I guess the Saturday and Sunday lineups plus Reid Mullins in the mornings during the week are all I am interested in on KTOK these days. The new news guy, Mike Sanders (?) comes across as not-too-slick-or-smart. The weekday lineup has become very stale after Reid kicks it to Glenn Beck. Ranting, ranting and more ranting. KOKC at least has Neal Boortz who actually says something new regularly.

My days of listening to KTOK started in about 1967 when it was still a music station with some regular spots for "Chicken Man" and other novelty things. They had their own news and weather staff as well as Captain Perdue for traffic. They pioneered talk radio on OKC and did a fine job of it with locally-produced talk using the likes of John Dale. Then they started paring down their news staff, going to syndicated talkers like Rush Limbaugh and partnering with KFOR for weather and news. Now we get the same stuff over and over with no different perspective on news stories or even weather.

Oh, and the Egg Man? Phhht!! Not even a pale comparison to Mark Shannon. RIP Mark, we really miss you. When the Egg Man comes on, I switch over to KOKC.

What does anyone else think of the current trend at KTOK?

I agree with a lot you of what you wrote. I remember KTOK being locally produced almost 24/7 with hardly any syndicated programming at all. BJ Wexler, Carol Arnold, and these were in the middle of the day. Then as you mentioned, John Dale. Bob Riggins in the mornings. Solid top-notch news operation. It was a good local radio station. Today, it's all changed under the corporate consolidation and the rise of "Big Radio." One thing I might disagree with you about is Reid Mullins. He's just not very good, in my opinion. Not for a market this size. But that's just an opinion. Most of what you wrote can hardly be denied. It's been a rough downhill fall for KTOK.

Oh, I almost forgot. The weekend line-up has some good locally produced material, but it's spotty with some really bad locally produced material as well. How long has Henry Benedict been doing the home and garden show? He's a link to the past for me, a sense of some stability. The science show with Steve Paris is okay except for that Gary guy who sounds like he's trying too hard to be "Mr. Announcer." Gwin does a good job with her show. It's nice to, at least, see KTOK not selling out their entire weekends to syndication. Things have changed so much in local radio - shadows of their former selves.

Eggman is terrible. He obviously does no research, does a few comedic spots, and then takes callers and compliments them on their views. Terrible radio.

I miss Bob Riggins, BJ Wexler, Bob Durgin, John Dayle, Carlton Cordell, and the old Night Cap show. Al Eschbach did the sports, and it was an exceptional local station. Bob Riggins, John Dayle, and Carlton Cordell are all deceased, and Bob Durgin is back east.Lou Staples was very good and I loved his show, but he committed suicide. In later years, WKY went to local talk and it was very,very good, but the owners went Spanish on us one day. I don't understand Spanish, so they lost me and probably all their listeners. I wish we could get the Pat Campbell show here in OKC. He is up in Tulsa and needs a bigger market. He is an awesome host.

Is Mike Macarvel (sp) not there any more? He had the self-deprecating line that went something like, "the face that is perfect for radio". I enjoyed his evening program when I had to work late, then I changed employers and no radios allowed.

I think he retired to his blog, but every now and then you hear his voice.

Years ago, I used to listen to KTOK ALL the time. I even called the offices, at least once, to complain about the way that their signal dropped off (in my listening area) at sunset when they had to realign the antenna array (or whatever) in compliance with FCC regulations for "real" "clear channel" stations. I especially liked Carol Arnold, Gwin Faulconer (Lippert), Mike McCarville, Bob Durgin and Mark Shannon. Wasn't Ron Black on KTOK for a short time? Or was that a different station? Maybe WKY before it morphed into something replacing local talk radio with trumpets and accordion music?

I must admit that I was hooked on Rush Limbaugh (back when he used to include humorous parody stuff in his show) on account of KTOK, but after a decade or so, I got a bit tired of his relentless . . . one-note blather.

I can't remember the last time I tuned the dial to KTOK.

I actually got to work with Carol Arnold for a short period of time on another station. She is a true broadcasing professional and a real sweetheart

[QUOTE=RealJimbo;446311]
My days of listening to KTOK started in about 1967 when it was still a music station with some regular spots for "Chicken Man" and other novelty things.

Since you were listening in the late sixties, do you remember the "Ten Spot" jackpot? Every hour they gave away a ten dollar bill to some lucky listener. I also received a "footed mug" coffee cup from "The Big Swing" donut store, Dennis donuts. I was the driver for a car pool and listened to KTOK out of self defense. If the radio wasn't on, one of my friends in the back would break out in song and that always caused me to break out in a sweat!
C. T.

I think one of my favorites was Jackson Kane. He always wrote an excellent comment. And his presentation/voice were a perfect match. I believe he won a couple of national radio awards.
C. T.
I miss Bob Riggins, BJ Wexler, Bob Durgin, John Dayle, Carlton Cordell, and the old Night Cap show. Al Eschbach did the sports, and it was an exceptional local station. Bob Riggins, John Dayle, and Carlton Cordell are all deceased, and Bob Durgin is back east.Lou Staples was very good and I loved his show, but he committed suicide. In later years, WKY went to local talk and it was very,very good, but the owners went Spanish on us one day. I don't understand Spanish, so they lost me and probably all their listeners. I wish we could get the Pat Campbell show here in OKC. He is up in Tulsa and needs a bigger market. He is an awesome host.

If you guys like talk radio listen to KGOU, 105.7 in OKC or 106.3 in Norman. They genuinely cover all sides and there is no yelling, screaming or spitting on the mike. Just civil and professional. I couldn't live without it.

Now KGOU is about the only station I listen to.
(That, and KOSU)

Wow! I feel like I just stepped through a radio time machine!

I remember the Ten Spot Jackpot, Hi Lo, Mike McCormick and Debra Mann and their sometimes-racy (for that era) afternoon show, and I remember that Gary "Thunder Lizard" England was their meteorologist BEFORE he started at KWTV. He was followed by Gene Collett (sp), and then Rick Tasetano, and I think he was there until they started all this teaming nonsense.

Ken Gaines was the GM of KTOK during its heyday, during which time I think it had gained national recognition as one of the top talk stations in the country. John Dayle and his psycho delusions and paranoid theories about how we never went to the moon were worth listening to if only for the humor. I used to call into Bob Durgin's show when he'd play Hangman, and he was actually very nice to me as a kid caller (well, older kid, and I knew how to handle myself on the phone better than most my age).

I remember when Lou Staples committed suicide, because he was late for his co-hosting gig one night with Al Eschbach on the sports show. I don't think many here recall that you could make a case for Eshbach and his 6pm, one-hour sports talk program as the forerunner for contemporary sports talk radio. To my knowledge, no one was doing that. No one believed you could make an ongoing show of nothing but sports, but they were proven wrong. Eschbach was the sports editor at the old Oklahoma Journal then.

KTOK was indirectly involved in its own share of controversy. There was a time when a very amiable on-air personality by the name of Ed Sossen was affiliated quite publicly with what I recall was a children's shelter organization called The Genesis House. At some point, something went awry with the management of the house, a scandal emerged that hit local TV, and I believe the project closed and Sossen more or less left town due to his association with it. I had met Ed Sossen personally at a KTOK remote during OU-Texas weekend (that was obviously back when KTOK was the flagship station for OU football), and he recognized my name and voice and was incredibly gracious to me as a younger caller.

I remember BJ Wexler (who still does the movies on OETA if I'm not mistaken) and his daily "Telephone Poll" at 12:30, and Bob Riggins was a fixture there FOREVER.

KTOK also ran two treasure contests - a $10,000 diamond hunt, and a similar $5,000 cash contest, by hiding something at a secret location, then releasing clues as to its location. What just kills me to this day is that in the latter contest (which ran due to the popularity of the diamond hunt) was that I had figured out the clues and knew the location of the secret message - a park over on Robinson - we went to the park in the early evening, but it was in that near-downtown area that wasn't exactly the best part of town, and there was a group of what looked to me (and, more importantly, my mom) like some area tough guys that didn't want us around. We thought we'd come back (it was fairly early in the contest), but a day or two later we heard that someone had beaten us to the prize. AAAARRRGHH!!

Man, so many memories of that once-great station. I believe Ken Gaines is now in Colorado, and I don't know why he left KTOK, but clearly he was the driving force behind it during those times.

Nice post, Kevin. I remember all of that so very well. Yes, Ken Gaines was with KTOK up through their acquisition by Insilco Broadcasting (International Silver Company) along with their FM sister station, KZUE at that time. Ken left shortly after KTOK/KZUE were sold to a small San Antonio-based outfit in 1978 (or '79) called "San Antonio Broadcasting" that had a couple of stations over in Tulsa and a few in Texas. They changed their name to Clear Channel, now the behemoth (and some say destroyer) of commercial radio.

Ken was also the voice of those Braums radio and TV commercials that made you want a Braums chocolate fudge sundae that very moment. Nice guy.

Have not listened to KTOK since it became a right-wing talk station. In the days of them playing music, it was very enjoyable, but their night-time signal was not very strong. I couldn't pick it up at all in Nicoma Park.

By the way, remember Tom Furlong and B. Mark Summers (sp?)? Tom used to sign off at about 5 pm with "put on the coffee pot, honey. I'm coming home". I met John Dale (Dayle?) at a friend's business once. I big guy and really fun. My friend is Bob Miller who had a weekend show, "swap shop" or something like that. I agree that the locally-produced weekend shows are still very enjoyable. Someone mentioned that Gary Owen is trying too hard to have a "radio voice"...well, that's his normal voice. Have you ever met him? He's pretty awesome in person. Very thin...doesn't look like he would have that deep, velvety voice.

Is this the Gary Owens that was the "voice" on Laugh-In?

I'm fairly sure that Gary Owens met an untimely demise due to a mechancial failure during the filming of an Artie Johnson tricycle tip-over sketch .
That, or somebody loaded Ruth Buzzi's handbag with an actual brick.

In other words . . . I think the KTOK Gary Owen could possibly be different than the NBC Gary Owens, but I could be wrong.

Mike McCarville had open-heart surgery last week, but he's alive and kicking.

KTOK has an extremely weird-looking coverage pattern, mostly because they're required to protect the signal of a 50-kw station in Chicago on the same frequency; they project hardly at all to the northeast at night.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KTOK&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

Good to hear about Mr. McCarville, wish him well!

The Gary Owen of KTOK (and other local media) fame is not the same person as the similarly (but not identically) named Gary Owens of Laugh-In fame.

Someone mentioned Jackson Kane in this thread, and believe it or not, he was a traffic report for (I believe) Ch 9 a few years ago. I heard the voice and the name and was stunned. He is long since departed from that job, and actually I believe I read he since passed away, but won't swear to that.

I have a recollection that Kane got in some hot water during his stint at KTOK over some inflammatory remarks he made about Jews, but I don't remember the specifics. Amazing the bits and pieces of things you recall about stuff that long ago. Carlton Cordell was really a funny, silly guy on air and in person. I remember listening to him early in the morning and he had started this goofy run of calls about the Mexican navy attacking Oklahoma by submarine, and his callers were starting to report "from the front" about the battle. Funny stuff.

Many times, radio folks adopt an on-air persona that is more a character than reflective of themselves, and I often wondered if that was at least part of John Dayle's bit. I couldn't fathom someone being that thoroughly curmudgeonly in reality, but who knows...

This thread has reminded me how much I miss LOCAL talk radio.
(But thanks for the memories anyways . . .)

Still . . . I guess that The Media Magnates have calculated that they would have to (at-least) quadruple their advertising rates to pay for live--rather than satellite-fed--talent. (Sigh...)

I mentioned Jackson Kane and yes, he died several years ago. I didn't know about his problems though. Not doubting, just wasn't aware of them. By the way, does anybody remember the "Tuttle Shuttle" airline?
C. T.

Someone mentioned Jackson Kane in this thread, and believe it or not, he was a traffic report for (I believe) Ch 9 a few years ago. I heard the voice and the name and was stunned. He is long since departed from that job, and actually I believe I read he since passed away, but won't swear to that.

I have a recollection that Kane got in some hot water during his stint at KTOK over some inflammatory remarks he made about Jews, but I don't remember the specifics. Amazing the bits and pieces of things you recall about stuff that long ago. Carlton Cordell was really a funny, silly guy on air and in person. I remember listening to him early in the morning and he had started this goofy run of calls about the Mexican navy attacking Oklahoma by submarine, and his callers were starting to report "from the front" about the battle. Funny stuff.

Many times, radio folks adopt an on-air persona that is more a character than reflective of themselves, and I often wondered if that was at least part of John Dayle's bit. I couldn't fathom someone being that thoroughly curmudgeonly in reality, but who knows...

I think one of my favorites was Jackson Kane. He always wrote an excellent comment. And his presentation/voice were a perfect match. I believe he won a couple of national radio awards.
C. T.

Jackson Kane was my father. :) Thank you for the nice words. I miss him.

Cat

Ken was also the voice of those Braums radio and TV commercials that made you want a Braums chocolate fudge sundae that very moment. Nice guy.

My father worked at KTOK for 10 years...Ken Gaines was a very, very nice man...his wife was also very nice.

Cat

My father was Jackson Kane. He worked (for a company) with Woody Woodard doing traffic for channel 9 as well as other stations. He enjoyed his work. He enjoyed people. He was excellent at what he did. He was not in "hot water" over anything that you mention here that I know of. He did pass away four months after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004. I wrote his obituary.

Cat,
Sorry for your loss. Didn't he leave KTOK and come back? I also remember that he hosted a Saturday movie on channel ?. I think it was 25.
C. T.
Jackson Kane was my father. :) Thank you for the nice words. I miss him.

Cat

Cat,/
Sorry for your loss. Didn't he leave KTOK and come back? I also remember that he hosted a Saturday /movie on channel ?. I think it was 25.
C. T.>>>>

Thank you, C.T....Dad was at KTOK for just over 9 yrs. He didn't leave and come back that I recall. It was pretty steady. He was at Channel 34 for the Saturday night movie. We still have them taped (on Betamax of all things!) Thank you again for the nice comments. :)

It is amazing to me how often KTOK and the old days comes up in conversation. Today one of my colleagues mentioned how much he misses the music format from the past. I miss that and the serials like Chicken Man and the guy who called in from time to time with a Scottish accent. Always a hoot.

I mentioned Jackson Kane and yes, he died several years ago. I didn't know about his problems though. Not doubting, just wasn't aware of them. By the way, does anybody remember the "Tuttle Shuttle" airline?
C. T.

The "Tuttle Shuttle" bit was part of the afternoon show with Ed Sossen and Larry Bledsoe. Larry had an advertising agency for many years, but is now working for a bank. Good guy, and a real hoot to be around.

I remember when Lou Staples committed suicide, because he was late for his co-hosting gig one night with Al Eschbach on the sports show. I don't think many here recall that you could make a case for Eshbach and his 6pm, one-hour sports talk program as the forerunner for contemporary sports talk radio. To my knowledge, no one was doing that. No one believed you could make an ongoing show of nothing but sports, but they were proven wrong. Eschbach was the sports editor at the old Oklahoma Journal then.

Yep. It was a Friday night, he was scheduled to do a remote with Al and was a no-show, and Al was razzing him bigtime in his now-familiar, obnoxious style. They found his body the next morning in a field off of NW 122nd about a mile west of Surrey Hills. IIRC, it was reported he'd just split up with his girlfriend, and police thought that prompted the suicide. Don't remember if a note was found.

He really did pioneer sports talk radio; I think he'd be shocked at how big it's gotten.

Dad was at KTOK for just over 9 yrs. He didn't leave and come back that I recall. It was pretty steady. He was at Channel 34 for the Saturday night movie. We still have them taped (on Betamax of all things!) Thank you again for the nice comments. :)Very interesting thread that brings back memories and prompts my first post on this board.

Jackson Kane hired me as a reporter-anchor in 1981. I had heard of Jackson from Denver and St. Louis and from the industry in general, but I wasn't familiar with KTOK. The fact that Jackson Kane was News Director immediate established KTOK's credibility in my mind as a good radio station and as good an employer as a radio station might be. (Radio stations are notoriously nasty employers.) For those reasons I accepted Jackson's job offer without hesitation.

It turned out Jackson and I had mutual interests and mutual acquaintances. We hit it off immediately. We became close friends and remained friends until his death in 2004.

It's sad to read about KTOK's deterioration, especially considering that many of us worked hard to develop the news department. It's not surprising, though, considering radio's deterioration in general over the years and especially during the Great Recession.

Best wishes to all

[Gary England] was followed by Gene Collett (sp), and then Rick Tasetano, and I think he was there until they started all this teaming nonsense.

Ken Gaines was the GM of KTOK during its heyday, during which time I think it had gained national recognition as one of the top talk stations in the country. John Dayle and his psycho delusions and paranoid theories about how we never went to the moon were worth listening to if only for the humor. I used to call into Bob Durgin's show when he'd play Hangman, and he was actually very nice to me as a kid caller (well, older kid, and I knew how to handle myself on the phone better than most my age)....

***

I remember when Lou Staples committed suicide, because he was late for his co-hosting gig one night with Al Eschbach on the sports show....

***

I had met Ed Sossen personally at a KTOK remote during OU-Texas weekend (that was obviously back when KTOK was the flagship station for OU football)....

***

I remember BJ Wexler (who still does the movies on OETA if I'm not mistaken) and his daily "Telephone Poll" at 12:30, and Bob Riggins was a fixture there FOREVER.

KTOK also ran two treasure contests - a $10,000 diamond hunt, and a similar $5,000 cash contest, by hiding something at a secret location, then releasing clues as to its location....

***

I believe Ken Gaines is now in Colorado, and I don't know why he left KTOK, but clearly he was the driving force behind it during those times.I never knew Lou Staples, but heard of him. Except for Gary England, I knew and worked with all the other people you mentioned. Rick Tasetano was a helluva nice guy. I remember the diamond hunt and cash contest.

Clear Channel purchased KTOK-KZUE circa 1984. Mr. Gaines was ousted during the CCC takeover. John Butler replaced him. Mr. Gaines went to KVOR-KSPZ in Colorado Springs. I don't recall how long he was there.

Yes, KTOK was a great radio station.

Yep. It was a Friday night, he was scheduled to do a remote with Al and was a no-show, and Al was razzing him bigtime in his now-familiar, obnoxious style. They found his body the next morning in a field off of NW 122nd about a mile west of Surrey Hills. IIRC, it was reported he'd just split up with his girlfriend, and police thought that prompted the suicide. Don't remember if a note was found.

He really did pioneer sports talk radio; I think he'd be shocked at how big it's gotten.


I have no earthly idea why I remember this particular detail, but I do remember it quite vividly - they reportedly did find a suicide note, and supposedly all it said was, "I'm bored. Bye, guys." I remember thinking how odd it was that they would read something like that on the radio, but things were so much different then than now...

I think a lot of people would be (and are) shocked at how big it has become. At the risk of sounding too psychoanalytical, I think sports talk has become this monster as a sort of societal catharsis for all the other stresses going on. I mean, gee whiz, we all know its just sports, it really isn't that important, but people vent their frustrations on it rather than all the other issues they have to face. Anyway, moving on...

I actually emailed Bob Durgin up at a Pennsylvania radio station a few years back about his KTOK days, and he was very gracious. Really miss those great days of KTOK. Was truly an out-of-the-box station for its time, probably never to be seen again.

If you guys like talk radio listen to KGOU, 105.7 in OKC or 106.3 in Norman. They genuinely cover all sides and there is no yelling, screaming or spitting on the mike. Just civil and professional. I couldn't live without it.

My last breath...on the next Diane Rehm Show...

So . . . Was it KTOK . . ?
Or was it a host of other so-called "local" Media Offenders (ClearChannel/Citidel/Etc.) who didn't appreciate "Mark Shannon" . . . ?

Probably it was KTOK.
(But not The Original KTOK)

Sure glad we can get Sirius about all this . . .
(yeah . . . right.)

Was KTOK the station that was once located on Main Street just E. of Penn ?

Was KTOK the station that was once located on Main Street just E. of Penn ?

Believe so - in a small gray building on the south side of the street.

Was KTOK the station that was once located on Main Street just E. of Penn ?

Yes, it was. My wife grew up living in a duplex across the street from the station, and became acquainted with most of the staff there during the first half of the 50s. Quite a few of them moved to KWTV when it went on the air.

It was still there in the mid-60s. I remember listening to it for weather information one day when a tornado came right through the downtown area (but it had lifted and did no major damage downtown) after touching down in Capitol Hill, and hearing the announcer describe the funnel dancing across the river to the south of the station.

Yes, it was. My wife grew up living in a duplex across the street from the station, and became acquainted with most of the staff there during the first half of the 50s. Quite a few of them moved to KWTV when it went on the air.

That tradition continued when Gary England got his start on KTOK with his "Thunder Lizard" and moved it all to KWTV back in the very early 70's. He used to have a green, stuffed lizard toy stuck on his weatherboard (back when they had rotating boards for maps and drew on them with chalk, and hand-lettered the forecasts).

Yes, it was. My wife grew up living in a duplex across the street from the station, and became acquainted with most of the staff there during the first half of the 50s. Quite a few of them moved to KWTV when it went on the air.

It was still there in the mid-60s. I remember listening to it for weather information one day when a tornado came right through the downtown area (but it had lifted and did no major damage downtown) after touching down in Capitol Hill, and hearing the announcer describe the funnel dancing across the river to the south of the station.

I lived in the area until 1968 when we moved to Tuttle. I remember the station, Yellow Cab Company to the East, Chapman's Groceries on NW 3rd, Chief's Meat Market also on 3rd.

Sorry to ramble, it's just that thinking about the old KTOK Station reminded me of a great period of my youth.

KTOK/KZUE moved from that old (and cramped) Main Street location to 50 Penn Place in 1978.

Eggman is terrible. He obviously does no research, does a few comedic spots, and then takes callers and compliments them on their views. Terrible radio.

Totally agree.

New gripe: Mike Sanders has a phlegm-in-the-throat voice that I find obnoxious. Not to mention his foolish comments, sometimes thinly-veiled racism and off-the-map right-wing views. Egg Man is so bad I have to turn to Neal Boortz on 1520 during the drive home time. He's way more entertaining and sometimes educational.

BTW- I consider myself very conservative, but I'm not a bigot. I take the view that true conservatives can't be bigots.

Bob! Dad so admired you! You were a true friend. I have many happy memories of you at the house for dinners, and some very funny stories! I know you and Mom stay in contact via email. I hopeyou are doing well.
Cathy (Cat)

Bob! Dad so admired you! You were a true friend. I have many happy memories of you at the house for dinners, and some very funny stories! I know you and Mom stay in contact via email. I hope you are doing well.
Cathy (Cat)I'm doing well, thanks. I have many great memories of those times.

I heard recently that in March KTOK dispatched Jerry Bohnen after thirty-three years with the station, and in similar fashion as it did with your dad. Words cannot describe the disgust I have for the Cheap Channel animals who run KTOK. I posted comments regarding Jerry's termination on this thread (http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=29277&page=3&highlight=ktok).

PM me if you have the chance. ;)

I think one of my favorites was Jackson Kane. He always wrote an excellent comment. And his presentation/voice were a perfect match. I believe he won a couple of national radio awards.

(emphasis mine)You are correct. Jax won at least one International Radio Festival award for his commentary, "Kane's World."

Jackson had a wealth of radio experience, in several top markets including but not limited to New York (which, IMO, is the pinnacle of radio markets), Denver, St. Louis, Louisville, Miami and Buffalo. He brought major market experience to an already top-rated radio news station. To use your words, it was a perfect match. I, for one, learned much from having Jackson as news director.

I have a recollection that [Jackson] Kane got in some hot water during his stint at KTOK over some inflammatory remarks he made about Jews....That's doubtful. I worked closely with Jackson for the nearly seven and a half years I reported and anchored news for KTOK. Take it from someone who knows, he harbored no ill will toward Jewish people; if anything, Jackson was solicitous of Jewish people. He numbered Jewish people among his close friends. He was never in trouble of any kind during my time with KTOK.

I remember KTOK being locally produced almost 24/7 with hardly any syndicated programming at all.We ran Larry King overnight when he was still doing his talk show for Mutual. I believe the station (already owned by Cheap Channel Commuications) dumped Carlton Cordell in favor of King - because, of course, it was cheaper than paying a live-local air personality. It brought in someone to run the control board while King was on. I worked the overnight news shift and was also handed board duty for King for part of the night - not easy when having to stop everything to run a spot while in the midst of generating news.

I just noticed in the obituaries that Chuck Pendergast has died in Gainsville Texas. He is one of the KTOK experts that took calls about automobiles. He also started the Automotive Program at South OKCJC. He helped me several times when I had a car problem and not a lot of money.
C. T.