Johnny Holliday, KYA San Francisco, May 5 1969 (0:05:31)

… Avco Radio, San Francisco …
(From Billboard magazine, March 26, 1966)

“SAN FRANCISCO — So strong are the personalities at KYA, the leading Hot 100 station here, that Johnny Holliday once out-Pulsed a baseball game in audience ratings. His real strength at being able to influence his teen-age listeners also cropped up in Billboard’s latest Radio Response Rating survey of the market. He was leading air personality at influencing sales of singles records with 42 per cent of the votes of record dealers, distributors, one-stop operators, and local and national record company executives. Billboard’s comprehensive survey showed the station over-all leading the singles market with a hefty 63 per cent of the votes; last year, the station had only 49 per cent of the votes, though it still led the market, because of stronger competition from KEWB.”

This short sample of Johnny Holliday in morning drive at KYA was recorded during his last year in Top 40. Note the excellent PAMS jingles and the upcoming “Folk and Rock Festival”, featuring some of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll legends of all time.

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!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project