Another rare find. A.C. Nielsen four week accumulative ratings published in The Oregonian on August 18, 1959. Added on are programs & shows during July 1959.

MORNING 6-9AM
1. KOIN 44.3 World News 6AM/Koin Klock 6:15/Weather 7AM/Koin Klock 7:05/Headline News 7:15/Frank Goss News 7:30/The Bob Hazen Show 7:45/Consumer News 8AM/David Vaile News 8:15/ Rusty Draper 8:30/Shelly Serenade 8:35-9AM
2. KEX 25.6 Barney Keep 6-9AM
3. KWJJ 19.9 Newsreel 6AM/Sports Newsreel 6:45/Frank Hemingway News (ABC) 7AM/Jack Hayes 7:15/Don Kneass News 7:45/? Engle News 8AM/World News 8:15/Organ Music 8:30/Paul Harvey News (ABC) 8:55-9AM
4. KGW 18.2 Bill Davis 6-9AM
5. KISN 16.3 Hal Raymond 6-9AM
6. KPOJ 14.5 The Larry Kilburn Show 6-9AM (Breakfast News 7:45)
7. KXL 11.3 Bill Jackson 5-9AM

9AM-NOON
1. KOIN 37.4 The Wayne King Show 9:05/This 'N' That 9:20/Harry Babbitt 9:30/Mid Morning News 9:45/Happiness 10:05/Mrs. Burton 10:15/Young Dr. Malone 10:30/Ma Perkins 10:45/Whispering Streets 11:05/The Couple Next Door 11:15/The Romance of Helen Trent 11:30/The Pat Buttram Show 11:45-12PM (CBS News hourly)
2. KGW 23.6 Bill Davis 9AM/R.H. Peck 10-12PM
3. KWJJ 17.4 Don McNeill's Breakfast Club 9AM/Sammy Taylor 10AM/Tell-O-Test 10:15/ John Holbrook News (ABC) 10:30/Sammy Taylor 10:45-12PM with news at :25 & :55
4. KEX 17.0 Barney Keep 9AM/News 10AM/Kay West 10:05/Russ Conrad 10:20-12PM
5. KPOJ 13.3 The Larry Kilburn Show 9AM/The Chuck Bernard Show 10-12PM
6. KISN 10.8 Jim Tate 9-12PM
7. KXL 6.0 Bob McCarl 9-12PM

NOON-3PM
1. KOIN 40.6 Local News 12:05/Weather 12:15/Come & Get It 12:20/Arthur Godfrey Time 1:05/Art Linkletter's House Party 2:05/The Galen Drake Show 2:30-3PM (CBS News hourly)
2. KEX 20.4 George McGowen 12-2PM/Russ Conrad 2-3PM
3. KWJJ 19.6 Paul Harvey News (ABC) 12PM/Local News 12:15/Sammy Taylor 12:20/News 12:55/Jack Hayes 1-3PM with news at :25 & :55
4. KGW 19.5 R.H. Peck 12PM/Red Robinson 2-3PM
5. KPOJ 12.7 Todays News 12PM/The Mark Allen Show 1-3PM
6. KISN 11.6 Steve Brown 12-3PM
7. KXL 10.0 Bob Liddle 12PM/Bob McCarl 1-3PM

AFTERNOON 3-6PM
1. KOIN 42.7 The Little Show 3:05/The Wayne King Show 3:25/Come To The Fair 3:30/Newspaper of The Air 3:35/Art Kirkham News 4:05/Julius Walter 4:15/Local News 4:30/Shelley Serenade 4:35/Baker, Law 4:45/Lowell Thomas Sports 5PM/P.M. Sports 5:10/News 5:15/Weather 5:25/Tom Harmon Sports 5:30/Johnny Carpenter News 5:45/Sports 5:55-6PM (CBS News hourly)
2. KWJJ 20.3 Sammy Taylor 3PM/News 3:25/Sammy Taylor 3:30/News 3:55/Sammy Taylor 4PM/Frank Hemingway News (ABC) 4:15/Sammy Taylor 4:30/Don Kneass News 5PM/Sports, Stocks & News 5:15/Jess Mason 5:30/Headline News 5:45-6PM
3. KGW 17.7 Red Robinson 3-6PM
4. KEX 16.3 Russ Conrad 3-6PM
5. KPOJ 13.7 The Mark Allen Show 3PM/Bob Blackburn Traffic Jamboree 4-6PM
6. KISN 12.4 Wally Thornton 3-6PM
7. KXL 10.0 Bob Liddle 3-6PM

EVENING 6-9PM
1. KOIN 32.6 Johnny Carpenter News 6:05/The Big Show 6:15/Frank Goss News 6:30/The Big Show 6:35/Amos 'N' Andy 7:05/Local News 7:30/Griff. ? 7:35/George Burns & Gracie Allen 7:40/Bob & Ray 7:45/The World Tonight 8PM/Masters of Melody 8:15/The Big Show 8:45-9PM (CBS News hourly)
2. KGW 15.9 Wes Lynch 6-9PM
3. KISN 15.8 Tom Murphy 6-9PM
4. KEX 15.4 Al Priddy 6-9PM
5. KPOJ 15.2 Action News 6PM/Bob Blackburn Traffic Jamboree 6:05/Dick Novak's Rhythm Room 7-9PM
6. KWJJ 12.1 Edward P. Morgan News (ABC) 6PM/Virgil Pinkley 6:15/John Daley News (ABC) 6:30/? Gorme 6:35/Music 6:45/News 6:55/The Holy Rosary 7PM/Voice of China 7:15/Back To The Bible 7:30/The Allen Revival 8PM/Girls Town 8:15/Evening Meditation 8:30-9PM
7. KXL 4.8 Bob Liddle 6-sunset

9PM-MIDNIGHT
1. KGW 21.1 Wes Lynch 9-12AM (Ray Horn 12-6AM)
2. KPOJ 18.8 Dick Novak's Rhythm Room 9-1AM
3. KOIN 18.7 The Big Show 9:05/News Flashes 10PM/Five Star Final 10:15/Sports 10:25/Good Evening 10:30/The Late Show 11:05/Meditation 11:55-12AM (CBS News hourly)
4. KISN 13.9 Tom Murphy 9-12AM (Dennis James 12-6AM)
4. KEX 13.9 Al Priddy 9-12AM (Lee Smith 12-6AM)
6. KWJJ 7.2 The Radio Church 9PM/The Quiet Hour 9:30/John Vandercook News (ABC) 10PM/Dancetime 10:05/Eager Beaver 11:45-3AM


Pulse Ratings published in The Oregonian on August 19, 1959. Added on are formats.

1. KISN 17% Rock 'N' Roll
2. KOIN 16% Variety
2. KEX 16% Popular
4. KGW 15% Rock 'N' Roll
5. KPOJ 14% Rock 'N' Roll
KWJJ Variety
KXL Rock 'N' Roll

Great stuff Craig! I remember 59 well. I first started listening to Rock in June of that year,but thought rock was evil before then. I bet some people felt that way. I remember hearing "Pink Shoe Laces" by Dodie Stevans, & that got me curious.

Thanks. I was surprised to find another early rating period after searching for others when I discovered the 1960 ratings a few months ago. When I did my search, I looked at microfilm in the early part of the month when the 1960 ratings were published. The Oregonian in this time period divided it's months into two reels (1st-15th & 16th-31st). As you can see the 1959 ratings were discovered in the 16th-31st reel. I'll now check the 2nd August reels for other rating years.

Does the "Rock'N'Roll" format label mean that those stations played nothing but rock'n'roll tunes from sign-on to sign-off? Or were the "rock'n'roll" stations the rough '50s equivalent of Top 40 in the 1960s-70s, which played rock along with current ballads and other types of pop?

Also, I'm assuming that "Popular" and "Variety" in those days meant no rock'n'roll at all, but beyond that I haven't a clue about the distinction between these two terms. Did "Variety" mean what we would now call full-service, i.e., a mixture of music and other kinds of programming?

KOIN was a popular station in the late 50's, obviously, the ratings bear that out. What was the key to KOIN's success, do you think? KISN was 3rd or 4th depending on the time of day which surprizes me.

Nitefly: The format name "Top 40" came later. Rock 'N' Roll was the standard format name at the time with Country & Western and Rhythm & Blues crossovers. So these names mean the same thing.

Popular music did include some light R&R along with C&W & light R&B crossovers. This format name would change later to Easy Listening which is now called Adult Contemporary.

The format Variety could have been block programming or a variety of different kinds of music or both.

Wayne: KOIN success was a combination of quality CBS shows & local personalities with Koin for many years.

Todd Storz developed Top 40 and I think it was around 1954.

Storz started doing his thing around 1950. Don Burden was competing with Storz in Omaha by about 1952 or 53.

http://www.reelradio.com/storz/
http://members.tripod.com/~nebradio/koil.html

I would attribute part of KOIN's success to lots of stay-at-home wives who had different listening habits than today's commuters and at-work listeners. 1959 was just a few years removed from "The Golden Age of Radio," and a lot of old radio habits still hadn't been broken.

Long-form programs no longer fit the way most people use radio today, and as KOIN radio's popularity later waned, I'm guessing most listeners were lost to TV, not to other radio stations. NBC's Today Show was huge in the 60s.

Craig,
You forgot to list the ratings of the FM stations?

Craig can't list something that doesn't exist. I think we can safely assume all of 'em are at zero, aside from a handfull of hi-fi nuts listening to "Good Music" on KPFM. I wonder if the ratings services even bothered to measure FM in those days?

Weren't there more than 7 stations on am in 59? I remember KPFM & KQFM, both had adult formats. somewhat different than today!

There were more than 7 AM stations but not that many were in a position to be viable for various reasons.

Semoochie & Randy: Yes Top 40 stations were around in the mid to late 50's. At the time Top 40 was a concept format of Rock 'N' Roll. The Top 40 name would later evolve into the over all format label for R&R. This was a slow process until WINS New York adopted the Top 40 format in August 1957. WINS was playing R&R in 1956. Before this "New York City critics stated that Top 40 was strictly a hinterland format and would never work in The Big Apple." After the success of WINS & later in 1958 The Good Guys at WMCA, WABC would alter it's R&R format to the Top 40 concept on December 7, 1960 after beginning R&R also in 1958.

Yes, one station I can quickly notice the absence of, is KKEY Vancouver. In fact I've long been trying to figure out whether they were a rock and roll station in 1959, and nothing's ever answered the question. (There was a Top Forty chart in some old 1959 Portland radio-tv magazines, and sometimes they had a KKEY ad on top of them, sometimes they didn't - and the ad mentioned nothing about the chart - so I could never tell whether it was actually a "KKEY survey" or the magazine's own survey. What sketchy ideas I've been able to get, was that KKEY was likely NOT a rock and roll station in any way. Anyone know?)

Speaking of such matters, I am very seriously looking for ANY original chart from KPOJ or KXL from before 1960. I will pay your price, as this is a VERY serious search, continuous for decades now.

In many cases, I will need fifties charts from ALMOST ANYWHERE. However, out-of-town readers can be aware I probably will not need even Fifties charts from the following: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, Memphis, Wichita, Omaha, Indianapolis, Cincinnati.

If it's a Fifties chart from any market not listed here, chances are good that I'll need it.

END OF THREAD HIJACK...we return you to our regularly-scheduled programme...I fig'r'd I'd post this here, as this is a thread where the real historians may gravitate.

Hi again, ADDING to my above post (seeking Fifties charts), I am more likely to need c&w, easy listening, etc. compared to rock and roll charts. Also, I am FAR more likely to need charts which are "cheap or ugly mimeograph lists" or such, rather than the fancy printed-for-the-public stuff. A clipping from a newspaper, in which the week's top ten songs from several local stations are shown, is often of special interest to me. What I'm seeking is the exact opposite of what almost anybody else collects.

Between 1961-62 KKEY was Top 40. "Key Radio, The Mighty 1150". In 1959 KKEY was playing Top Tunes from Albums & Shows. "KKEY plays S.M.P. Sensible Music Programming. No R&R or C.W.".

If memory serves,there was a time either late 1960s or early 1970s when KKEY 1150 was running a pretty decent rock format

Yes! KKEY changed back to Top 40 in 1969. Then changed to Country-Western, for the 2nd time, in 1970.

I just discovered that these threads aren't frozen after all! I don't think I'd describe KKEY's later format as Top 40. It was automated and more like what they used to call "chicken rock". I discovered it my senior year in high school so I'm guessing 1971. I listened before that and they were still some kind of Beautiful Music. I believe they switched back to Country later that year.

While working at KKEY, I discovered a large automation music reel. The first song was "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison. So I would guess that the 1971 guess is correct.