KYNO Fresno was one of the very first Bill Drake "Boss Radio" stations, owned by Gene Chenault of Drake-Chenault. This is the KYNO Boss 30 survey from 11-11-70 with Noon-3 Boss Jock Bill Stevens on the cover; in recent years Stevens worked at KRTH/Los Angeles. Before KYNO he was at KFXM San Bernardino as "Bill Surrey".
KYNO is where legendary Program Director Bill Drake and owner Gene Chenault began their incredible partnership. The year was 1963 and within a decade, the Drake-sound was the most copied format on American radio. (Read Gene's memo introducing Bill to the KYNO staff here)
If you we're a teenager in Central California in the 60's, no doubt you'll remember the "Battle for Fresno" between K-Make and KYNO:
K-Make's Program Director, Ron Jacobs, hosted Morning Drive with Robert W. Morgan & Frank Terry anchoring middays and afternoons. The competition was fierce, and KYNO had to be that much better, which it was!
The Real Paul McNeil doing his best to compete with The Real Don Steele, who was working at KHJ. [ LISTEN ] (5:12)
Shortly after KYNO declared victory in Fresno, Bill Drake hired Jacobs, Morgan & Terry -- and these four future radio programming giants took their combined talent to Southern California, where it wasn't long before KHJ and Boss Radio™ were #1 in Los Angeles. The rest is radio history.
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| November 1970 | |
Johnny Hall is working at KYNO in 1968. [ LISTEN ] (13:20)
The Drake sound was alive and well at KYNO. It was actually big there before Bill Drake took it to KHJ in Los Angeles. This aircheck features Johnny Mann jingles, familiar talkovers, short, snappy which was a major departure from the long-winded approach that most non-Drake top 40 jocks used up to that time.
For many years, KYNO continued to be the 'proving ground' for on-air promotions such as The Buried Treasure, the KYNO Millionaire, The Stingray Giveaway, The Black Box and many more. If ideas worked on KYNO, they would be implemented at stations across the country.
Johnny Scott 1968
During the period from 1963 through the mid 80's, KYNO wasn't just a radio station -- it was the soundtrack of life for tens of thousands of Central California Valley. Today, you can still hear the voice of Bill Drake, those famous Johnny Mann jingles and The Greatest Hits on Earth™ at 1430 AM, K-Y-N-O!
The station is still going strong. Avid listeners can tune in KYNO here.
WHO WORKED AT KYNO? Here is the list: Big Bob Anthony, Nick Anthony, Big John Carter, Eric Chase, Brad Chambers, Chuck Christianson, John Clay, Steve Craig, Lee Duncan, Bob Elliott, J. Paul Emerson, Johnny Hyde, Gary Mack, Jerry Mann, Dave Michaels, Magnificent Montague, Phil Potter, Terry Randel, Chip Roberts, Harry Scarborough, Johnny Scott, Bitchen Bob Souza, and Les Turpin.
