Radio Trends Seen in Press Register's Broadcasting Efforts

 During World War II, people turned to their radios for war news and entertainment. Radio stations supported scrap metal drives and encouraged Americans to share rides and buy war bonds. Radio programs enlisted Dick Tracy, Superman, The Green Hornet, and other fictional heroes to fight spies and saboteurs.

But after the war, audiences dropped off. Soldiers returned home to stale programs that had been on the air since before they put on their uniforms. By 1948, most big radio stars had moved their shows to TV and a year later the NBC radio network lost $7 million in revenue as advertisers dropped off. Of the more than 46 million homes that had radios, fewer than a million of them tuned in. Broadcasting networks began investing in TV instead of radio.

In the early 1950s, radio owners did what they would have to do many times again in the years ahead: they remade themselves. Aided by the invention of the portable transistor radio, popular local deejays turned themselves into national celebrities. They spread swing, jazz, Country and Western, Rock n Roll, soul, and all kinds of other music across the country. Rock n Roll and Top 40 format stations dominated the radio dial. Country music was another major format.

These trends can be seen in the Press Register’s own efforts in broadcasting after the war. In February 1948, the newspaper erected four radio broadcasting towers on former farmland in the Eight Mile community. The tallest tower stood more than 30 stories high. From the towers, the newspaper planned to broadcast the programs of a 1480 AM station and a 107.9 FM station, both using the call letters WABB.

As an indication of how the newspaper’s owners may have been thinking, the 314-foot tower was constructed to carry the additional weight of a television antenna. But in 1948, the Federal Communications Commission put a four-year freeze on issuing TV broadcast licenses.

WABB theater for live performances

On the ground floor of its Government Street building, the newspaper prepared studios for the radio stations, which it called Radio Center. The center included a theater studio that could seat an audience of more than 80 who could participate in broadcasts such as “Try and Get It,” “The Sunshine Club,” and “Barrel O’ Fun.” Radio Center had another studio to air local musical talent, interviews, and newscasts over the stations.

WABB had a hand in announcing the May 4, 1948, primary election results, even before it started local broadcasting. The Press Register’s 50 reporters and other staffers called in vote tallies from Mobile County precincts to the newspaper’s offices. From the radio studio in the Press Register lobby, staffers sent the results to other radio stations around Alabama.

WABB AM and FM began regular broadcasting on June 19, 1948. The stations carried programs of the Mutual Broadcasting System network programs, the world’s largest radio network at the time. The FM station also broadcast the Mobile Bears baseball game for its initial program. Regular programs included a local announcer reading comics from the Press Register, “Queen for a Day,” “The Adventures of Superman,” and sports.

Most people had AM radios, so the Press Register promoted the benefits of FM. “Have you ever tried to enjoy a fine musical program, only to have lightning static crash in your speaker so continually that you could hardly hear the music,” the paper asked in an advertisement for the station. “When you have this trouble, FM, Frequency Modulation . . . is your answer. In FM the full range of tone is brought to you... and nothing else! No interference or static!”

The financial woes radio stations faced after the war can be seen in the closure of WMOB AM and FM stations in June 1949. J. Lindsay Nunn, one of the owners of the Nunn Broadcasting Corp., said it closed WMOB after 10 years of operation because of continued operating losses, spiraling production costs, and union demands for higher wages.

WABB took over broadcasting ABC network programs from the closed station. Those programs seemed reflect pre-war tastes more than those after the war. The programs included Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club, “Stop The Music” quiz show, commentators Drew Pearson and Walter Winchell, The Original Amateur Hour, the Milton Berle Show, and many others. At some point, WABB AM switched to a music format playing Country and Western tunes, which fit within the trends of the time.

But a few years later, WABB FM seemed to be having its own financial problems. When the FM transmitter burned in 1956, the Press Register never put the station back on the air. That’s not something you would do with a money-making operation and the decision probably reflected an uncertainty about the future of FM radio.

On September 14, 1959, the newspaper sold the radio station to Julian Dittman and his son Bernard “Bernie” Dittman. A year later, Bernie Dittman switched WABB to the Top 40 format, which proved highly successful throughout the 1960s.