PHOTO INDEX: WARM BINGO CARD AND WNEP'S ANDY PALUMBO
WARM CONTESTS
WARM CONTESTSAndy Palumbo from WNEP TV sent this along. A WARM bingo card that was used as part of one of the numerous WARM contests. WARM seemed to make contests an integral part of their programming. The amazing thing was these contests were not big. I mean some of them were like the Pool giveaway and various autos. But the beauty of these contests were they were inexpensive, had as a common denominator an everyman and everywoman quality about them and were simple to play and win.
ADDED NOTE
Regarding our YOU TUBE video and this site, we recieved a nice note from fellow WARM fanatic Gene Forbes. "Those outtakes of Double G & Ron Allen were from my original tapes I recorded back in 1978 when WARM was celebrating it's 20th year. I taped each DJ for an hour each day from Monday thru Friday doing their top 40 show. I also taped Double G On each of the days he was on from noon till 3 (or 2 one day). These tapes are in my archive. Credit for those out takes . It should go to George Gilbert & Ron Allen for broadcasting all those years & were the glue that held WARM together until it's demise in the mid 90's in one way shape or form. A big thank you should go to the original Sensational Seven & to all the jocks & personal who came & went during the tenure of The Mighty 590. Those are the people who should be thanked for making WARM # 1 for over 20 years in a row."
Gene Forbes
Lake Ariel, Pa.
Gene Forbes
Lake Ariel, Pa.
5 comments:
How I hate that picture. Anyway, you hit the essence of WARM contests. People were thrilled to win even the little things, like cookbooks and coffee mugs. I'm betting those items are still in a lot of NEPA kitchens today. I wouldn't be surprised if one of my former co-workers still has a few mugs. I watched him walk out with a case one night. You know who you are and what you did! Management guarded those things like they were made of gold.
--ap
Oy... that day in Fall, 1996 when I heard TeleMedia bought WARM. I knew it was the beginning of the end. As a student at King's (and one of Jerry Heller's students), I remember listening to the 3-way simulcast on 590/1550/95.7.
So close to Ron's passing it might make sense to mention that he was a solid believer in two things when it came to contests...
1) Listeners didn't care at all about the size of the prize. Winning something, anything, was all that mattered.
2) The most important component of any contest is allowing/welcoming all listeners to "play along." A perfect example would The WARM Turkey Trot.
As Andy could attest, we were always doing giveaways, always. There likely wasn't a day, an hour, when we weren't giving listeners tickets, mugs, cookbooks, ski passes, weekends at Mount Airy, etc. Speaking of which...
Mounty Airy Lodge had a standing live :30 which I must have read hundreds of times while at WARM.
I remember it being logged between 10:00 and 10:30 AM. What I also remember is that the copy never changed, NEVER.
Andy's right on target with the coffee mugs. Somehow, the suits didn't get the notion that the mugs weren't doing you much good locked up in a closet. Why they were so stingy with them was sort of puzzling, since they were made by Pfaltzgraff Pottery, which was wholly owned by Susquehanna.
I remember one of Ron's last successful contests being being "The Warmland Lottery" in the early 1990's.
If memory serves me right, listeners got to choose three digits. The jock would then play all three pre-deterimined numbers...on cart. If one matched (including boxed, I think), they would win $ 5.90. Two would be $ 59.00---and three would be $ 590.00. WARM did not run in delay during music shows---so you had the caller on the air LIVE! That's how Cash Call operated also.
I remember quite a few $ 59.00 winners, and there may have been one $ 590. Corporate (Susquehanna) made a bunch of cuts including personnel in the building and KO'd the Warmland Lottery. Ron was none too happy to say the least---and ultimately disappointed---since we were starting to see some Arbitron growth again. (At this point WARM would still get to # 2 12+ in a very good book and would almost always beat Magic!) Soon (again), he would give up his PD stipes to focus solely on sports.
Regarding "The Pool Giveaway"---it was June 1977 at Olympic Pool in Exeter---about ten blocks down the street from where we lived. The final two contestants, I believe, were a 30-ish woman and a senior at Tunkhannock High School. The student just wanted to get his diploma in the pool---and if I'm not mistaken---he did. Then, he got out letting the woman win the grand prize!
Looking at that WARM Bingo Card, which was probably sometime in the early 80's, you can clearly see the lean to AC/MOR. What would have happened if WARM stayed Top 40? Or if Susquehanna was able to get an FM Frequency before WKRZ did?
Oh...and by the way...I still see lots of WARM Mugs and Cookbooks out there are Flea Markets and Estate Sales! :)
Stan P.
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