Radio Pioneer. Robert Todd Storz is commonly credited with inventing the Top 40 Radio format during the mid 1950s while he worked KOWH, an Omaha radio station. The story goes that while sitting in a bar near his station, he noticed that the patrons kept playing the same popular songs over and over on the jukebox. Figuring that this observation might give KOWH a bit of an advantage in holding onto its listeners, he implemented this new format. Storz also found an interesting way to get rid of popular DJs on competing stations. Gary Owens, who later gained fame as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, was working at KOIL, the mighty 1290. Storz sent out demo tapes of Owens (and other DJ's) to stations out of state. Owens eventually was hired away by a station in Denver. In addition to KOWH, The Storz Broadcasting Company owned a number of other stations, such as KOMA (Okla City), WHB (KC), WTIX (New Orleans), KXOK (STL) and WQAM (Miami). He died in 1964 after suffering a stroke. He was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1989.
Radio Pioneer. Robert Todd Storz is commonly credited with inventing the Top 40 Radio format during the mid 1950s while he worked KOWH, an Omaha radio station. The story goes that while sitting in a bar near his station, he noticed that the patrons kept playing the same popular songs over and over on the jukebox. Figuring that this observation might give KOWH a bit of an advantage in holding onto its listeners, he implemented this new format. Storz also found an interesting way to get rid of popular DJs on competing stations. Gary Owens, who later gained fame as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, was working at KOIL, the mighty 1290. Storz sent out demo tapes of Owens (and other DJ's) to stations out of state. Owens eventually was hired away by a station in Denver. In addition to KOWH, The Storz Broadcasting Company owned a number of other stations, such as KOMA (Okla City), WHB (KC), WTIX (New Orleans), KXOK (STL) and WQAM (Miami). He died in 1964 after suffering a stroke. He was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1989.
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