the '50s included in the Stereo Rock package. The oldie "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry was from oldie tape number 203(out of 200-222), cut #12. TM revised these oldie tapes every couple of years. Cuts #15, Everly Brothers and cut #16 "Popcorn" were replaced the next year by "The Joker"-Steve Miller Band and "Everlasting Love"-Carl Carlton.
The History of WHBF-FM
WHBF-FM went on the air as an FM partner to its AM sister station, WHBF-AM, in 1947. In its early days, it was a simulcast partner for at least part of the day to its AM sister. It was also the first FM station in the market to broadcast in stereo in 1958. Its beautiful music format was later automated.
The station was also co-owned and located with WHBF-TV, Channel 4(CBS) in the Telco Building in downtown Rock Island. All three of the stations were owned by the Potter Family, which was also in the publishing business.
In 1974, the AM station went to a country format, while the FM was programmed with what was called a MOR format. This MOR format was "Rock 99-" programmed through the automation system as TM's Stereo Rock.
By 1987, the station went through a call letter change and became WPXR, "Power 98.9," a CHR station. During the early 1990s, the format would swing in a different direction to an alternative-classic rock format but would change back to CHR when it became "All Hit 98.9, WHTS." During the mid-1990s, ownership changed again to Mercury Broadcasting where it was controlled by Clear Channel Communications until being pulled from its control by FCC ownership regulations.
The Frequency was owned by the Education Media Foundation and operated as a non-profit religious station WLKU and "K-Love." What a terrible waste and ending to such a historic radio station! Somewhere toward the end of the station's life, the call letters of the AM station were changed to WKBF, and it appears to have gone to a Latino format, simulcast on both AM and an FM translator at 105.7FM.
According to Jay Pearce of WVIK (the local public radio station), the station went dark in October of 2018, as the former owner walked away from the facility, allegedly owning many, including the power company, the owners of the land for the transmitter site and the rent on a translator that rebroadcast the signal of the AM. The land owner filed a lien and took possession of the building and equipment, including the towers, which were destroyed for scrap in the winter of 2020. It's speculated that the previous owners never returned the license to the FCC and that the Commission probably doesn't have an official notice that the station is no longer in operation.
thanks to Scott Davis, a TM Stereo Rock expert, for his contribution
thanks to Jay Pearce of WVIK in the Quad Cities for the updated info on the stations
Here are pictures taken by Jay Pearce of WVIK Radio (the Quad Cities public radio station) of the original WHBF radio transmitter building as it was left when the station was deserted by the owner in 2016.
It shows the exterior of the transmitter building, a remote backup studio, what appears to be the original AM transmitter and its former AM and FM transmitter. It also gives an indication of the Latino format of the AM station and a translator station.
(pictures submitted by Jay Pearce, of WVIK)
From January 2020, the former WHBF transmitter/antenna tower would come down in a planned tower removal. See the information above as to the sketchy ending to the stations.
Thanks to Jeff Konrad for the video of the East Tower of WHBF-AM (the former WHBF-AM/FM) coming down.
(Facebook post)