Re: FW: Oops 7/4...and WRKO!

[Rob Landry <umar@wcrb.com>]

On Fri, 11 Jul 1997, Martin J. Waters wrote:

>         Others also have questioned tracing the lineage of WRKO back to
> 1922, which surprises me.

Why?  What aspect of the original station could the present owners or
employees of WRKO celebrate as having survived 75 years?

> Last year,
> nobody questioned WBZ's anniversary. That station now has been sold, but
> that didn't matter.

WBZ was not sold as far as I know; rather, its owners bought CBS and
assumed that company's name.  As far as I know they still consider
themselves the same organization that originally put WBZ on the air.  But
it doesn't seem like that kind of continuity exists in WRKO's case.


> No station has the same format it did in 1922. 

Does anyone know which station in the United States has the longest
surviving format?  WQXR's classical format dates from 1939; are there any
older formats?

> It seems
> to me that there is an underlying animosity toward WRKO as it exists now,
> and toward ARS, that is behind some of the comments.

I've heard good stories from people I know who've worked for ARS stations,
and also some bad stories.  I suspect ARS, like most organizations, has
its share of good people and of bad.  I don't like what I see going on in
the industry in general, but I wouldn't single out ARS for condemnation.
These are not good times to be in radio, in my opinion, unless you work
for a company that's privately held and free of debt -- like, for
instance, the one which owns WCRB.

> Criticizing WRKO's current operation should be one thing, and the
> anniversary question another, IMO.

I do not much listen to either station, but I can think of no criticism of
WRKO that cannot also be levelled at WBZ.

Rob Landry
umar@wcrb.com

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