He became a renowned radio industry figure for serving as Station Manager at one of America’s most-listened-to Top 40 stations of the 1970s, with his 50kw Class A AM outdueling its rival, “The Voice of Labor in Chicago,” by March 1976.
In May 1979, he was named President of ABC-owned FMs following the resignation of Allan Shaw.
Now, media executives across the U.S. are paying tribute to Marty Greenberg, who has died of pancreatic cancer.
It is thanks to Greenberg that “89 WLS” soared past WCFL-AM 1000 in the Midwest’s big hit music battle, in an era when Album-Oriented Rock and FMs was gaining youth audience … and WLS parent ABC Radio‘s attention.
In December 1973, as WLS Station Manager, Greenberg accepted Tommy Edwards‘ resignation as Program Director. His replacement? John Gehron, who had successfully installed a then-noteworthy Oldies format at WCBS-FM in New York.
Edwards, of course, stayed on to assist Gehron, who came on board in early 1974 — a tough period for Top 40 radio. At the time, WCFL dominated afternoons and nights, Arbitron ratings for October and November 1973 show.
To combat that after-school audience drain and attract those doing their homework with the radio on, Greenberg put Gehron to work. This included injecting more oomph, and promotion, of John Records Landecker‘s 6-10pm shift; Landecker joined WLS in January 1972 from WIBG-AM in Philadelphia under then VP/GM Paul Abrams.
By July 1974, Charlie Van Dyke was no longer in mornings. That job went to Fred Winston. Afternoon drive was held by Bob Sirott.
The war with WCFL was on.
In summer 1974, that station gained ground on WLS. Through May 1975, WLS held steady with its audience.
WCFL, on the other hand, suffered a huge dip in women 18+ in April and May of that year. Men started leaving WCFL in September 1974, and by May 1975 trended 5.9-3.5 in men 18+ against WLS’s 5.9 share.
Was it Nixon fallout? WCFL famously told listeners that President Nixon had resigned as U.S. President some 3 1/2 hours after it happened, with WCFL GM Lew Witz explaining that interrupting the music for news that could widely be found elsewhere was not of interest for the Top 40 station.
Even with Larry Lujack in afternoon drive, lured from WLS in 1972, WCFL’s days were numbered.
The ratings continued to dip for WCFL. On March 15, 1976, it switched to Beautiful Music; Lujack, under contract, remained … until September 1976.
That’s when WLS, under Greenberg, lured Lujack back. He famously took over the morning show on Sept. 16, 1976, after Winston left. By 1978, WLS was one of the most dominant pop music stations in North America.
All the while, Greenberg was letting his stars enjoy the spotlight; trade publication articles of the era barely mentioned him. Yet, he was quite well-known and revered. Speaking to veteran media industry reporter Robert Feder, Landecker called Greenberg “one of the finest GMs I ever worked with.”
With big success at WLS, contrasted with serious problems at WABC-AM in New York, ABC at the 1979 NAB Convention in Dallas was already addressing rumors that the legendary Gotham AM would be switching to Talk; it did so on May 10, 1982. Billboard magazine questioned the future role within ABC of Greenberg, “who reportedly turned down an offer from NBC’s chief Fred Sillerman because he thought he was in the running for the top ABC radio post.”
It was a correct call, as Greenberg would gain oversight of ABC’s FM Stations Division — in January 1981. Among the properties: WPLJ in New York, WRQX “Q107” in Washington, KQRS in Minneapolis and KLOS in Los Angeles.
Greenberg held the post for one year, before joining the former Belo Broadcasting as VP/Radio; Belo was the owner of The Dallas Morning News. He resigned after 20 months in the post, in September 1983.
Greenberg told R&R at the time, “The parting was very upsetting for both sides, but we disagreed on certain policies and it became inappropriate for me to continue there.”
He’d later work for Jeff Smulyan, as President/International for Emmis Communications outside of the U.S. By the mid-1990s, Greenberg would become a consultant, before retiring from the business and becoming, in his words on LinkedIn, a “lazy person” in January 2000.
Greenberg, who’d started his career in radio as a WMCA-AM in New York intern in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, wasn’t that lazy. He was a spin instructor at the YMCA in McKinney, Tex., where he resided at the time of his death, from 2005-2018.
Ira Lipson, the famed Dallas radio station PD and Operations Director who led “The ZOO” (KZEW-FM) in the 1970s, while Greenberg managed WLS, said via Facebook that Greenberg died Tuesday (1/19).
Greenberg is survived by his wife Elin and many loving children and grandchildren, including two granddaughters (pictured, top left).
Fred Jacobs, President and Founder of Jacobs Media Strategies, says, “I had the honor of working for him during the go-go days of ABC. A true mentor for me during those years. Condolences to his family, friends, and all those truly lucky enough to work with him.”
Veteran programming consultant Mike McVay adds, “I had the pleasure of consulting Marty’s stations at Duffy and later at Genesis. I learned more from him than anything he learned from me. Kind, generous, motivated and motivating. A good human. The world is less today than it was before we lost you, Marty.”
