Rick Sklar
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Rick Sklar (November 21, 1929 – June 22, 1992) was an American radio
program director In service industries, such as education, a program manager or program director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services. For example, in education, a program director is responsible for developing ...
who, while at
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's WABC, was one of the originators of the
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
.


Biography

Sklar grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. He graduated from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and volunteered at
WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...
radio as a writer. He then worked at WPAC in
Patchogue, New York Patchogue ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,408 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Patchogue is an incorporated community in the Town (New ...
, and in 1954 moved to WINS where he was assistant program director. In 1960, Sklar became program director at crosstown competitor WMGM. He moved to WABC in 1962 and became program director there in 1963. Under his management, WABC became the model for tight-playlist, teenager-targeted Top 40 programming, with a strong signal and famed
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
s such as "Cousin Brucie" Bruce Morrow,
Dan Ingram Daniel Trombley Ingram (September 7, 1934 – June 24, 2018) was an American Top 40 radio "disc jockey", in a 50-year career on radio stations, which included WABC and WCBS-FM, both ln New York City. Career "Big Dan" started broadcasting at ...
, Harry Harrison, Chuck Leonard, and Ron Lundy. His relationship with some of the DJs he oversaw was contentious at times.
Scott Muni Scott Muni (May 10, 1930 – September 28, 2004) was an American disc jockey, who worked at the heyday of the AM Top 40 format and then was a pioneer of FM progressive rock radio. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine termed him "legendary". Early life ...
departed from WABC after a number of confrontations with Sklar over playlists including Sklar's refusal to remove
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
's version of the #1 smash hit "Hello, Dolly" from the playlist at Muni's request. Under Sklar, the station's ratings soared and was often the most listened to radio station in North America through the mid-60s into the late 70s. In March 1977, Sklar was promoted to vice president of programming for ABC’s radio division. In 1984 he left ABC to start his own consulting firm, Sklar Communications. His autobiography, ''Rocking America: An Insider's Story: How the All-Hit Radio Stations Took Over America'' (), was published by
St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...
the same year. In an interview recorded in 1982, when WABC switched from music to talk programming, Sklar said:
Everything has to end, that's life, WABC is … like anything else it's part of life, couldn't go on forever. But … it was a wonderful thing … it was a one-of-a-kind … I don't think there'll ever be another station quite like that. I mean, the scope of the thing was so huge, was so grand; everything that was done was on such a massive scale. We gave out buttons, we gave out 14 million with the WABC call letters and if we spot you we'll give you $25,000. You know, this stuff is … it's just not done today.… We'll miss it.
Radio will go on and on forever. Radio's the most adaptable medium there is, and … the old WABC's place in radio will be remembered by everyone who ever heard it, who ever grew up with it, it'll be part of millions and millions—tens of millions of people's lives, and certainly the lives of everyone in the radio business. Now we just have to go on to new things, and I think we will.
Sklar continued to write articles and books as well as visiting various colleges discussing the business of radio in general. He was also an adjunct professor at St. John's University.


Personal life and death

Rick was married to the former Sydelle Helfgott, who also served as vice president for his company, Sklar Communications. They had two children: a son Scott and a daughter Holly and three grandchildren: Emily, Samantha and Jacob. Prior to his death, Sklar had been an avid runner for more than ten years, taking it up in the late 1970s. He ran his first
New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...
in 1982, finishing 4 hours, 21 minutes, and 36 seconds; coming in 642nd out of 857 who finished the race in his age group. He began to have problems with his left foot, which necessitated him quitting the sport by 1990. In June 1992, he entered
Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fa ...
in Manhattan for a minor
operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
that would allow him to run again. Although in good health, he died on the operating table due to a lack of
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
and other mistakes made by the hospital staff.


Legacy

Sydelle Sklar died on November 21, 1992, of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
. Rick Sklar was posthumously inducted into the
National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...
the following year.


References


External links

* * http://www.radiohof.org/rick_sklar.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Sklar, Rick 1930 births 1992 deaths People from Brighton Beach American radio producers