Papa Dino’s final location on Lincoln Highway in Lancaster
In the mid 1960’s Papa Dino’s was a local Italian restaurant and pizza shop with locations across south central Pennsylvania. Locations included Steelton, Lebanon, Lancaster and York. By the 2000’s Papa Dino’s was down to one location on Lincoln Highway in Lancaster, however that location has since closed.
Papa Dino’s Ad – Lebanon Daily News, March 15, 1963
Around 1964, Papa Dino’s ran a series of commercials on WSBA. These very creative commercials are presented for your listening pleasure below.
A radio station strives to carve out an identity that is unique and memorable. This identity translates into rating which translate into sales (theoretically). In the 1960s a radio station’s jingle package was their identity. These “songs between the songs” would stick in the mind of the listener just as much as the catchy song at the top of the charts.
WSBA 1962
Most radio stations used jingles and there were a variety of companies producing these exclusive packages for radio stations of all formats. PAMS of Dallas was one of the leaders in jingle production and provided the sound of some of the greatest Top-40 radio stations in the country.
WSBA was one of these top stations and in 1961 they purchased the PAMS Series 17 “New Frontier” package which is presented here for your enjoyment.
AUDIO EXHIBITS
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 01 (You’ll Hear It First)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 02 (Cha-Cha)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 03 (Birthday Winner)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 04 (Citizenship In Action)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 05 (Curtains Going Up)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 06 (Let It Snow)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 08 (Drive Safely)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 09 (Song That’s Number One)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 10 (Turnpike Conditions)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 11 (Winning Spot)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 12 (Weekend Weather Word)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 13 (A Good Day Coming)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 14 (Let’s Check The Weather Together)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 15 (Weather Watching With you)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 16 (This Week’s Pick Hit)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 17 (Sports In Action)
WSBA Series 17 – Cut 18 (Where The listening Is Fun)
WSBA’s Barry Bickhart welcomes Philadelphia Phillies play-by-play announcer and future baseball hall of famer Richie Ashburn to the SportsTalk program. Listen as Richie takes calls from the listeners in WSBALand.
WSBA SportsTalk Newspaper Ad (Richie Ashburn Special Guest) – York Daily Record December 6th 1983
AUDIO EXHIBIT
WSBA SportsTalk with Barry Bickhart and Special Guest Richie Ashburn – December 6th, 1983
From the publication Radio Annual we present a rundown of some high level facts about WSBA. This publication was prepared and distributed as a directory for the broadcasting and advertising industries of all management positions at radio stations around the country.
In the early days of radio, attracting national advertising accounts could make up a large portion of a radio station’s annual revenue. Radio stations were typically represented by national advertising firms that would broker advertising contracts for individual radio stations.
This advertisement was published in Radio Annual, a directory of all radio stations in the country. The directory would provide basic information on each radio stations including details such as, power, network affiliations and the names and roles of the station’s management team. These directories also sold advertising and radio stations could pay to include more specific messaging that would help to entice an advertiser to spend money in their market.
This advertisement from the 1943 edition of Radio Annual is promoting the wide audience that WSBA served. It’s interesting to point out that this advertisement was prior to WSBA gaining nighttime authorization in 1949 with its move to 910kc.
How much did it cost to advertise on WSBA back in 1976? The following rate card dictated the cost of airtime for individual dayparts and program lengths and applied to local advertisers.
Check out the back page where all of the Susquehanna Radio Corp. properties at the time are listed.
For almost 30 years Rush Limbaugh held the midday spot on WSBA Radio. On Monday, August 30th, 1993 the WSBA line-up was shifted to make way for the biggest thing in talk radio. Rush was already on the air in Harrisburg at WHP and in Baltimore on WCBM and was pulling some very impressive ratings. While both signals were audible but weak in the York and Adams County area and WSBA saw an opportunity to get a piece of his growing audience.
According to an article in the York Daily Record from August 24th, 1993, WSBA Operations Manager Jim Horn said that listeners had been asking for Rush for two years and following six months of contract negotiations with Limbaugh’s Excellence In Broadcasting Network they were able to finally bring the Limbaugh program to WSBA.
WSBA Rush Limbaugh Promotional Notepad
Limbaugh was an exciting radio personality who provided a top-40 approach to talk radio. His early programs were fast-paced, he used great bumper music and incorporated song parodies and other comedic bits throughout his show. However, his program was political and because of that the program was very polarizing.
Rush Limbaugh is the most exciting talk radio personality in the nation, probably the world. He is either loved or hated, depending on your political views, by practically everyone in the nation.
Jim Horn – WSBA Operations Manager (York Daily Record – August 24th, 1993)
WSBA would continue to air the Rush Limbaugh program until his death in 2021
After the Limbaugh program started airing, it didn’t take long before WSBA was stirring up the local news cycle with their new mid-day program. On September 9th, York Mayor William Althaus, a republican, wrote a letter to WSBA General Manager, Chris Huber (and copied to the York Daily Record) urging him “to reconsider airing this junk.” The York Daily Record made it front-page news on September 14th with the headline “Althaus to WSBA: Flush Rush Limbaugh.”
Flush Rush – York Daily Record Front Page September 14th, 1993
Flush Rush (continued) – York Daily Record September 14th, 1993
Here is an excerpt from Althaus’s letter:
I consider the viewpoint and tone of Limbaugh to be totally inconsistent with the compassion, open-mindedness and decency of your station and in deed the whole Susquehanna-Pfaltzgraff organization.
As I drove home to lunch yesterday, I turned on WSBA, as usual, and heard an appalling, mean spirited, unfair parody of the President of the United States. Limbaugh trades in cheap shots, anti-intellectualism, glib name-calling, and half-truths”
William Althaus (York Daily Record – September 14th, 1993)
Huber was not concerned about the Mayor’s remarks, stating that the station had received about one-hundred calls since announcing plans to being airing the program with a three-to-one pro-Limbaugh ratio.
Jack Malloy in the WSBA Main Studio
WSBA talk host Jack Malloy took to the air that morning discussing the article and taking calls on Rush. Let’s step back in time to September 14th 1993 and listen to Jack discuss the article and the Mayor’s comments and take calls from the listeners of WSBA.
AUDIO EXHIBITS
WSBA “The Jack Malloy Show” Flush Rush – September 14th 1993
