Rodger Kay, WMOH Hamilton OH January 10, 1969 (0:04:19)

… . . . well, you know how it is – us disc jockeys . . . …

Hamilton, Ohio’s 1450 WMOH radio was one of those small market Class IV stations that dotted the map in the ’60’s and ’70’s. “The Rodger Kay Show” aircheck, as featured here, is a classic example of Top 40 radio at these small stations. The aircheck, dated January 10, 1969, gives the listener an insight to WMOH at the time. The station signed on at 6am and ran various programs throughout its broadcast day, thus dayparting to its different audiences. Most programming, however, contained music, whether for “housewives” during the day, or the ‘Now Sound” at night. Rodger Kay worked the 9pm-1am (sign-off) shift, playing the latest hits, and in some cases (as with this aircheck) playing “Solid Golds Every Other One”.

In May 1970, Kay did his last regular airshift on WMOH, switching over to the Sales/Management side of the building, where he remained for the next ten years during its “Musicradio WMOH” days. WMOH has always been and is still a unique station. Although it gave up its music format in May 1990 for News/Talk, it still programs to a local and loyal audience, twenty-four hours a day.

Rodger Kay is now the Station Manager at KFRQ-FM and KVLY-FM in the McAllen/Brownsville, Texas market. And the beat goes on…

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