| Bob Harper was KQV's Program
Director from May 1970 until December 1973. Bob came from WSAI in Cincinnati
and succeeded Mike McCormick at KQV.
During Bob's time at KQV,
the station transitioned from a teen oriented top 40 to an adult top 40.
A number of new personalities
joined the staff while Bob was KQV's Program Director. Jon Summers, Bob
DeCarlo, Carl Eckels, Anderson Little, Jeff Christie (Rush Limbaugh), Perry
Marshall, Larry Clark, Jim Carnegie and Timothy G Adams all came to KQV
during this period.
One of the most important musical
trends in radio happened while Bob Harper was at KQV. The use of re-currents
became important. New Golds as they were called then were played hourly.
Before this time when a song fell off the charts, they disappeared until
they were deemed important enough to be played as oldies.
KQV continued to use PAMS
jingles while Bob Harper was pd. Grid packages were used including the
Music Power cuts. PAMS series 42A, 43, 44, WRC, Clyde, Q and Phoenix were
on the air. As KQV morphed into a more adult sound, 14 began to disappear
from the jingles as it was felt that 14 emphasized 'for teen'.
KQV promotional giveaways
included the Ca$h Call, a 1970 Summer Yellow Mustang, a 1971 Dodge Charger,
and the KQV $25,000 Fantasy.
(courtesy Billboard Magazine
August 21, 1971)
KQV also had it's stiffest challenge
in years, while WIXZ slipped, new competition would develop when WJAS would
change to 13Q. Bob would describe the battle in this article in Broadcasting
from April 23, 1973.
Bob Harper left KQV in December
of 1973 for WKBW in Buffalo, New York. Former KQV personalities Jim Quinn
and Jon Summers would later join Bob in Buffalo.
Since leaving KQV, Bob has
been a highly successful radio consultant. He headed Bob Harper
& Company Media Researching
and Consulting and Keystone Focus Research, a research and consulting company
which he sold to Paragon Media Strategies in February 2007. Bob has joined
Paragon as a Senior VP and serves as a lead researcher and consultant for
Paragon's radio station clients, including his former Keystone client stations.
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