WXYZ LIVES HERE 24/7 ON MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS
From our MCRFB aircheck archives, featuring: WXYZ-AM (’66) w/ JIM HAMPTON
From One Golden Sound To Another . . . . CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations, CKLW On 50 Years In Motor City
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR TOP 50. THANKS FOR PLAYING OUR TOP 40.
Atlantic, Atco, Cotillion Records and Custom Labels Salute CKLW in Honor Of Their 50th Anniversary
CKLW Beaming THE BEST For Half A Century. CONGRATULATIONS.
Epic / Portrait and the CBS family of Associated Labels, Thank You, CKLW, for 50 years of non-stop music.
Thanks to you. Congratulations to us. Fifty Years Young.
Harmony House Congratulates . . . Our Friends Across The River At CKLW On Their 50th Anniversary!
Congratulations CKLW on your FIRST HALF CENTURY of Great Entertainment. We’re Proud of the Company We Keep.
Has It REALLY Been 50 Years Already? Congratulations CKLW from all your friends at EMI America / Liberty.
HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY CKLW! Many More . . .
(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine; August 7, 1982).
From current MCRFB news wire services:
Former Mousketeer and Beach Party had long battled multiple sclerosis
From NPR news wires | April 8, 2013 1:32 P.M.
Annette Funicello, who was one of the first child stars to emerge out of The Mickey Mouse Club, has died, the official Disney Fan Club reports.
Funicello was known as “America’s Sweetheart.” Her acting career started in 1955 when Walt Disney recruited her at 12 years old. She went on to become a successful film star, starring with Frankie Avalon in the Beach Party films.
Funicello had been battling multiple sclerosis for years. By the end of her life, she was unable to walk or talk. The Canadian broadcaster CTV ran a series of reports about Funicello’s struggle.
Extra reports that her family confirmed she died from complications of MS. Variety reports she was taken off life support Monday morning.
She was 70.
Variety adds:
” ‘Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mousketeer, and a true Disney Legend,’ said Disney chairman-CEO Robert Iger. ‘She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace.’
“Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney, praised Funicello as a ‘consummate professional’ who demonstrated ‘great loyalty’ to Disney.”
Funicello is survived by her husband, Glen Holt, and three children from a previous marriage.
Update at 1:41 p.m. ET. Annette Ballet:
Jimmie Dodd, the host of The Mickey Mouse Club and the composer of its theme, wrote a special song for Annette.
“Who’s the little lady who’s as dainty as a dream? Who’s the one you can’t forget? I’ll give you just three guesses. Annette, Annette, Annette!” he sang. Here’s video of Annette dancing to the song:
(Article adapted from NPR.com; NPR Breaking News, Monday, April 8, 2013).
CKLW GOING BIG WITH NEW SOUND; ENGINEER SLATED TO REOPTIMIZE 50,000-WATTER WITH AM STEREO EVOLUTION
DETROIT / WINDSOR — If CKLW doesn’t succeed in an era when increasing listening to music is done on the FM band, it won’t be Ed Buterbaugh’s fault.
Butterbaugh, who is vice-president of engineering for CKLW, has been overseeing the technical facilities at the station for 10 years. “I’ve always tried to stay one step ahead of the rest, , be a leader, not a follower,” Buterbaugh says pointing to a state-of-the-art transmitter system.
“We now have an audio prototype system with a redesigned antenna system that is optimized for stereo,” Buterbaugh says, noting that CKLW takes delivery on a Harris stereo system on August 1st.
Butterbaugh says he chose the Harris system because “it is the only system that doesn’t require limiters on the signal in order to maintain protective ratios and emission limitations currently specified. Other systems all need filters.”
Buterbaugh may have chosen the Harris system, but he realizes, like most radio engineers and management, that it will probably be the receiver manufacturers who will decide which AM stereo system will prevail. The FCC has taken a hands-off stance on competing AM stereo systems and decreed that the marketplace should have such a system. Should some system other than Harris be the winner in the AM stereo race, it will be a minor adjustment for Buterbaugh to adapt the Harris transmitter he is installing next month.
Buterbaugh notes that he has “changed the audio processing system five times since I’ve been here, four of them were my own system.” The winner of a 1977 Billboard Radio Engineer of the Year award notes that he is “very conscious of listener fatigue and how it is caused by distortion. “It’s most important to have a good clean signal,” he says.
Buterbaugh is doing a lot of work on the FM side as well. He’s just gotten approval from the stations’ board of directors to upgrade CKJY-FM’s signal. This sister station, which runs the syndicated MOR “Unforgettable’ format, will soon move from a 540 foot tower with a 40kw of power to a 700 foot tower with 100kw. “We’ve already designed a unique audio processing system for it,”Buterbaugh says. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 7, 1982).
TODAY’S NEW BUSINESS: INCREASING MARKET SHARE WHILE SPANNING TWO COUNTRIES AT THE BIG 8
DETROIT / WINDSOR — “Radio is a business first, everything else second,” says CKLW president Chuck Camroux. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Baton Broadcasting since 1970, CKLW-AM and CKJY-FM span the U.S.-Canada border, enjoying a double-market enterprise but also above normal expenses.
“Ninety-nine percent of all stations operate from one building. We operate from two and they’re 20 miles apart in two different countries. The complications are unique,” Camroux continues.
It was Camroux’s interest in “unique” CKLW which brought him from a consulting business to the CEO’s office at the station three years ago. “Most people think of me as a straight businessman,” he says, “but my career was made as a rock program director. Now, it’s essential to focus the attention on being a business. It’s a necessity when you’re dealing with millions of dollars in a major competitive radio market.”
Most AM-FM combinations divide their staff along format lines. At CKLW, the organization almost seems to have four faces, Camroux says. Even with a four-way division of labor (AM/Canada, AM Detroit, FM Canada, FM Detroit) there is little duplication of staff. “The only separate department is programming,” Camroux says.”AM and FM share news, traffic, engineering, accounting, sales and promotions.”
It’s the other axis that causes the headaches. “We need international telephone lines and mail couriers. Scheduling can really be a problem. If there’s a sales meeting for the U.S. sales department, either all the salesmen have to drive for an hour, or I do. The day can get really chopped up,” he says.
Operational hangups are only part of the problem. Stringent Canadian government regulations, declining profits and audience fragmentation have made CKLW’s going pretty rough.
“In the U.S., even forgotten deregulation, the FCC is concerned with legalities and technical questions,” Camroux relates. “”In Canada, CRTC controls programming. A separate handles the technical end. Regulations are strict on programming. The well-known Canadian content requirements are only a small part. There are broad rules on repetition — 18 times a week is the maximum for any FM format. On easy listening stations, the repeat factor is only once or twice weekly. Formats are strictly defined. For example, any song with a sustained beat and electronic accoutrement is in a rock category. If a station makes more than 10% variation on promised performance (as described when the format is assigned) it’s considered a format change. Canadian program directors are half typical program directors and half statistician.”
For management, this means tremendous amount of government liaison. Camroux has testified at both U.S. senate hearings and its Canadian Parliament counterpart. It costs more to operate (a radio station) in Canada than in the United States, Camroux claims. On the average, staff must be larger. There is more paperwork and file processing involved. Logs must be filed every Monday. There are fewer stations and all are full-time. In Toronto (population 3 million) there are 17 stations, five non-commercial. In Detroit (population 4 million) there are 54 stations.
Camroux feels stations have a better chance of survival in Canada. “Ad ratesin Canada are pretty close in the same market, while in the U.S., tremendous swings are possible,” he says.
“Wheeling and dealing is standard in the U. S. but not in Canada, although the soft economy is changing that a bit,” he adds. Different AM rate cards apply in the two countries, although Camroux points out the per point rate is the same. FM rates are standardized.
CKLW has lost substantial amounts in the past two years, according to Camroux. When RKO owned the radio station, it was very profitable. Since 1971, profits have been on a decline. Camroux sees two main forces acting to create the earnings drop. “Market fragmentation (the market didn’t grow fast enough for the growth in stations) and decreasing ratings for CKLW (in part due to Canadian content requirements) caused revenues to decrease at the same time expenses increased,” he comments. “When the great crash of 1980 hit Detroit, it hit us too. Compared to 10 years ago, our dollar share of the market is much smaller, though actual revenues are up. Adjusted for inflation, they are down. Expenses have increased much more, but given a positive economy, profits will come back,” he concludes optimistically.
“Another factor was FM eating AM profits,” he says. “In 1979, we decided to change from a country format to big band, Now that the change is accomplished, we feel FM will be profitable by the end of the year. (CKLW-FM became CKJY-FM ‘unforgettable’ on January 14, 1982). We’ve cut costs there — the station is automated now — but as the station grows, we want to become live again, except possibly at night.”
Since February 1, CKJY-FM has spent nearly a quarter million dollars on promotion, including a Benny Goodman video. ‘We’re using television spots designed specifically for the U. S. and Canada,” Camroux reports, “and print ads in special areas.
“In Canada, we used an outdoor campaign. In Windsor, every bus side and back had our promo and we sent an 80,000 piece four-color mailing to every household.”
The response to the format change has been overwhelming, Camroux says. “We’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of letters from listeners. We got four letters a year when we were country. Since the switch, we get about 200 a day, every one answered. We’ve had offers of old records, record libraries. The most surprising response has been from 25 to 35-year olds, although they’re still the smallest segment of our listeners.
“For AM promos, we’re up in the high echelon of dollars spent. On the air promotion is much less aggressive than a few years ago.” Canadian regulations prohibit more than $5,000 in mechanism of cash giveaways in a month.
Camroux believes in long term planning. “It’s difficult because radio is different than most industries. The product (programming) can’t be planned, therefore the tendency is to avoid long term planning completely — one year ahead is about the longest at CKLW. We budget for a year with a five year future focus, aligned in one direction. Despite the difficulties, it has to be done, because it’s important for the staff to know what’s happening.”
One aid to long-range planning has been staff longevity. “Some of our disk jockeys have 15 years on the air, some of the support staff 20 years. Our chief engineer has been with the station for 10 years.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 7, 1982).