Best Tenn. stations of all time

[amfmxm]

Oh, I agree--I only referenced those stations as a point of comparison to what I sincerely believe is the best radio station that has ever been produced--in Tennessee or anywhere: WSIX-FM, during the House/Mayfield era.

Frankly, I wish I remembered the guy they had on 10A-3P bridging the two stars. I remember him as being extremely likeable and personable with a low-key sense of humor. The perfect mid-day jock.

And I'll admit that I have a huge preference for humor. Those of us in radio tend to think of people like Gerry and Carl P. as "jocks," but really they're comedians--or maybe more accurately, humorists. It isn't the guy (or gal) who can read a great weather forecast or PSA that becomes a radio Hall of Famer--it's the one who makes you laugh. In the case of House & Mayfield, they always had Nashville rolling in the aisles.

And that was radio at its best. 

[romer979fm]

Frankly, I wish I remembered the guy they had on 10A-3P bridging the two stars.

That would be Hoss Burns.

[anotherguy]

Interesting thoughts, but I wouldn't list out-of-state stations here, unless you could actually pick them up here in Tennessee.  I believe WLS got a mention here earlier, and I did indeed listen to them "back in the day" from my home in rural west Tennessee.  They were definitely a player here in the volunteer state back then, even if they didn't know it or weren't aware of it.  (But I'm sure that that was also true for dozens of other states (and provinces!) back then, too!)  It was also cool to be able to travel to East Tennessee and STILL be able to pick them up!  (I remember being almost annoyed whenever the weather was bad at night, and I couldn't receive WLS!  )

Someone must have known that WLS had an audience in Tennessee because of the ads for Pug Vickers Honda in Huntingdon. He advertised as being the "World's largest Honda dealer" because of his weight. 

[firepoint525]

Someone must have known that WLS had an audience in Tennessee because of the ads for Pug Vickers Honda in Huntingdon. He advertised as being the "World's largest Honda dealer" because of his weight. 

Am I reading this right?  A Honda dealer in Huntingdon advertised on WLS?  That had to be expensive, especially given the (lack of) return on his "investment."

[secondchoice]

Someone must have known that WLS had an audience in Tennessee because of the ads for Pug Vickers Honda in Huntingdon. He advertised as being the "World's largest Honda dealer" because of his weight. 

Am I reading this right?  A Honda dealer in Huntingdon advertised on WLS?  That had to be expensive, especially given the (lack of) return on his "investment."

From personal experience: Car dealers sometimes do "strange" things.  If the owner himself listens to the station you will get a buy.  Also at that time there were not that many Honda dealers.  In the 1970's and 1980's a dealer cleared at least $800 to a grand a deal.  If he sold any cars not in the coverage of his "local" advertisement (up to 75 or 100 miles) in the dealer's mind that sale was because of WLS.  I do not know how much a 10pm or midnight to 5am "package" was on WLS but if you sell a dozen "extra" cars a month this could have been a good thing.  Had there been PPM nationwide including all zip codes in the 1960's and 1970's it would have been interesting kind of numbers WLS, WCFL (east of the Mississippi), WOWO, WLAC, and WSM would have had 6pm till midnight.  I believe the midnight to 6am numbers would have been huge for a lot of the old 50KW Clears.  IIRC there were less than 30 protected 50 KW's, but some of the other 50 KW AM's (WLAC, WOWO,and WCLF for example) had huge night time coverage too. 

[robgrayson]

FWIW, this was back when Hondas were motorcycles, not cars.  I remember hearing those spots back then.  In Huntingdon, at night, I am pretty sure with the WLS buy he had 100% of the target audience listening to top 40 radio.

[w9wi]

IIRC there were less than 30 protected 50 KW's, but some of the other 50 KW AM's (WLAC, WOWO,and WCLF for example) had huge night time coverage too. 

There were 58 Class I clear-channel stations with some protected skywave coverage.  That includes all three stations you mentioned.  However, those three stations and 32 others were I-B clears with a second I-B clear operating on the same frequency.*  There were only 23 I-A clears with the channel fully to themselves.

WLAC had a pretty decent signal in Milwaukee at night in the 1960s & 1970s. 

* Spokane, Portland, and Seattle respectively in those three cases.

[anotherguy]

Vickers was a car dealer in Huntingdon, but the Honda dealership was motorcycles. There's an article on him from when he died in 2006 toward the bottom of the page here: http://www.mckenziebanner.com/2006/2006news/news_dec26.htm

[romer979fm]

I clearly remember the Pug Vickers spots on WLS...actually makes sense as WLS was
the top 40 voice of the rural south and midwest (and beyond) : in fact...WLS showed up in the Nashville
Arbitron routinely in the early and mid 70's...right up until that pesky FM took over!

[amfmxm]

Frankly, I wish I remembered the guy they had on 10A-3P bridging the two stars.

That would be Hoss Burns.

It was indeed Hoss. Great voice--huge talent. Gerry House, Hoss Burns & Carl P. Mayfield. Scan all the stations, all the markets--satellite, Pandora--wherever. And you won't find a better 6A-7P lineup than The Big 98 in the late eighties and most of the nineties. Best ever, in my book.