As Dan was working his plan
to make KBO more "major market", the station was firing on all 8 cylinders.
Losing a guy like Bob Alexander could have really hurt the station, particularly
since he was now over at WFEC along with Charlie Adams, but 1976 was to
be one of the best years ever. As the year started, the new Sundance jingles
sounded fresh, the Steele and Crissey Show was the talk of Harrisburg and
the Saint was holding court back in his afternoon saddle. Dan was even
able to shorten the night shifts to 4 hours. Jim Roberts was now on 6 -
10 and Rick Shockley; 10 PM - 2 AM. Dan Kelly, then Jefferson Keys and
Steve Orr originally manned the 2 - 6 AM shift until Chris Andree took
over the shift by the end of the year.
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Chris Andree Jingles |
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The Fun-Lovin' Five were now
referred to as "The Music People". As the bicentennial year began, the
hitline numbers were reflective: 561-1976 and 561-1776, the 561 exchange
reflecting the stations now more suburban local. "Fantasy" was the theme
this year, as KBO did the "What's Your Fantasy" contest and also aired
"The Concert From Fantasy Park"
1976 had it's changes, though.
Tom Sinkovitz and Hal German had departed for television, so Mike Pintek,
and Fred Honsberger joined the KBO news staff. In May of 1976, Carol Crissey
decided to leave for a News Job at Philadelphia's WFIL. However, by September
she returned as did Captain Dave Edwards, who had gone to Altoona for an
on air job at WVAM in Altoona. On Dave's return, the traffic plane was
grounded and his reports were now known as "Traffic Watch" The Airwatch
plane did return to the sky briefly in 1981. Also, in the fall of 1976,
Mike Conrad began his Saturday Night reign as the "Teacher Creature". One
small change with the weather: the current temperature was no longer referred
to as "Harrisburg Metro Temp" but was referred to as "mid-city", as is
"it's 77 degrees mid city at KBO".
January 1, 1977,
KBO debuted their new jingles from PAMS of Dallas
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PAMS of Dallas |
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It was this package that contained
one of the few jingles to ever refer to the frequency during the Top 40
era.In late January, longtime competitor WFEC flipped to country, giving
Harrisburg its first full-time country station. WFEC had long since ceased
being a serious competitor, so its disappearance was not a major factor.
The competition that KBO was now facing came from FM. In the winter of
1977, 99.3, WSFM switched to the TM Stereo Rock format, an adult Top 40
format, calling itself "Rock 99". In the spring of 1977, KBO had its highest
numbers ever: a 17.7 share persons 12+. Rock 99 debuted with a ten share.
Makes you wonder what KBO would have achieved had WSFM not changed format!
One of the factors helping KBO win big was the "$10,000 Zap". By answering
your phone with the phrase "I Want WKBO To Zap Me", you could win varying
amounts of instant cash.
Stability was the key word
in 1977, but there were a couple of changes. Early in the year, a second
morning news person was hired to co-anchor with Fred Honsberger: Jondra
Phillips. There were now 6 voices on the morning show: Steele and Crissey,
the two news anchors, Captain Dave and Joe Bastardi was added as WKBO "Weatherwatch"
meteorologist. Not bad for 1977 in a market like Harrisburg! When Fred
Honsberger left for KDKA in August, Mike Pintek was promoted to morning
news co-anchor and news director while Joe Wambach was hired for afternoon
news. In September, Carol Crissey left the station for good to begin her
long career as a TV news anchor. At one point in 1979, 3 former WKBO news
people were on the anchor desk at WHP-TV 21: Hal German, Tom Sinkovitz
and Carol Crissey. The morning show was then re-named "Steele and Company"
as Dan went it alone
In November, Dan
traveled to Dallas to purchase new jingles
from a company called
"JAM Creative Productions"
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JAM Positron |
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Although the new jingle package
did not debut until the next year, the new Christmas Jingles made their
debut in December 1977. |