America's Best Music

Infobox Network

network_name = America's Best Music
country = United States
network_type = Radio network
available = National
owner = Dial Global
(through Triton Media Group)
key_people =
launch_date = 1970s
founder =
past_names = AM Only
brand =
website = [http://www.dial-global.com/xr/dg_247_adultstandards.asp America's Best Music website]

America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks. The format is no longer exclusive to AM stations and is carried on some FM stations too.

Its main competitors are Timeless from Citadel/ABC Radio, and Music of Your Life, currently offered by Planet Halo, Inc.

The target audience of the format is persons 35 to 64, with most of the music from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Artists include Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, The Carpenters, Johnny Mathis, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, James Taylor, Elton John, Anne Murray, Andy Williams, Engelbert Humperdinck, Linda Ronstadt, Nat King Cole, Captain and Tennille, and Simon and Garfunkelhttp://www.dial-global.com/xr/dg_247_adultstandards.asp, Retrieved on 2007-11-06.] . The format also incorporates "new standards" material by artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Steve Tyrell, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Carly Simon, and Renee Olstead.

The current lineup of DJs includes Jeff Rollins, Chick Watkins, Ed Brand, Mark Haden, and Drew Braxton on weekdays, as well as Don Reid, Casey Hayes, Bill Jones, Rick Garza, Lou Simon, and Rick Wagstaff. [http://www.1280wnam.com/programming.asp, retrieved on 2007-11-06] Former DJs include Nick Gerard and Peter Doeblin. [http://www.westwoodone.com/program?action=viewProgram&programID=448, Retrieved on 2007-11-06.]

History

AM Only was created by Transtar Radio Networks at a time when AM radio was no longer highly regarded as a place to listen to music. The format was promoted only to AM stations, though it was not long before some FM stations used it as well.

The format was (and still is) promoted on-air as "Great Songs, Great Memories". One affiliate used an ad which stated the following:

Ray Charles lives here. So does Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, The Lettermen, and The Nelson Riddle Orchestra. At WFEA we play the original hits of the 40's, 50's and 60's. All day, every day. [http://www.manfrommars.com/wfea90s.html, Retrieved on 2007-11-06]

In 2000, over 240 radio stations used the adult standards format which was being distributed by this time by Westwood One. [Doreen Oken, "K-JWL flaunts title as number one station nationwide," Business Journal Serving Fresno & the Central San Joaquin Valley, May 8, 2000, p. 1.]

In the first decade of the 21st Century, the format added more uptempo material from the oldies and adult contemporary formats and promoted "A New Variety of America's Best Music". In recent years, though, the commitment to older songs has been renewed, with titles by artists previously dropped from rotation such as Patti Page, Doris Day, the Ames Brothers, Gogi Grant, Joan Weber, Perry Como, and Ella Fitzgerald, being re-added to the playlist.

On October 1, 2008, America's Best Music will absorb Jones Standards, a short-lived format created by the now-dissolved Jones Radio Networks, as a result of Jones's purchase by Dial Global. It will also likely integrate Waitt's "The Lounge" into this satellite-driven format in months to come as a result of Waitt's purchase by Dial Global.

tations

A partial list of "America's Best Music"/"Adult Standards"-affiliated stations includes:
* Apalachicola, Florida - WFCT "The Coast"
* Appleton, Wisconsin - WNAM
* Cambridge, Ohio - WILE-FM
* Clinton, Illinois - WHOW-FM
* Columbus, Ohio - WMNI
* Cumberland, Maryland - WTBO
* Fort Wayne, Indiana - WGL/WGL-FM "The River"
* Fresno, California - KGES
* Hibbing, Minnesota - WMFG-AM
* Honolulu, Hawaii - KHUI "The Jewel"
* La Crosse, Wisconsin - WLFN
* Madison, Wisconsin - WTUX (former Jones Standards affiliate)
* Manchester, New Hampshire - WFEA
* Melbourne, Florida - WOSN "Ocean"
* Norfolk, Virginia - WJOI
* Ogden, Utah - KOGN
* Park Rapids, Minnesota - KDKK (former Jones Standards affiliate)
* Petoskey, Michigan - WMBN "Michigan's Beautiful North"
* Phoenix, Arizona - KOY-AM
* Port Huron, Michigan - WHLS/WHLX
* Savannah, Georgia - WSEG
* Show Low, Arizona - KVSL "Star"
* Stevens Point, Wisconsin - WSPT-AM
* The Dalles, Oregon - KODL
* Uniontown, Pennsylvania - WMBS
* Youngstown, Ohio - WNIO

Stations which formerly programmed the "Adult Standards" network but have since switched to other networks or dropped the standards format altogether include: WJBR-AM, Wilmington, Delaware; WHLY, South Bend, Indiana; WXKS-AM, Boston, Massachusetts; KMRY, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (switched to ABC's Timeless); KMMZ, Midland, Texas; WOKY, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; WAIT, Crystal Lake, Illinois (Chicago market); WAAM, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and WRIG, Wausau, Wisconsin. KJWL in Fresno is still Adult Standards but no longer uses Dial Global's format, and AM competitor KGES "Legends 1680" has affiliated with the "America's Best Music" network.

References

reflistWTBO, Cumberland, Maryland

External links

* [http://www.dial-global.com/xr/dg_247_adultstandards.asp Official Website]
* [http://www.billajones.com/#Radio%20Personality Bill Jones web site]