Todd Storz
Robert Todd Storz (May 8, 1924 – April 13, 1964) is credited with being the father of the Top 40 radio format.
Biography
Storz was the grandson of Omaha brewing legend Gottlieb Storz. Growing up in the family mansion in Omaha, Storz grew to love Ham Radio while living there.[1]
In 1949, Storz, along with his father Robert, purchased radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska; Todd became the station's general manager. At the time, typical AM radio programming consisted largely of blocks of pre-scheduled, sponsored programs of a wide variety, including radio dramas and variety shows. Local popular music hits, if they made it on the air at all, had to be worked in between these segments.
Storz noted the great response certain songs received from the record-buying public and compared it to the way certain selections on jukeboxes were played over and over, which he, program director Bill Stewart, national program director and on-air personality Jim "Grahame Crackers" Richards as well as KOWH staff observed. According to Dick Fatherly's research,[2] Storz also commissioned a study from the University of Omaha before switching KOWH to a music focused/"Top 40" format.
The Storz Broadcast Empire
Storz expanded his stable of radio stations in 1953, purchasing WTIX in New Orleans, Louisiana, gradually converted his stations to an all-hits format, and pioneered the practice of surveying record stores to determine which singles were popular each week. It was at WTIX where he counter-programmed market rival WDSU's Top 20 at 1280 program with the Top 40 at 1450 on WTIX. In 1954, Storz purchased WHB, a high-powered station in Kansas City, Missouri, which could be heard throughout the Midwest and the Great Plains.[3]
With the help of Stewart, Richards and a newly expanded staff, Storz converted the stations to an all-hits format and dubbed the result "Top 40".[4] Within a few years, Top 40 stations appeared all over the country to great success, spurred by the burgeoning popularity of Rock and Roll music. At his peak, Storz owned WTIX, WHB, KXOK in St. Louis, WDGY in Minneapolis, WQAM in Miami, and KOMA in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During the ongoing Payola scandals of the 1950s, D.J.s at Storz stations were pronounced "clean" as they did not debut records, but stuck to the "Top-40" pre-existing hits format developed by Storz.[5]
At the height of his career, Storz died of a stroke in 1964, at the age of 39. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. The family has since remembered the legacy behind the Father of Top 40 with issuing the "Storz Awards" every ten years since 1968.
References
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- ↑ "Storz family of Omaha acquires WHB Kansas City in merger deal." Broadcasting - Telecasting, April 26, 1954, pg. 64. [1]
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