Radio AAHS facts for kids

Radio AAHS was a radio network managed by the Children's Broadcasting Corporation.

Its flagship station was WWTC (1280 AM) in Minneapolis, which broadcast from the former First Federal Bank building at Minnesota State Highway 100 and Excelsior Boulevard in St. Louis Park. At its height in 1996, Radio AAHS had 29 affiliates across the nation. Founder Christopher Dahl had purchased WWTC in 1990 and created an outlet for children's music, specifically targeted at listeners 5 to 10. The musical format had songs from children's films, but also created a niche for songs recorded specifically to entertain children. The programming was driven, in large part, by listener requests, and many of the choices were little known outside that audience.

Programming

A sample hour of music early in 1995 included "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" (from The Lion King soundtrack) by Jason Weaver; "Don't Rock the Jukebox" by The Chipmunks and Alan Jackson; "Thank You" by Boyz II Men; "The Missing Parade" by Tom Chapin; "She Drives Me Crazy" by Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy; and "Help!" by Little Texas.

Network programming began with a morning show, The All-American Alarm Clock (which was introduced by the Craig Taubman song, "Good Morning" at the top of the hour from 6 to 11 ET), and continued with music throughout the day, as well as a feature of News for Kids, skits, jokes and stories. The network grew by creating original content at a regional level and then serving out the shows to the network at-large. One program, The Toy Talk Show, was produced by Pangea Corporation and hosted by the three directors of the company, John Besmehn, John Schulte and Cheryl Ann Wong, during which children would call in and ask questions about toys, animation and new video games. Programs like the Toy Talk Show were a model for the network for several years, where producers would create and deliver both content and sponsorships for their airtime. With increased production costs, lackluster ratings and the juggernaut of Disney Radio attracting larger audiences and more sponsorship dollars, the shift away from original children's programming required the network to find an alternative approach to content creation.

Advertising revenue for the network came from sponsors such as Disney, Mattel and General Mills. During 1995–96, the network's magazine included a CD or tape of Radio AAHS favorites as part of the subscription. As the internet grew in popularity and children were afforded more access to it, Radio AAHS signed a content carriage agreement with NetRadio, a once rising and popular site for internet radio programming. The intent was to increase ad blocks for both the traditional radio network and the internet affiliation. As part of its expansion and vision, NetRadio was eager to attract a children's audience, due to the amount of advertising dollars that are spent on that demographic.

Affiliates

In addition to flagship station WWTC in Minneapolis, Radio AAHS was broadcast on AM stations nationwide and on an FM station in Spokane. After five years, Radio AAHS had 27 affiliates. 30 percent of the United States was served by the format by early 1995, and the hope was to cover nearly half the country by the end of the year. Many of the stations had call letters that reflected the programming for children:

• KDZZ 1520 (Albuquerque, NM)
• KYAK 650 (Anchorage, AK)
• WKDB 1570 (Baltimore, MD)
• WAZS 980 (Charleston, SC)
• WAUR 930 (Chicago, IL)
• WAOZ 1360 (Cincinnati, OH)
• KAHZ 1360 (Dallas/Ft. Worth TX)
• KKYD 1340 (Denver, CO)
• KKSO 1390 (Des Moines, IA)
• WDOZ 1310 (Detroit, MI)
• WCAR 1090 (Detroit, MI)
• WEIO 1050 (Eau Claire, WI)
• KDUK 1280 (Eugene, OR)
• WISZ 640 (Grand Rapids, MI)
• WLWZ 1360 (Greenville, SC)
• WSYW 810 (Indianapolis, IN)
• WJAX 1220 (Jacksonville, FL)
• KCAZ 1480 (Kansas City, MO)
• KDYS 1520 (Lafayette, LA)
• KKDD 1400 (Las Vegas, NV)
• KPLS 830 (Los Angeles/Orange CA)
• WKDV 1460 (Manassas, VA)
• WOWW 1430 (Memphis, TN)
• WHOZ 660 (Mobile, AL)
• WJDM 1660 (Elizabeth, NJ - New York City area)
• WZKD 950 (Orlando, FL)
• WPWA 1590 (Chester, PA - Philadelphia area)
• KIDR 740 (Phoenix, AZ)
• KKDS 1060 (Salt Lake City, UT)
• WFUN-FM 95.5 (Bethalto, IL-St. Louis, MO)
• KMYZ 1570 (Tulsa, OK)
• KAHS 850 (Ventura/Thousand Oaks CA)
• WKDL 1050 (Washington, DC)
• WOHZ 1600 (Wheeling, WV)
• KAZZ 107.1 (Spokane, WA)