George A. Richards, Leo J. Fitzpatrick and P. M. Thomas—owners of
WJR in Detroit—incorporated the WGAR Broadcasting Company to establish "Cleveland's fourth radio station". On September 6, the company filed an application with the
Federal Radio Commission (FRC) for authorization to "consolidate stations WFJC and WCSO into a new station with new equipment at Cleveland Ohio", which was approved that same month. The WGAR Broadcasting Company took over ownership of WCSO on September 26, 1930, later recognized as a casualty of the
Great Depression. WFJC was acquired seven days earlier, the deal was approved despite opposition from the
chambers of commerce for both Akron and Cleveland, in addition to local community groups and competing Cleveland radio stations. WCSO made its final broadcast on October 11, 1930, after coverage of the
Wittenberg Tigers-
Washington & Jefferson Presidents football game and its license was formally deleted at the end of the month. As construction for the new station began immediately, WFJC continued to broadcast from Akron until December 14; the December 13, 1930,
Akron Beacon Journal informed its readers that WFJC would cease operations the next day at midnight, "to make way for WGAR, at Cleveland, which purchased its claim to the ether". In its fifth annual report, the FRC reported that, effective June 12, 1931, WCSO and WFJC had been consolidated "to form new station WGAR, Cleveland, Ohio". WADC eventually moved into the
Beacon Journal building studios vacated by WFJC.
"The Friendly Station" Under a separate license issued by the FRC, this combined station was named WGAR, derived from G. A. Richards; the station also now broadcast on with daytime and at night. New studios were built on the 14th floor
penthouse of the
Hotel Statler in
Downtown Cleveland. Regular programming debuted on December 15, 1930, with local speeches beginning at 6:00 p.m. before switching to
NBC Blue programming with ''
Amos 'n' Andy'' at 8:00. The initial plan was to move WCSO's transmitter to the Statler but due to technical issues, the debut broadcast instead was transmitted over WHK's rented auxiliary transmitter, located at the
Standard Bank Building. A
Beacon Journal column the next day was critical over WGAR's signal experiencing interference on multiple channels on the frequency as the evening progressed, denoting that WHK and
nighttime skywave from
Buffalo's
WKBW were more easily accessible. The station's transmitter was moved from the Statler to a newly constructed facility in
Cuyahoga Heights on July 20, 1931, with a Blue concert by
John McCormack airing after an on-air dedication, a move that partially improved reception in Akron albeit with continued interference from some listeners. In further bids to improve WGAR's signal, power was increased to during daytime hours by December 1932, then to during the daytime and at night by 1938. WGAR and WJR were eventually joined by
KMPC in Los Angeles, which Richards purchased on May 5, 1937. relayed over CBS.|left The station became one of the first stations in the United States, and one of the first in Cleveland, to employ a staffed news room beginning in 1936 under the direction of Ralph Worden. Worden instituted a policy of "facts, not opinion" which prevented newscasts from having any commentary, later maintained by general manager John Patt. Originally with two reporters on staff, the news department grew to three staffers in 1943 and to four in 1945, and contracted for a
news bureau in Washington, D.C. during
World War II; WGAR also became one of the first radio stations to play recorded
sound bites during newscasts. The station's coverage of events during World War II included multiple weekly programs—ranging from anthologies to light entertainment and dramatic fare—that encouraged patriotism, support of the
war effort and
bond drives. Program director David Baylor and operations manager Carl George were both dispatched to the
European and
Pacific theaters, respectively, filing news reports for the station. In addition to NBC Blue programming, WGAR started to feature assorted fare from the Quality Network and its successor, the
Mutual Broadcasting System. A
round-robin affiliation swap with
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) affiliate WHK and independent WJAY on September 26, 1937, saw WGAR became Cleveland's new CBS affiliate; WJAY took the Mutual affiliation under new WCLE calls, while WHK took NBC Blue.
Cleveland Orchestra radio broadcasts moved to WGAR on December 6, 1941, and were carried over CBS and related
shortwave facilities as a
sustaining program sponsored entirely by the station. WGAR and CBS's relationship with the Orchestra lasted until 1962. WGAR also originated several
public affairs programs including the
City Club of Cleveland's
Friday Forum, which the station began carrying on October 18, 1937.
Father Coughlin Throughout the 1930s, WGAR carried
The Golden Hour of the Little Flower, hosted by
Roman Catholic priest Fr. Charles Coughlin, a close friend of George A. Richards. Coughlin's career in radio preceded Richards' 1929 purchase of WJR but Richards encouraged Fr. Coughlin to eschew religious topics in favor of political commentary. CBS carried
The Golden Hour in 1930 but dropped it after several affiliates objected to Coughlin's views and the network requested advance scripts of his sermons. This led Coughlin to establish a network of his own, financially backed by Richards and with WJR and WGAR as core stations. In August 1932, it boasted 25 affiliates and grew to 58 affiliates by 1938, regarded at the time as the largest independently-run radio network in the U.S. Fr. Coughlin attained notoriety for
anti-capitalist and
anti-Semitic views and accusing bankers of causing the Great Depression; such rhetoric directly mirrored that of Richards, who was a
reactionary conservative. Initially supporting President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
his economic policies, Fr. Coughlin broke ranks outright to form the
National Union for Social Justice (NUSJ), predicting electoral success in Ohio at a May 11, 1936, rally at
Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Supporting
Union Party presidential candidate Rep.
William Lemke, Fr. Coughlin gave the Union's
convention keynote address at Municipal Stadium on August 16, 1936, but fainted near the end of his speech. Coughlin also spoke at the
Townsend Convention held at
Cleveland Public Hall one month earlier.
The Golden Hour was briefly suspended after the NUSJ underperformed at the polls in the
1936 presidential election but revived two months later. Rhetoric on
The Golden Hour became increasingly virulent, with Coughlin expressing
conspiracy theories against Jewish people and sympathizing with
Nazi Germany and
Italian fascism. The
outbreak of World War II in Europe prompted the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to adopt a self-regulating code on October 1, 1939, prohibiting member stations from airing sponsored programs that contained
editorializing or controversial subjects, written with Fr. Coughlin in mind. John F. Patt, general manager for both WJR and WGAR, assailed the NARB code as "censorship and abridgement of free speech", suggesting it could lead to "an
emasculation of private enterprise in broadcasting with a
solar plexus blow to freedom in this country and an invitation for further government regulation". While WJR and WGAR threatened to leave the NAB in protest, Patt disclosed that both stations had cancellation clauses in their contracts with Coughlin that could be exercised if necessary; the majority of affiliate contracts expired at the end of October, effectively ending the program.
Jack Paar The most famous of alumni to emerge from WGAR was comedian
Jack Paar. A native of
Canton, Paar joined the station in 1938 after prior work at
Jackson, Michigan's
WIBM,
Indianapolis's
WIRE,
Pittsburgh's
WCAE and
Youngstown's
WKBN, and was hired by WGAR announcer Wayne Mack (Vaino Mackey). Paar initially wanted to be a
professional wrestler while his parents envisioned him a
minister. While only making
$38 a week at WGAR () in the height of the Great Depression, Paar viewed himself as "the happiest kid in the world". Being the youngest announcer at the station, his first main task was as the Sunday afternoon booth announcer and having to field phone calls from listeners upset or angry over Fr. Coughlin's broadcasts; Paar later viewed George Richards as "a
Citizen Kane-type person" owing to Richards' conservative views. One particular incident on October 30, 1938, defined Paar's early career. Aware of a new Columbia show on the Sunday evening schedule—
Orson Welles's
The Mercury Theatre on the Air—Paar briefly left the studios to get a snack, inadvertently missing the start of
The War of the Worlds and thus unaware of a brief introduction by Welles. After
an onslaught of phone calls from confused and panicked listeners who thought a real Martian invasion was taking place, an equally confused Paar interrupted the network feed twice, the first time saying "this is a drama, I think?", and a few minutes later with, "I assure you this is a drama... I am almost certain! Be calm—have I ever lied to you before?" Paar contacted general manager John Patt about the panic, Patt responded with "you're too emotional, you're never going to make it." Nevertheless, Paar was seen as a hero overnight, with newspaper coverage the next day highlighting and praising "the man who calmed Cleveland." At age 20, WGAR assigned Jack Paar to narrate the station's Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts produced for CBS, thereby becoming the network's youngest announcer. He also announced a late-night
big band program WGAR also originated for CBS, coining phrases "it's
Tommy Tucker time", "a rhythmic New Deal with
Dick Stabile" and "Swing and Sway with
Sammy Kaye", quipping that "I learned to count by working with
Lawrence Welk." Eddie Paul, an area bandleader who regularly appeared on the program, later would reminisce how he and Paar would "hold gab fests" afterwards. Paar attempted to use his announcer duties to
court actress
Doris Dudley via coded messages, only to be stopped after a CBS directive via
telegram, which he saw and management never did. Paar additionally hosted an early morning entertainment gossip program that featured a daily contest to win movie tickets, and a weekly comedy program, ''Here's Paar''; the latter featured Wayne Mack and fellow announcer Maurice Condon as his
sidekicks. The popular program both showcased Paar's talents and informed them at the same time: one episode had Mack inadvertently hanging up on Paar when he called into the station from jail, Condon jokingly claimed later that Paar's overnight prison sentence was for an
overdue library book. After nearly four years at the station, Paar was fired near the end of 1942. Despite his eventual success as a pioneering
late-night television talk show host and as the
second host of NBC-TV's Tonight Show, Paar never got over his firing and claimed to suffer weekly
nightmares about it into the 1980s. Paar purchased
Portland, Maine station
WMTW-TV in 1963, outbidding his former boss John Patt in the process, later musing, "I survived and could at this moment buy WGAR if I wished." During Paar's 1961 career apex hosting
Tonight, Condon denied that he taught Paar everything he knew about show business, but jokingly added, "well, I did show Jack around." Wayne Mack remained at WGAR until 1950, when he left to help launch
WDOK (), and continued to broadcast in some capacity until his death in 2000.
Wings Over Jordan , pictured in 1939. From 1937 to 1947, WGAR originated
Wings Over Jordan, a weekly religious radio program starring an
a cappella spiritual choir of the same name based at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Cleveland's
Central neighborhood, where the Rev. Glynn T. Settle served as pastor. After Settle approached WGAR program director Worth Kramer about adding a show aimed at Cleveland's black population to the station's existing Sunday lineup of ethnic fare,
The Negro Hour was launched on July 11, 1937. Less than six months later, on January 9, 1938, CBS picked up the program nationally as
Wings Over Jordan; the choir assumed its permanent name from the radio show title.
Wings Over Jordan was the first radio show independently produced and hosted by African-Americans to be broadcast over a network. Kramer, who was white, served as the choir's director from 1938 to 1942 while maintaining his WGAR duties; his presence was initially controversial but has since been seen retrospectively as having helped the choir gain legitimacy among whites. The show was CBS's highest-profile sustaining program and has been attributed to WGAR receiving the
George Foster Peabody Medal for "distinguished service among medium-market stations" for 1940, the first such award bestowed in that category. CBS added a limited-run 15-minute weekday version of the program during the summer of 1941, broadcast out of WGAR.
Wings Over Jordan was also placed on the 1941 Honor Roll of Race Relations by the
New York Public Library's
Schomburg Collection.
Frequency move to 1220 , . This site is still in active use under the WHKW calls. As part of the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) frequency realignments, WGAR was moved from to on March 29, 1941, but engineering studies by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed WGAR's current facilities could only provide an interference-free signal to half of
Cuyahoga County at night. Prior to the shift, on January 4, 1940, WGAR applied to move to with from a
Dover Township transmitter site, as Atlanta's
WSB would vacate due to NARBA assigning it as a
clear channel for Mexico. The NARBA accord also assigned as a Mexican clear channel for use by
Mexico City's
XEB; initially no U.S. stations were authorized to use this frequency. As XEB's nighttime skywave did not extend the northeastern United States, the FCC opened up the channel for use in that region as a
class II-B regional signal. While this assignment initially specified usage in Michigan, a planned move by Detroit's
WXYZ failed to materialize, so it was modified to include use in Ohio. WGAR amended their application on March 10, 1941, to move to with and employing a
directional antenna. Aiding in WGAR's favor was the commission's
report on radio network monopolies previously noting Northern Ohio was underserved from a network standpoint. The following January, WADC countered with an identical application for them to move to with along with an agreement that Canton's
WHBC could move to WADC's current frequency. Due to both stations being with CBS, it was surmised that the winner would emerge as the basic Columbia station for both markets. The FCC ordered a freeze on major facility changes after the U.S.'s entry into World War II, but with considerable leeway towards existing applications, thus WGAR amended the request again to . Both WADC and WGAR's applications were designated for hearing by April 1942, with both stations reportedly having procured the resources and materials to make the upgrade. Following a series of hearings, the FCC both approved WGAR's application and a concurrent application by WHBC to move to the frequency. WGAR purchased of land in
Broadview Heights and refitted an existing
farm house to become a transmitter building, owing to wartime restrictions.
Copper wire from a prior transmitter site for WJR was reused for a
ground system. The station heavily promoted the move to with a
marketing campaign that included
direct mail,
billboards, cab signs and newspaper advertisements, all culminating with the switch at 12:20 p.m. on June 4, 1944, during CBS's
Trans-Atlantic Call.
Power upgrade The frequency switch to was granted with the conditions that WGAR took "whatever steps are necessary to improve the signal" in Cleveland's business district, and that while technical parameters were met for operation it could upgrade to once materials were available. One week after
V-J Day ended World War II, on August 21, 1945, the station filed for the upgrade, with an RCA BTA-50F transmitter to be installed in a newly constructed building, replacing the farm house. That October 5, WADC again filed a competing application for at from a
Granger Township site, effectively taking over WGAR's facilities; their application suggested WGAR would thus be moved to . While a conditional grant was initially issued in WGAR's favor on February 7, 1946, the grant was rescinded three months later after WADC filed an objection claiming it violated a
Supreme Court decision directing the FCC to hold competitive hearings in the event of mutually exclusive applications. Also at issue was WGAR's ownership being from out of town, and that the proposed upgrade would result in significant signal overlap between WGAR and WJR, thus violating recent FCC precedent on
duopoly restrictions. The FCC granted WGAR the upgrade by October 6, 1946, determining that WADC provided insufficient evidence, and that WJR and WGAR's signal overlap would not be an issue as WJR—despite being a class I-A clear channel—had insignificant Cleveland listenership. WADC then challenged WGAR's 50 kW grant, protesting that WGAR's local programming was "tantamount to an
abdication to the (CBS) network" and a potential court test of the
FCC's Blue Book; WADC filed an additional petition for the FCC to no longer grant waivers to any facility changes. WGAR considered WADC's motions as
estoppel, noting that programming was brought up in prior hearings and WADC did not object to anything then, and considered WADC's want to clear the CBS lineup outright "an ingenious interpretation" of the Blue Book overlooking the importance of local fare. WADC's petitions were denied by the FCC on May 23, 1947, dismissing charges of censorship, prompting WADC to appeal WGAR's 50 kW grant before the
U. S. Courts of Appeals, which ruled in the FCC and WGAR's favor. WGAR's power increase to took place with a dedication program on July 4, 1947, immediately followed by a
Cleveland Indians-
Detroit Tigers game announced by
Van Patrick. The station then launched a limited series of
remote broadcasts titled
More Power To You showcasing cities such as
Dover, Canton,
Kent, Elyria and Painesville now serviced by the upgraded signal; in several instances, a WGAR staffer was flown in via
helicopter.
License challenge WGAR, WJR and KMPC became central to a legal dispute surrounding internal policies enacted by George A. Richards that encouraged
manipulation and
bias. The March 6, 1948, issue of
Billboard alleged that Richards had a history of interfering with KMPC's newscast content to reflect personal beliefs and prejudices. Two former KMPC staffers presented memos to
Billboard attributed to Richards repeatedly insisting Jews were "all Communists" and that news personnel "keep hammering away at the Jews". Richards sought unflattering coverage on members of the
Roosevelt family,
Henry A. Wallace, the
Truman administration and the New Deal, favorable reports on
Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the
spiking of any stories on
Palestine so as not to "give aid and comfort to Jews and Communists".
Clete Roberts, one of the two
whistleblowers, claimed Richards fired him on grounds of
insubordination after refusing to omit details on a profile of MacArthur, countering KMPC management's claim of his dismissal being economically related. Another former KMPC staffer further alleged Richards demanded significant emphasis of Jewish backgrounds for multiple news figures and ordered the
fabrication of a story regarding
Edwin W. Pauley pursuing a Truman cabinet post. Multiple
members of Congress, the
American Jewish Congress (AJC), the
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the Radio News Club of Hollywood (RNC), along with
James Roosevelt, all called for an FCC investigation. The AJC stated Richards "fomented hate among minorities" by blatantly flouting the
Mayflower doctrine (which the FCC earlier considered a repeal of) and called for KMPC's license to be revoked. The FCC ordered an initial examination of all three stations on March 25, 1948, then for public investigatory proceedings after corroborating the
Billboard evidence, which brought up "substantial questions" regarding Richards' qualifications as an owner. While the procedure would result in "a clean bill of health" for Richards if the charges were unfounded, his physical health soon overshadowed the process. In a filed affidavit, Richards admitted to portions of the charges and claimed his impulsive behavior was due to an 11-year bout with
coronary thrombosis, while asserting other broadcast outlets and networks engaged in biased coverage to the commission's tacit approval. Initially slated for mid-February 1949, the hearings were delayed until March 16 and again postponed after Richards proposed to transfer all three stations to a
trusteeship while his physicians insisted
any hearing could potentially kill him. One of Richards' attorneys, former Sen.
Burton K. Wheeler, argued the 60-year-old Richards had planned on retiring at said age. The
National Community Relations Advisory Council (NCRAC) protested the trusteeship proposal, citing the FCC's
general counsel Benedict P. Cottone's statements that neither of the three trustees were residents of Cleveland, Detroit or Los Angeles, while two of the trustees were known by one NCRAC member to have espoused deeply conservative viewpoints.
Hearings, Richards' death, and aftermath Hearings finally commenced in Los Angeles on March 13, 1950, with FCC chief counsel
Frederick W. Ford's
opening statement accusing Richards of "slanting" and distorting news on his stations to "substantiate his personal dislikes". Clete Roberts testified Richards engaged in antisemitism and insisted of "a plot afoot, a Jewish plot" involving CBS's
William S. Paley, NBC's
David Sarnoff and
ABC's
Robert E. Kintner at a KMPC news staff meeting; Roberts also testified Richards fired him after his news story about Gen. MacArthur denoted
graying hair and a quivering hand. Another announcer testified Richards ordered the removal of
be-bop recordings because they had "communistic influence", but this was stricken from the record. The hearings took political overtones: Sen.
Styles Bridges demanded on the
Senate floor for an investigation, claiming the FCC's investigation was punishment exerted against Richards for his political views. Representatives
Anthony F. Tauriello and
Harry J. Davenport denounced Roberts on the House floor based on prior comments he made about southern Italians, while Rep.
Stephen M. Young considered the hearings an overreach of the FCC's authority "vested in it by Congress". Presiding examiner J. Frederick Johnson Jr. died after the hearings were recessed, replacement James D. Cunningham restarted them on June 15 at the request of Richards's legal team. The FCC requested 7,000 news scripts from KMPC, and indicated the same request would be made for WJR and WGAR. Citing health reasons, Richards failed to obey a
subpoena issued at the insistence of Benedict Cottone. KMPC manager Robert O. Reynolds—on the
witness stand for over a month—stated Richards' prior thrombosis left him physically unable to walk or climb steps, an
x-ray specialist countered by saying little evidence existed of an
abnormal enlargement on his heart. When the FCC completed their
prosecution at the end of August 1950, 34
witnesses gave 2,000,000 words on 8,000
pages of transcript over the course of 13 weeks; Cunningham ruled Richards did not need to testify. Richards' defense cited coverage in ''
People's World and The Nation'' as evidence the hearings were inspired by the
Communist Party. The NAB issued a resolution condemning the investigation as an invasion of Richards' free speech right and privacy, prompting NCRAC to criticize the NAB's "misunderstanding of the necessary and natural functions" of the FCC. The hearings ended in mid-December 1950 with Richards' legal team withdrawing the trusteeship proposal and propose advisory councils for all three stations; Examiner Cunningham deemed the hearings for WGAR as unnecessary. In a 340-page finding submitted to the commission on May 15, 1951, Benedict Cottone recommended all three stations not have their licenses renewed as they did not serve the public interest, charged Richards with repeatedly violating FCC policy and the
Communications Act of 1934 and assailed the "contempt" Richards held for the agency. Cottone also urged the FCC recognize that Richards used his stations to further his political interests and social prejudices. Examiner James D. Cunningham was to issue a subsequent proposal and
en banc oral arguments were scheduled but Richards died later on May 28 from an
abdominal aortic aneurysm at age 62. Fr. Coughlin was among the attendees at his funeral, while Rev.
James W. Fifield Jr. claimed Richards was "murdered ... by those who sought to destroy freedom" in his eulogy. Examiner Cunningham
motioned to dismiss all proceedings as
moot on June 14, 1951, due to Richards' death. Widow Frances S. Richards was
bequeathed all three stations along with all other personal effects and made assurances the stations would adhere to a code eschewing bias in news reporting; the FCC renewed all three licenses and approved the ownership transfers to her name on November 28, 1951. All told, the legal fight ultimately cost Richards $2 million (equivalent to $ in ).
Peoples/Nationwide takeover in
downtown Cleveland was WGAR's first studio home from 1930 to 1971. WGAR was purchased by
Peoples Broadcasting Corp. on December 4, 1953, for $1.75 million (equivalent to $ in ), at that time the highest sale price for a radio station. Peoples was a subsidiary of
Columbus-based Farm Bureau Mutual, a forerunner of
Nationwide Insurance, and owned
WRFD in
Worthington; Peoples president Herbert E. Evans pledged to maintain WGAR's reputation of public service programming. While John Patt stayed with Goodwill as WJR's president after the Peoples sale, WGAR's management team all stayed; Carl George continued as WGAR general manager until his 1971 retirement. The station's programming remained largely unchanged, continuing to carry a mixture of local news and music programming as supplementary to CBS Radio fare. WGAR was the flagship station for
Cleveland Browns football broadcasts from 1946 to 1949 and from 1954 to 1961. The announcers for the Browns' 1946 inaugural season were
Bob Neal and Stan Gee, while during much of the latter run on the station (as WGAR),
Bill McColgan provided the
play-by-play commentary, while
Jim Graner served as
color commentator; for the final season,
Gib Shanley served as lead Browns announcer in addition to announcing
Ohio State Buckeyes football games and hosting a nightly sports program. Cleveland Indians games also aired over WGAR starting in the middle of the 1946 season and through the 1947 season. affiliation with WGAR's Les Clark, Charles Day and Norman Hall alongside NBC's
Chet Huntley and
David Brinkley. Tom Armstrong hosted the morning show at WGAR from 1954 to 1969, succeeding Bill Mayer, who hosted mornings from 1946 to 1954 and was remembered for having a jovial, light-hearted style. Armstrong's career at WGAR spanned much of the changes both in network radio and in local radio, joining in 1944 when the station employed two orchestras and 140 staffers; a generation later, a typical radio station would have 30 to 40 employees. The decline of network radio culminated with CBS Radio cancelling the majority of their entertainment programming in 1960 to focus on news and public affairs, but retained the WGAR-led Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts. Despite this, WGAR ended their CBS affiliation after 25 years at the end of 1961 to switch to NBC; Hubert E. Evans explained NBC "provides a service better geared to our concept of community service". WGAR switched again to ABC on December 11, 1965, after NBC's
court-ordered repurchase of earlier in the year, but did not sign with either of
ABC's newly launched networks at the start of 1968 and became an independent. The station was formally defined in 1966 as
middle of the road (MOR) with assorted sports programming, a nightly call-in talk show and commentary segment both hosted by Sidney Andorn, a daily women's-oriented program and a news department led by news director Charles Day, in the position since 1946. Future New York City newscaster
Bill Beutel was a staff announcer before joining
WEWS-TV in 1959, his replacement at WGAR was future Chicago newscaster
Joel Daly. Tom Armstrong left WGAR in April 1969 after he was moved to an early-afternoon slot, joining
WDOK () for their morning show, one of the first major-market AM radio personalities to move to the FM dial. WGAR first filed paperwork on January 17, 1944, to establish an FM adjunct, but due to the number of applicants exceeding the number of available channels, WGAR's application was put through a competitive hearing in April 1946. The FCC decided in WGAR's favor that June, but the commission's proposed power output and
height above average terrain (HAAT) was significantly less than what the station had requested, thus putting the application through another set of oral arguments.
WGAR-FM launched on on December 15, 1952, but either simulcast the AM sister for the majority of the day (the FM carrying three hours of classical music in the evenings) or operated for only two hours a week to maintain their license. George Washington Campbell, who took over as head of Peoples Broadcasting in October 1966, disclosed in
Broadcasting magazine intentions to establish WGAR-FM as a separate entity from WGAR "as soon as major technical improvements are made". Upgrading to stereo in 1969, WGAR-FM was renamed WNCR, denoting "Nationwide Communications Radio", on May 4, 1970; two months later, a
progressive rock format was instituted. The changes made at WNCR would soon parallel substantial changes at WGAR, which like the FM had become regarded as a "sleeping giant" in the market.
Adult contemporary relaunch Jack G. Thayer was hired from
Sacramento's
KXOA as WGAR's general manager on August 10, 1970. It was also a return to Cleveland for Thayer, who had been in a similar capacity at WHK in the early 1960s. Nationwide was looking at ways to revamp WGAR's image since March, as the MOR format was targeting adults 50 and older. In short order, WGAR started running
a series of diversionary promos that ranged from "all-
talk" to "
all-news", then carried rock music for one week, followed by an "all-request" format the following week. This campaign also included newspaper ads, one of which called out
WIXY host Mike Reineri by name. These tactics quickly gave way to the new
adult contemporary format on September 9, mixing in music from four distinct musical eras:
1955—1960,
1960—1965, 1965—1970, and softer-sounding
current hits. In unveiling the format in advance to industry executives, Thayer boasted that WGAR would soon be breaking more new hit records than any other station in town. The oldies selections were themselves hit records, coupled with an on-air presentation that rivaled Top 40. WGAR signed up with ABC's American Entertainment Network, added the weekly
American Top 40 with
Casey Kasem and expanded the news department. Newscasts and public affairs programming were retained but now presented at a faster pace multiple times throughout the day. Thayer brought along multiple staffers from KXOA to WGAR, including program director John Lund and morning host
Don Imus. Thayer and Lund had first worked together at Los Angeles's
KLAC prior to KXOA, and became interested in market-driven research assisted by the
Western Behavioral Sciences Institute. Lund viewed their work at KXOA as a "fantastic test market" for WGAR, as KXOA was also programmed to reach a 18–34 demographic and enjoyed significant ratings increases. The "all-request music" stunt, along with extensive community surveys, proved useful as a way to gauge who listened to WGAR at different
dayparts; Thayer and Lund found out in their research that WJW enjoyed an abnormal share of the 18–plus demo, and likewise for WIXY in the 35–plus demo, and viewed WGAR as a way to bridge a musical
generation gap. In addition to Imus, the new airstaff consisted of incumbent hosts "Emperor Joe" Mayer and Bob Vernon, along with music director
Chuck Collier and
Norm N. Nite. As part of their promotional campaign for Imus, WGAR purchased a series of billboards and a half-hour late-night television slot on
WEWS-TV directed by
Upbeat producer Herman Spero; Imus later referred Herman's son
David Spero for a DJ position at WNCR-FM. Imus's tenure lasted for less than 15 months but immediately showed success; the October/November 1970
Arbitron ratings listed him at number one in the 18–49 demo, ahead of WKYC's
Jim Runyon and WJW's Ed Fisher; WGAR as a whole topped both the 25–34 and 25–49 demos.
Billboard awarded Imus as the number one radio personality for 1971, an honor shared with KMPC's
Gary Owens.
John Lanigan era Don Imus departed the Cleveland radio scene as quickly as he ascended, joining New York's
WNBC as their morning host on December 2, 1971. Imus reportedly made $100,000 in his first year at WNBC, which was said to have been double his WGAR salary. After meeting him at a
New Orleans industry convention, Thayer hired
John Lanigan from Dallas's
KRLD as Imus's replacement, bypassing 65 other applicants. Despite Lanigan's trepidation about taking over for Imus—and some newspaper critics who viewed him as "desperately trying to emulate" Imus—
Lanigan in the Morning caught on in Cleveland almost immediately. By the end of 1972, Lanigan battled WIXY's Mike Reineri, WJW's Ed Fisher and WERE
shock jock Gary Dee for the top-rated spot in morning drive. Lanigan's controversial persona centered around satire and
ribaldry he dubbed "adult humor" and the station described as "radio for consenting adults". In addition to radio, Lanigan hosted
WUAB's
Prize Movie beginning in 1975, further adding to his exposure in the market and beyond, as WUAB was carried to other
cable systems throughout the region. Lanigan's arrival also coincided with the station's studios moving from the Hotel Statler to the Broadview Heights transmitter site, renamed "WGAR Broadcast Park". John Lund soon followed Imus for New York City, leaving to become
WNEW's program director in October 1973 and ultimately joined WNBC the following year. Loren Owens initially took over for Lund, and Chick Watkins—who joined WGAR in 1971 as
creative services director—became assistant program director. Thayer was promoted to vice president of Nationwide Communications, then left to join NBC Radio by August 1974. Lund hired away Bob Vernon as WNBC's afternoon host in December 1974, completing what
Newsday writer
Tony Kornheiser called "that station's 'Cleveland connection.'" Norm N. Nite additionally left for New York City, but to
WCBS-FM in 1973; Chuck Collier also went to WCBS-FM but returned to WGAR within two years. Watkins assumed the program director title outright by March 1975 and hired Bob James (Pondillo) for late evenings, giving him the
air name "The Real" Bob James. Even with the multiple staffing changes, WGAR maintained high ratings due to Lanigan's enduring popularity. WMMS program director
John Gorman considered WGAR "an interesting battle" as he musically dayparted the
album-oriented rock (AOR) station just like WGAR to take advantage of listener overlap. Gorman later stated that "the best decision by ... Nationwide Broadcasting, was not moving (WGAR's) format to FM", as Nationwide opted instead to convert WNCR from AOR to country on March 6, 1974. Other air personalities included Dave "Fig" Newton, Bruce Ryan and Kevin O'Neill. The early 1980s brought additional changes. Chick Watkins left to join the upstart
Transtar Radio Networks in January 1982; Mike Scott was his replacement. Former WHLO host Steve Cannon joined WGAR from Florida that March to host a talk-intensive evening show replacing
RKO Radio Network's
America Overnight. Scott's subsequent departure in 1983 resulted in multiple airshift realignments under acting program director Mike Metzger. In April, Chuck Collier was moved from early evenings to middays, with Metzger's late morning slot shortened to two hours. By September, Chuck segued over to WKSW-FM as music director and evening host, Steve Cannon replaced Chuck in middays and a
jazz program hosted by Barb Richards took Cannon's place. At the same time, Lanigan was promoted to program director, succeeding Metzger; Lanigan jokingly told
Radio & Records, "it's a feeling of panic!" WGAR additionally converted to
AM stereo the previous December, but to minimal ratings impact. John Lanigan left WGAR after a 12-year run in mornings on February 9, 1984, to join
WMGG in
Clearwater-
Tampa. His replacement was incumbent afternoon host and
impressionist Paul Tapie, with Lanigan and Tapie co-hosting in the days leading up to his departure. Some comedians who had already been composing material for Lanigan's WGAR show started doing so for both his new Tampa show and for Tapie's show. After Lanigan's departure, WMMS started getting requests for Top 40 songs usually heard on WGAR, and played them in hopes of attracting his former audience. WMMS's tactic worked as WGAR's ratings fell significantly when Tapie went solo.
Going country with the FM Finally, on July 16, 1984, WGAR dropped adult contemporary for country music, with WKSW rebadged as
WGAR-FM; management felt a format hole now existed for country after both WHK and WWWE dropped it. The new arrangement had Paul Tapie's morning show simulcast over both stations, with WGAR featuring holdover midday host Steve Cannon and
Satellite Music Network-fed programming the rest of the day. Chuck Collier, however, would remain a fixture at WGAR-FM until his death on September 22, 2011. Collier was a 2009 inductee into the Country Music Radio Hall of Fame and became synonymous with WGAR itself through his lengthy tenure. The station donated its entire collection of jazz recordings to
WCPN in preparation for their September 1984 sign-on, and donated both their glass disc recordings and news tape archives to
John Carroll University. Following the FCC's repeal of the
FM Non-Duplication Rule in March 1986, rumors of WGAR simulcasting WGAR-FM emerged but were downplayed by management. However, Paul Tapie's departure for
WNCX that October led to the AM station relaying the FM outright.
Cleveland Force broadcasts over WGAR became the lone schedule deviation, WGAR headed up a three-station network for the
Major Indoor Soccer League club. WGAR-FM was becoming one of the top-rated stations in the Cleveland market, while WGAR was among the lowest-rated with a core audience of people 55 and older; the simulcast allowed for both to be rated together. The news department was also downscaled, with newscasts limited to both drive times, noon and Saturday mornings, and staffing reduced from seven to three in the span of seven years. The former air studios were rendered as auxiliaries after the format combination and proved useful when an electrical fire struck the
Keith Building on July 30, 1987, which housed the studios for
WQAL; WGAR engineers arranged in the span of an hour to have the
beautiful music FM station operate from their facilities for several days. == WKNR (1990–2001) ==