As one account goes (and there are many), Stortz and program director Bill Stewart noticed customers at a bar in Omaha playing the same songs over and over on the jukebox. They took that idea to radio and it worked: KOHW's market share went from four per cent to 45 per cent in 1951.
This April 29, 1960 aircheck captures WHB during its glory years. You're "Bobbin' With Robin" - Bob Robin - as he counts down the big hits of the day on "The Top 40 Show." Robin - whose real name was Robert Sticht - died in 2012 at the age of 83 having retired from radio just five years earlier. The Mississippi native also worked in Memphis, Louisville and New Orleans before jocking in Nashville at WLAC, WSIX and WAMB. [ Part 1 ] (30:06) and [ Part 2 ] (28:04).
WHB became the first station in the country to play Top 40 music 24 hours a day, and it became an instant hit in Kansas City, becoming the most popular station by the end of the year, garnering a 52 per cent market share, leaving Kansas City's three other radio stations to split the rest. The World's Happiest Broadcasters had arrived and would be a dominant force for a long time.
September 4 1964
With 10,000 watts in the daytime, WHB became one of the most powerful Top-40 stations in North America, attracting programming directors and station owners from across the country to observe Storz's operations. One observer was Gordon McLendon, who went back to Dallas and introduced his version of Top-40 radio at KLIF. Rick Sklar also heard WHB and adapted elements of its format to build the Top-40 format in New York City, at Musicradio 77 WABC, which became the most listened to radio station in North America during the 1970s.
There is another New York connection. Ruth Meyer worked at WHB in the late 1950s, and went on to become the program director of 570 WMCA, leading that station to the position of #1 pop music station in New York between 1963 and 1966.
Storz cultivated listenership numbers by one of his treasure hunts. One day in 1955, WHB broadcast clues telling listeners where they might find a prize worth $1000. After leading listeners throughout the metropolitan area, the final clue resulted in traffic tie-ups outside Loose Park as listeners tried to be the first to find the station's logo painted on the back of a turtle. Although listenership soared to as much as 50 percent, Kansas City police chief Bernard Brannon suggested in the June 4, 1956 issue of Time Magazine that Storz's treasure hunts should be banned. Storz continued to operate daily, weekly, and monthly cash promotions to maintain listenership.
WHB also was a pioneer in the talk radio format with the late-night program "NiteBeat". Using a multi-line system invented by WHB engineer Dale Moody, disc jockeys and hosts could field calls from across the Midwest as guests from all walks of life visited the studio. WHB also kept listeners informed with "News at 55" (at 55 minutes past each hour) followed by a world time check at the top of every hour, which the station claimed to be accurate "to 1/20000 of a second."
In the 1950s, Moody also fashioned a unique programming idea for WHB during the overnight hours, “Silent Sam, the All-night Deejay Man." It was actually jukebox movements programmed to play records one-after-another with a jingle and a pre-recorded public-service announcement broadcast every 15-minutes. As such, Moody is considered a pioneer in radio automation.
WHB used the melodic and catchy PAMS jingles to remind listeners which radio station they were hearing. Those jingles sometimes referred to WHB as the "World's Happiest Broadcasters." The station limited the number of commercials per hour and maintained a tight playlist limited to only the biggest Top 40 hits.
WHB, however, could not fend off the increasing competition from FM radio. Starting in 1973 with KBEQ-FM, WHB's listenership declined as more Kansas Citians listened to their favorite hits in stereo and with less interference common to AM broadcasting.
While KBEQ and KUDL transitioned from their AM to FM frequencies, WHB never acquired an FM outlet, nor did any of its sister stations. Ironically, the previous owners of WHB and KXOK (St. Louis) were listed in 1950 as holding FM licenses: WHB-FM at 102.1 MHz and KXOK-FM at 94.7 MHz. However, both stations were sold before FM became a leading radio force. By the mid-seventies, these frequencies would become homes to KYYS (Kansas City) and KSHE (St. Louis), each filling the air with 100,000 watts of album-based progressive rock music.
In 1985, Storz Broadcasting, then led by Todd's father Robert, sold WHB to Shamrock Broadcasting, a group led by Roy Disney. WHB discontinued Top-40 in favor of an oldies format, capitalizing on the playlists the station had maintained in the past. In 1989, KCMO-FM became Oldies 95 and quickly won over former WHB listeners. Once commanding 50 percent of Kansas City's 1.1 million radio listeners, WHB only attained a 1.2 rating in the winter of 1990.
WHO WORKED AT WHB? Here is the list: Bob Arbogast, Ted Atkins, Mel Berman, Don Berns, Jack Casey, Bob Cole, 'Young' Bobby Day, Dan Diamond, Johnny Dolan, Richard Ward Fatherley, Phil Jay, Katfish Kris Kelly, Arthur Lee, Jerry Mason, Peter Tripp, and Gene Woody.
