Famed Pittsburgh Oldies Station Shifts to Talk, Reflecting A Younger Region

The sudden shift of the powerful 104.7 FM form Conservative Talk to Country Music caused some anger. Less noticed was move of Limbaugh, Hannity & Co to AM means that the city no longer has a strong oldies station.

From The Tribune Review

That changed on Wednesday when Cardille, a fixture on Pittsburgh TV and radio stations for more than a half-century, lost his job at WJAS-AM, where he had worked since 1995 playing nostalgic soft-rock standards. Another local radio icon, Jack Bogut, also departed when the station's format flipped from music to talk.

Cardille, 85, of Sewickley said new station owner Frank Iorio had discussed a role for him at the station after the format switch.

“He asked if I'd be interested in talk, and I said no,” he said. “I tried talk a long time ago, and the same 20 people call all the time. It's like the people who write letters to the newspaper.”

Since hosting his first radio show at WDAD-AM in Indiana County in 1951, Cardille has been an omnipresent force on Western Pennsylvania radio and TV stations. Following a stint at WICU-TV in Erie, he started in Pittsburgh at WIIC-TV (now WPXI) in 1957.

A few short years ago, Pittsburgh was widely known as the capital of oldies music, with an almost unchanged soundtrack from 1960 looping endlessly. The change probably reflects the area's changing demographics as the steel generation passes.