Today
we have a post from the Spark News
archive. We are taking today and Friday off.
New posts will return on Monday, May 13th.
 |
Ken Mills, age 12,
with official research radio and 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 Bing Crosby.
KSOO
had the top program in the market – a morning show with a host that talked to
himself in a scratchy little voice that 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 in the city,.
I
followed a different beat. My favorite station was KIHO, a Top 40 rock station.
I was certain KIHO was the real number one station.
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 radio survey.
I
took the phone book and went to a random page. I put a dot in front of every
tenth number. Then I 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.
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. This lesson has stayed with me for the rest
of my career.
You were no different than Gary Berkowitz. He liked WABC in its Music Radio days. His parents preferred WNEW-AM which too was an MOR format and he had to love it too. Today he consults radio stations for adults. Mostly the AC and Classic Hits formats.
ReplyDeleteYou are no different but rather pop music, its the public radio spectrum. Thanks for this great story. You and like Gary were bound for great things.
P.S. You know realize that Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were more wholesome than Elvis...Right???? I like Rock but would prefer Buddy Holly and Roy O. In the end your parents were right about their music...lol. Look at me, I love Jazz935 (Colorado Springs, CO), KUVO, and WBGO just to name a few Jazz stations