MY FIRST RADIO RESEARCH PROJECT

Ken Mills, age 12, with radio

 official research telephone

When I grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, my father and I had a disagreement about which radio station was the most popular. 

In 1960, when this story occurred, there were five AM radio stations in our small city on the Great Plains.

My father’s choice was 11-4-O KSOO, generally considered “the mom and dad” station. KSOO played music from artists like Rosemary Clooney and Big Crosby. 

KSOO had the top program in the market – a morning show with a host that talked to himself in a scratchy little voice he called "Schmoe."

When it came to radio, my father knew his stuff. He bought commercials on KSOO for his drug store and GOP political work. People told him they heard his ads on the radio.  To him, this was proof that KSOO was the number one station.

I followed a different beat. My favorite station was KIHO, a Top 40 rock station. I was certain KIHO was number one.   

In addition to the hot music, KIHO had an "outlaw" vibe that made it seem slightly dangerous. KIHO was owned by a company from Chicago. Plus, one of the employees drove a black Cadillac with tinted windows. Rumor had it that KIHO was somehow  part of “the mob.”

KIHO had great DJs like Smiling Jack, Little Phil, Dandy Dan and “KIHO Helgie," the Morning Mayor of Sioux Falls. My favorite program on KIHO was The Coke Show – a live remote from Cutler’s Drive In, the home of Ricky's Quicky Chicky.

So, on a Saturday afternoon in July 1960, my parents and my little sister went somewhere and left me home alone for the afternoon. To prove I was right and father was wrong I decided to do a survey.

I took the phone book and went to a random page. I put a dot in front of every tenth number. And started making calls.

I’d say, “I’m taking a survey, what your favorite radio station?”

A few people asked “Who is this?”or "How old are you?"  But everyone of the 31 people I reached told me the name of their favorite station.

After a couple of hours I stopped calling because I knew my family would be home soon. This gave me time to tabulate the data. Just as I predicted, KIHO was number one!

When my parents and sister got home, I immediately showed my father the survey results. I could tell something was wrong. My father asked: Did you called a bunch of strangers and talked to them?

“Yes, I did.”

I lost my telephone privileges for the remainder of the weekend. But, my father never again told me that KSOO was the top radio station Sioux Falls.

To me, this proved that research really works. I’ve used this lesson for the rest of my career.