In 2017 WSBA was celebrating their 75th Anniversary. To commemorate this milestone WSBA host Mark McKenzie welcomed back some voices of the past to discuss their memories working at the radio station.
Dave Russell WARM 103 Promo Photo
In this clip, Dave Russell reminisces with Mark about a time when he shared a very important moment in his life on the air with former WSBA morning man Ralph Lockwood. Oh, and Dave even brought the tape of that broadcast from 1993.
A big thank you to Dave Russell for sharing this memorable moment.
AUDIO EXHIBIT
WSBA-AM 75th Anniversary Flashback – Mark McKenzie Interviews Dave Russell 2017
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
