WPRO-FM Providence, Composite, 1977 (0:15:51)

… your money and music station, Stereo Ninety Two, PRO-FM …

While many greats like WABC, WFIL and KHJ have long since changed formats, I can only say that I’m proud it’s still like this in little Rhody. PRO-FM enjoys consistently high ratings, terrific familiarity in the market and a 27 year heritage in Contemporary Hit Radio.

This comes from a skimmer reel of a broadcast day during the dog days of the summer of ’77. Having worked with Big John Bina and growing up with this station, it’s really special to travel back in time and listen AM to PM.

Featured are Big John in the Morning, PD Gary Berkowitz on the midday, Boogie Man in afternoon drive and the legendary Howard Hoffman workin’ nights. This station really cooks! Reverb, powerful jingles, high energy jocks, localism, fantastic music variety, phone bits, and a slew of contests. After listening to this, don’t be surprised to find yourself wondering where you “PRO-FM”.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the new ReelRadio!

This site is now operated by the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. 

We want to thank the board of ReelRadio, Inc. for their stewardship since the passing of the founder Richard Irwin in 2018.  It has not been easy and they have maintained the exhibits for future generations to enjoy.

I met Richard Irwin, aka Uncle Ricky, when we were freshmen at East Carolina University.  We both had worked at local stations in our hometowns.  No one was more passionate about radio, especially Top 40 radio, than my friend Richard. 

Our goals with this site are to preserve the exhibits and make them available free of charge for people to enjoy.  Over time, we hope to add some airchecks to the site.  This will not happen immediately.  Time and resources will determine the future of new exhibits. 

Many thanks to the web folks at the Beasley Media Group for countless hours of work.  Again thanks to the board members of ReelRadio, Inc. for their faith in us. 

Richard Irwin’s hope was that his site would live on long after his passing. He said, “I hope REELRADIO will survive as my contribution to the ‘radio business’. The business is allowed to forget me, but the business should never forget the great era of radio that we celebrate here”.

We remember Richard and we thank him. If you enjoy this new site, we would appreciate a contribution. We hope you enjoy the new ReelRadio!

Carl Davis
Trustee
North Carolina Broadcast History Museum