Ever wish there was music on AM Radio again? I do, because of the downfall of one of the legacy AM stations in my area, 680 WRKO.
The station started in 1937 as WLAW-AM, and broadcast every day until sunset, up until 1940, when they received a directional antenna.
In 1953, WLAW became WNAC-AM, and was bought by RKO General, owners of then CBS-TV affiliate WNAC-7 (now the independent WHDH-TV, owned by the Sunbeam Television Corporation), and in 1966, they started to play an automated "Top 40" format, which became permanent in 1967. "The BIG 68" was born.
Under the new format, 'RKO became the highest rated station amongst the highly sought after 18-34 demographic, and at one point, drove WBZ 1030 out of the top 40 format (now they're sister stations, but we'll get to that.)
Sadly, all golden ages must come end, and WRKO's golden age ended at 6:00 on September 27, 1981. The Big 68 concluded its life as a Top 40 juggernaut with "American Pie" by Don McLean. It truly was the day that music on Bostonian AM Radio died.
It seems like some people thought "maybe, 680 as a news/talk station will still be entertaining"
Enter the station's 1988 acquisition by Atlantic Ventures after the forced dissolution of RKO General's broadcasting business. In 1992, Atlantic (later known as American Radio Systems) acquired WHDH-AM from New England Television Corporation, which was the affiliate of Rush Limbaugh's radio network at the time.
If you don't know who Rush Limbaugh was, he was a pioneer in right-winged talk shows, and has pushed many of people to become rightists. His show has inspired many copycats, some of which are flagship hosts on WRKO, but again, we'll get there.
In 1997, Westinghouse/CBS later acquired WRKO and WHDH's parent company, but 'RKO was acquired by Entercom in 1998.
In 2006, the station fired its on-air news staff, in order to focus on its talk blabbering, and in 2012, WRKO hired their 'god-emperor' (in quotes due to how I feel about him; see later in the post) Jeff Kuhner. These things were the final nail in the coffin of what once used to be an iconic station.
That and their acquisition by iHeartMedia.
San Antonio-based iHeartMedia owns the most radio stations in the country, and has been responsible for homogenizing the radio broadcasting industry, even when they were known as Clear Channel Communications. Yup, it's the same Clear Channel whose logo appears on billboards. Marconi would be spin dashing like Sonic the Hedgehog in his grave if he saw what iHeart has been doing to his prized invention. This, and the fact that their talk stations always lean far right, makes me think that iHeart is the Sinclair Broadcast Group of radio (even though SBG owns a handful of radio stations itself).
But the main reason why WRKO is "Radio Refuse"? Two words.
JEFF!
KUHNER!
He became the morning host at WRKO in 2012, and later on, his show became the 2nd most listened to broadcast in the station's history (after the top 40 music of old).
His show, called "The Kuhner Report" (presumably to make it sound more trustworthy and reliable) is just a 3½-hour transmitted tantrum directed towards the left. He's called Boston's Mayor Michelle Wu a witch, a hackfraud, and other terrible names, because he thinks she let undocumented immigrants into our country. The 'Kuhner-Man', as he calls himself, is being racist and misogynistic for calling Mayor Wu, an Asian-American woman, these disgusting names. She did nothing wrong! Also, Jeff is Croatian-Canadian, and his parents came into Canada illegally, so he techically has no right to call Mayor Wu these names. Long story short, he's being racist towards an Asian-American woman, which is also misogyny, and he's being completely hypocritical, as his parents entered Canada illegally!
Well, Jeff, you're a WARLOCK! THERE, I SAID IT!
Also, WRKO's 60's-era competitor WMEX-AM, after a very long period of darkness, was brought back in the 2020s thanks to 95.9 WATD's (Marshfield, where this blog originates) owners, and has had very good ratings. This station airs music from the 50s to the 80s, and had a very good music-heavy morning show. Now THIS is how you radio.
Just saying...
WRKO's final moments as a music station (9/27/1981): An aircheck of the last moments of the Top 40 format on The Big 68.
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