WHB

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WHB-AM

Broadcast area	Kansas City, Missouri, extending into most of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska
Branding	Sportsradio 810 WHB
Slogan	The Power of Sports
First air date	May 10, 1922
Frequency	810 kHz
Format	Sports radio
ERP	50,000 watts daytime 5,000 nighttime
Class	B
Callsign meaning	World's Happiest Broadcasters
Owner	Union Broadcasting
Website	www.810whb.com

WHB-AM is a commercial sports radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, broadcasting on 810 AM. While its five directional towers are located along Interstate 435 in the Northland, its studios are located in the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, also the headquarters of its owner, Union Broadcasting.

Contents 1 Early broadcasting years (1922-1954) 2 Todd Storz and "SEVENTY-ONEderful" (1954-1985) 2.1 "Yours truly, WHB" 3 Decline of AM 3.1 Oldies (1985-1993) 3.2 "The Farm" (1993-1999) 4 Today: "Sportsradio" 5 Personalities then and now 5.1 1922-1954 5.2 1954-1993 5.3 Current Sportsradio 6 External links

[edit] Early broadcasting years (1922-1954)

Established by Sam Adair and John T. Schilling, WHB debuted on April 10, 1922 at the frequency 833 kHz, and remains Kansas City's second oldest radio station. WHB formally gained its license on May 10. Originally owned by Sweeney Automotive School, Cook's Paint and Varnish Company purchased the station in 1930. The station jumped between 730 kHz and 850 kHz before 1946, when the Federal Communications Commission authorized the station to broadcast at its desired position at 710 kHz.

The station published a quarterly magazine called Swing, keeping readers up to date with the Kansas City music scene, which had waned in the wake of the Pendergast Machine's downfall and World War II.

While owned by Cook, WHB expanded briefly into FM radio and television, operating on the frequency 102.1 MHz (now KCKC-FM) and sharing Channel 9 with KMBC-TV.

[edit] Todd Storz and "SEVENTY-ONEderful" (1954-1985)

Omaha entrepreneur Todd Storz and his Mid-Continent Broadcasting Company purchased WHB from Cook on June 10, 1954. Upon the sale, WHB-TV was absorbed by KMBC-TV, which Cook purchased the month before.

Building on his successful attempts at increasing listenership at KOWH in Omaha (now KCRO) and WTIX-AM in New Orleans, Storz discontinued WHB's network affiliation programming and introduced a Top 40 format. WHB became an instant hit in Kansas City, becoming the most popular station by the end of the year. With 10,000 watts in the daytime, WHB became one of the most powerful Top-40 stations in the country, 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-AM. Another personage, Rick Sklar, also heard WHB and adapted elements of its format to build Top-40 formats in New York City, most notably, Musicradio 77 WABC, which became the most listened to radio station in North America during the 1960s.

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, 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, KCMO 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 pioneered the talk radio format with their late-night program "NiteBeat". Using a multi-line system invented by WHB engineer Dale Moody, deejays and hosts could field calls from across the Midwest as guests from all walks of life visited the studio. WHB also kept their listeners informed with "News at 55" and a world time check at the top of every hour, which the station claimed to be accurate "to 1/20000 of a second."

[edit] "Yours truly, WHB"

WHB used the melodic and catchy PAMS jingles to keep listeners tuned to the station, as well as limiting the number of commercials per hour and a tight playlist limited to songs on the Top 40. Those jingles called WHB the "World's Happiest Broadcasters."

WHB's popularity increased as songs on the Top 40 began to include rock and roll hits by Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, and The Beatles. Months after the Beatles landed in the United States, Todd Storz died of a stroke at age 39. Despite Storz's death, WHB remained on top, as prolific deejays including Johnny Dolan and Phil Jay commanded the WHB Air Force. As late as 1981, WHB's ratings remained in the double digits.

[edit] Decline of AM

WHB, however, could not fend off the increasing competition from FM radio. Starting in 1971 with KBEQ-FM, WHB's listenership declined as more Kansas Citians listened to their favorite hits with less interference. While KBEQ and KUDL transitioned from their AM to FM frequencies, WHB never acquired an FM frequency, nor did any of their sister stations.

[edit] Oldies (1985-1993)

Storz Broadcasting, then led by Todd's father Robert, sold WHB to Shamrock Broadcasting, a group led by Roy Disney, in 1985. WHB discontinued Top-40 in favor of an oldies format, capitalizing on the playlists they 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 Winter 1990.

[edit] "The Farm" (1993-1999)

Shamrock leased WHB in 1993 to Apollo Communications, who upon buying the station on September 24, sold the station to Kanza Communications of Carrollton, Missouri. Kanza simulcasted their farm format already playing on FM stations in Carrollton and Tarkio, Missouri. Competing with four other country stations in Kansas City alone (including longtime rival WDAF, still at 610 kHz, and KBEQ, who switched to country in February), WHB struggled to gain a sufficient audience. A frequency swap with talk radio station KCMO-AM on October 3, 1998 gave WHB a larger daytime coverage area. However, the station could not remain at 50,000 watts overnight, as KGO in San Francisco, California and WGY in Schenectady, New York have clear channel dominance.

[edit] Today: "Sportsradio"

Union Broadcasting, led by banker Jerry Green, former Royals pitcher Jeff Montgomery, broadcaster Kevin Kietzman and Chad Boeger, owner of the sports station KCTE-AM in Independence, Missouri, purchased WHB from Kanza for an unprecedented USD$8 million. Because KCTE could only broadcast in the daytime, Union transferred the sports radio format, including news from ESPN Radio and games from the Westwood One radio network, to WHB in October 1999. In response, Entercom moved WDAF to FM in 2002 to make way for a rival sports station, KCSP-AM.

WHB picked up broadcasting rights to Kansas City Royals baseball games in 2003, allowing its Arbitron ratings share to peak in the spring at 4.0. Even when the Royals are not playing, WHB still maintains a sizably larger audience than KCSP, yet considers FM rock stations KQRC, KYYS, and KCFX their primary rivals for listeners in the 18-49 male market. "Between the Lines", hosted by Kietzman from 2-5 p.m., ranks among the top-rated shows in the city. WHB is now one of the nation's largest all-sports radio stations, with their signal reaching to Iowa, Nebraska, part of Oklahoma, and far western Kansas.

In 2006, WHB and Union Broadcasting will air Kansas City Brigade arena football games.

[edit] Personalities then and now

[edit] 1922-1954

• Sam Adair
• Bob Arbogast
• Emory Sweeney
• John T. Schilling

[edit] 1954-1993

• Don Armstrong
• Jay Walter Beethoven
• Walt Bodine
• Dan Diamond
• Johnny Dolan
• Richard Fatherley
• Phil Jay
• Don Laughnane
• Dan O'Shea
• Wayne Stitt

[edit] Current Sportsradio

• Frank Boal
• George Brett
• Danny Clinkscale
• Bob Fescoe
• Kevin Harlan
• Kevin Kietzman
• Todd Leabo
• Soren Petro
• Steven St. John
• Dave Stewart

[edit] External links

• Sportsradio 810 WHB - the station's official Web site
• World's Happiest Broadcasters - maintained by a former WHB employee, this Web site includes sound clips and images from WHB's Top-40 days.
• Radio's Revolution and the World's Happiest Broadcasters - a one-hour audio documentary about Todd Storz and WHB's role in proliferating Top-40 radio.
• WHB Collection at the Library of American Broadcasting - a synopsis of scrapbooks donated to the College Park, Maryland museum by station co-founder John T. Schilling.
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WHB