… from the only station BIG enough to make it happen …
You may recognize the story: A 5,000 watt Ohio family-owned radio station perennially finishes last in the ratings. Tired of losing for over thirteen years, the general manager (who happens to be the son of the owner) hires a hotshot out-of-town program director to take the station Top 40  and turn it around.
This all happened in the fall of 1976Â… two years before WKRP In Cincinnati hit the small screen. It was WQIO in Canton, Ohio  a 5,000 watt daytime-only radio station that managed, in eighteen months, to take the station’s share from a 0.5 to a 7.0  up against entrenched local competition and also in the shadow of such legendary Cleveland signals as WGAR, WWWE, and WMMS.
This little station had a major market sound with a minor league budget while attracting a fair amount of national attention during a four-and-a-half year run. With a new FM competitor in town, here’s Q-10’s attempt to hang on during the waning days of AM Top 40 radio.