From: joeisham@sdf.lonestar.org (Joe Isham)
Subject: Re: WBAP.... 
Originator: wdp@gagme
Organization: sdf Public Access UNIX, Dallas
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 23:55:28 GMT

In article <1992Aug24.224656.23340@gagme.chi.il.us> bellcore!gizmo.bellcore.com!mo@uunet.UU.NET (Michael O'Dell) writes:
: For many eons while i was growing up, WBAP was the archtype
: Trucker Radio country station.  Bill Mack's all night "keep 'em
: coming because no one can fall asleep listening to country" show
: was legendary across the South and Southwest.  A couple of times
: I used it for exactly that purpose.

Bill is still rolling along, after  a brief stint with another station
(which is now broadcasting in Spanish).

Bill is one of a kind.
But something's been missing from the show since Harold Taft ("The
World's Greatest Weatherman") passed away last year.  Harold started at
WBAP-TV (now KXAS) in 1948, when the station signed on the air, as part
of an unusual experiment: meteorologists reading and forecasting the
weather on television.  "Weather Telefacts" was the first regularly
scheduled weathercast (separate from the news) in the US, and when
Harold passed away, he had earned the distinction of being the longest
serving broadcast weathercaster in the country.

When the radio and TV operations were split in 1974, neither side wanted
to part with Harold, so he just kept working for both.

The night Harold died, WBAP interrupted the Texas Rangers'
baseball game to announce the news, and after the game finished, WBAP
abandoned all normal programming for at least 24 hours.  The station was
flooded with phone calls offering remembrances of Harold; station
personalities past and present came to the studio; and the mood was
somber.  Bill Mack came in on his night off to join Jason Walker and the
news department in their on-air tribute.  All three TV newscasts led
with the news... unprecedented, but since Harold was such a legend,
appropriate.

During the first few hours of that all-nighter, the jocks were trying to
find an appropriate song to play; someone called up to suggest Willie
Nelson's rendition of "Stormy Weather", and it stuck.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Harold Taft was the reason I'm in
broadcasting.  I was enrolled as a "Junior Weather Watcher" in 1972 (at
the ripe old age of 8) and progressed to a full-fledged member of the
team in 1974.  I've carried the fascination with the weather, and with
broadcasting, to this day.  But more than a weather professional, Harold
was a friend... even if he was rushed to prepare the weathercast, he'd
always have a friendly word for everyone.  Late at night, he'd practice
the trumpet in the weather office at the TV station... and on several
occasions, he'd accidentally leave the line to the radio studio open.
Bill Mack once startled him when he opened the line back to the weather
office and commented on how well he had played.

Sorry to ramble on... but Michael's comment reminded me just how much
one person can make a difference.

: There was a period "back then" when WBAP frequency-traded with WFAA-AM
: in Dallas. it was really weird.  most of the time, WFAA-AM was on 820
: with WBAP down on 560 or so, but like after midnight to 6 or 7 am,
: they switched.  They don't seem to do that any more.    I may not
: have this completely right (memory dropouts), but it's close.

I believe the switch was made between 7 pm and 7 am.  Daytimes WFAA-820
had the clear channel and WBAP-570 had the regional, and at night, the
pattern switched.  WBAP eventually bought out WFAA for exclusive use of
the 820 frequency -- I believe this was around 1970.

Anyway WBAP is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year!  If there are
any special celebrations I'll post details.
: 
: WFAA-TV is
: still my benchmark for the best run local station i've ever seen
: (at least it was back then).  Ted Cassidy, the fellow who did Lurch
: on the original Addams Family TV show, was a booth announcer
: at WFAA when he was picked in a nationwide "find a Lurch" contest.

WFAA-TV is still run that way, always professional.  WFAA radio no
longer exists; the station was sold twice and is now the home of KLIF
(formerly 1190).

: Enough nostalga, but the note about WBAP fired a few neurons.


-- 
_ __/|  Joe Isham - joeisham@sdf.lonestar.org, joeisham@chinet.chi.il.us
\'o.O|  
=(___)= "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"
   U         -- Arthur Carlson, "WKRP in Cincinnati"

Newsgroups: rec.radio.broadcasting