From New York City to the Nation!

If you know my story at all, having been following these Musings for any length of time or have read my Memoir … you are fully aware of the success that WRFM achieved in the New York City market beginning in late 1969. As time passed, it became obvious that the massive audience, numbering in the tens of thousands, which the station had gained within just a matter of months, was not a “fluke.”

When the calendar reached the fall of 1970, Arch L. Madsen, President of Bonneville International Corporation, WRFM’s parent, made a decision … he wanted WRFM’s programming to be duplicated on Bonneville’s other five FM stations: Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, plus Chicago, which the Company was in the process of acquiring. At the time, only Kansas City had an audience of any meaningful size. And, our deadline for getting set up was not far away … we’d need to be ready to support Chicago, which was expected to come under Bonneville ownership on December 1^st, 1970 … meaning with the holiday season under way, we had to first deliver a Christmas music tape library.

I immediately reminded Mr. Madsen of two factors: (1) WRFM was a totally live operation, still playing all of its music from LP’s, one track at a time … which was not a practical approach to be considered for any of the other stations as they were automated operations playing their programming from audio tapes and were not prepared to hire operating staffs. In each case, the FM station was watched over by an employee of the sister AM station; and (2), it suddenly struck me … if we were to gear up — additional staff plus recording equipment — to deliver all that would be needed to support these stations, wouldn’t it make sense to offer our services to stations in non-Bonneville communities, which was most of the country!? He agreed, telling me to acquire what was necessary for the endeavor.

Gearing Up for Syndication

While purchasing equipment, primarily a pair of high-quality tape recorders initially, and working out the logistical aspects of this new operation, the question was … what do we name it? We chose WRFM Program Services, as what we were offering was the programming content and related operational guidance which were keys to the station’s dramatic success, having brought WRFM to the attention of the entire radio industry.

Let me say that I never had any thoughts about entering the radio programming syndication realm … my interest was fully on the success of WRFM — much in the manner of what Bernice “Tudie” Judis did with New York’s WNEW-AM, which I wrote about on this page last year — and continuing to bring joy to more and more hearts across the greater New York-New Jersey region … it was only after being asked to take on this new “challenge” by my boss, a man whom I greatly respected, and then sensing the logical extension beyond the company-owned stations.

As I wrote in my memoir, RADIO … My Love, My Passion …

“While it would require additional manpower to handle the mechanics, it wouldn’t be highly difficult to provide the client stations with our programming. Beyond a library of reels of tape totaling well over two hundred hours of programming, we’d provide daily schedules of exactly what tape to play at what time, as well as providing them with detailed written instructions for executing the format plus guidance for promoting and advertising their station. Still, we wouldn’t be there to hold their hand or directly provide the motivational energy which was key to WRFM’s success. That was to be the real challenge!”

As the calendar turned to 1971, Mr. Madsen again called, this time to say he’d like me to give up managing WRFM and devote my full energies to the creative aspects of this new programming/consulting operation.

Before going on, the visual at the top shows the cover of a brochure we began using later in 1971 … following our carrying out Mr. Madsen’s desires by relocating from within the WRFM facilities to our own space in the 485 Madison Avenue building and changing our name to Bonneville Programming Services. What it references is the fact that WRFM’s studios were located at the address which became notable in radio history, as the location was the world headquarters of the Columbia Broadcasting System from the 1930’s into the early 1960’s.

As reported in Billboard magazine, by April 1972 — a year after we began taking on client stations beyond WCLR Chicago — we were serving 15 stations beyond the Bonneville-owned stations. Two of those, WEZO Rochester, New York, and KMEO in Phoenix, had already become dominant in their markets.

How the Syndication Worked…

All of our larger-market stations received tapes which contained quarter-hour segments of musical selections programmed to be smooth-flowing from beginning to end. In the early days, we delivered the music on two 7-inch reels, two segments to a reel … done primarily to insure flexibility in scheduling so as to avoid a sense of repetition.

Over the next couple of years, we’d make changes … first, we chose to change our name to one that better communicated the support we provided, becoming Bonneville Broadcast Consultants; next, we recognized that the audio quality on our tapes were not at a level equivalent to our image as a provider of quality programming and services. So, we made the decision to go back and re-build our entire library of recordings from scratch. At the same time, through a brain-storming session, we conceived of a concept for building and scheduling our tapes which allowed going the larger reels containing four quarter-hour blocks of selections while avoiding any hint of repetition, which equates to boredom! This change also reduced a burden at the station end, with only half as many reel changes per day.

Finally, in 1974, corporate management gave us approval to leave “the high rent district” of Manhattan. Since very few clients visited us in New York — we mostly visited their stations — and with my two key associates, Loring Fisher and Frank Murphy, and myself all living in Bergen County, New Jersey, we chose a location not far off of the George Washington Bridge … this building in the community of Tenafly. It was a win-win, as we saved not only on New York taxes but hours of daily commuting time each day.

With our growing list of client stations and the ratings success many were gaining, our division of Bonneville International Corporation had become the national face of the Corporation. I’ll have more on that story in my next Musings.

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome and appreciated. Do hope you enjoyed reading!

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