Oldest and Continous TOP-40 station as of today.

[RobynWattsV2.0]

Hate to point this out, but in just about all of the stations mentioned, there are gaps in the station's histories where the station wasn't CHR.

An example is KDWB. There was a period of time from 1980 to 1984 where they were Album Rock and was no longer Top 40 by any means. That was why WLOL did very well in the market from the time when they've signed on in 1981, until they were sold by Emmis to Minnesota Public Radio in 1991. It took several years for KDWB to shake off the AOR image that they've made for themselves after going back to CHR (anyone remember "The New KDWB").

WAPE (AM 690) WAS Top 40 until 1981 when they went....*gasp*...Country, then....*gasp*(again)...Religion. The Kaplans still owned them at that point I believe and they were trying to get the 99.9 FM allocation for Palatka, FL so that they would finally have an FM sister for WAPE. Sadly, the deal fell through and WAPE was eventually sold to Statewide Broadcasting, which acquired the 95.1 FM frequency from the city of Jacksonville and WAPE-FM finally became a reality in early 1986.

WPGC-FM went downhill as a Top 40 in the early 80s and flipped to AC as WCLY (Classy 95) in 1984. The AM was doing Business talk, but wisely kept the WPGC call letters. The station was eventually sold to Cook Outlet Broadcasting, which brought back WPGC-FM in 1987 as a Dance/Urban Contemporary station. More info can be found here:

www.amandfmmorningside.com

KRBE-FM abandoned Top 40 in 1981 for AC and didn't come back until 1985.

Y-100 abandoned Top 40 in 1991 for AC and didn't revert back until 1995.

The only 2 stations that I can think of that deserves the title as oldest continually Top 40 in the country is:

WABB/Mobile, AL (Started on AM in the late 50's, then went to FM in 1981)
WNOK/Columbia, SC (Started on AM in the early 60's, then went to FM in 1975)

Robyn

[FightingIrish]

KDWB started on 630 AM back in 1959. They began simulcasting at the current 101.3 FM in September 1976, when they bought rival WYOO (U100, another Top 40 station). In the early 80s, they flipped the FM to album rock for a few years, then back to Top 40 around 1983 or so. 63 KDWB was still Top 40 at the time, but were getting clobbered by WLOL, so they flipped 101.3 back to the simulcast. Soon, the AM flipped to oldies, followed by country years later (picking up the WDGY call letters from 1130 when they flipped to KFAN), then a simulcast until they went dark when the land that the tower sat on was slated for commercial development. The AM came back a few years later, still with the WDGY calls, and is now airing a Spanish-language format.

KDWB at 101.3 is still CHR, and combined with 630, this would mark 47 continuous years or so as a Top 40.

[Johnny Morgan]

I think WHOT AM/FM-Youngstown has KDWB beat by 4 years.  According to this history (http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/whot.txt), WHOT was Top 40 as early as 1955, on a daytime facility at 1570 (later 1330, and 101.1 FM).  That would put Myron Jones near the front of the pack, along with Todd Storz and Gordon McLendon as pioneers in Top 40 radio.

It's still around, 51 years later, with a direct lineage back.  In fact, Jones owned the stations until the mid-90s.

[Joe Jock]

I thought there was one point in the early 80's that KDWB-FM was an AOR, and 63 KDWB had moved to AC or Oldies.   I know they CLAIM to be nonstop Top 40, but....

[FightingIrish]

I thought there was one point in the early 80's that KDWB-FM was an AOR, and 63 KDWB had moved to AC or Oldies.   I know they CLAIM to be nonstop Top 40, but....

63 KDWB didn't flip to oldies until about a year after their FM went back to Top 40. So, between the two signals, KDWB has consistently carried the format.

[Jay F]

KLUC/Las Vegas has been some form of Top 40 since the early 70s. They were an AM/FM simulcast until 1978. For a short time in the early 90s they returned to simulcasting as well. The station has been rhythmic CHR since 1993, but has generally been a pop friendly rhythmic.   

[semoochie]

This is a tough situation because in the early 1980s, most Top 40 stations were AC by default!  When the music got harder, another station usually got there first and the former lost their heritage position!

[FightingIrish]

This is a tough situation because in the early 1980s, most Top 40 stations were AC by default!  When the music got harder, another station usually got there first and the former lost their heritage position!

By today's standards, virtually all Top 40 stations from the early 80s sound pretty AC. I think it was mostly the product. That, and the fact that many Top 40 stations changed format around this time. By 1983 or so, rap, dance and heavy metal started getting more Top 40 airplay.

I think the "Hot Hits" stations around this period changed the format considerably. Much more upbeat, and geared toward younger listeners.

[Pat Cook]

Hi everyone:

KS-107.5 here in Denver would have to rank up there pretty high on the list.  While not a migrator from AM nor the "tiger" of Denver radio (that would be KIMN duirng its days on AM 950), 107.5 has played Top 40 music in its many lives since at least the mid-1970s (Anyone here in Denver remember the old KPPL-FM on 107.5 ?).

Cheers

[billyg]

I need to find more info on KNIN in Wichita Falls TX. I heard it started in the late 1950's with a Top 40 format on AM 990, then migrated to the FM in 1980. Then both stations simulcasted CHR until the mid 80's.