Bernard Sidney Dittman (September 3, 1927 – October 25, 2006) was the longtime owner, president, and general manager of
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
s
WABB and
WABB-FM in
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
. Since Dittman assumed ownership in 1959, WABB has been one of the longest running
Top-40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 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. "Top 40" or "conte ...
radio stations in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Career
Born in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, Dittman's interest in broadcasting became known in the sales and marketing department of his family's appliance store in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. He was involved in the purchasing of advertising time on local radio stations. When Dittman attended
St. Louis University, he did not study broadcasting, but
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
. After earning his engineering degree, Dittman's interest in broadcasting kept him away from a career in engineering. His interest finally peaked when he decided to buy a radio station up for sale, with the help of a
broker
A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...
. Dittman found out that the ''
Mobile Register
The ''Press-Register'' (known from 1997 to 2006 as the ''Mobile Register'') is a thrice-weekly newspaper serving the southwest Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The newspaper is a descendant of one founded in 1813, making the ''Press-Regi ...
'' was selling its
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
station WABB. He seized the opportunity in 1959 and shortly after arriving in Mobile a year later, the station began broadcasting Top-40 music.
The format was such a success in the 1960s that WABB added a new FM
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
in 1973.
Dittman and his staff encouraged drivers in a series of on-air promotions to install low-cost FM radio receivers. WABB-FM eventually continued the Top-40 format after the AM station switched to a news/talk format.
Personal life
Dittman's service to his fellow man extended beyond FM radio receivers. Since he came to Mobile, the WABB Community Club Awards Program of Greater of Mobile has provided thousands of dollars in financial awards to local organization. The station's longtime sponsorship of the Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile began in 1965, along with the long-running High Striker game, a charitable promotion at the entrance to the fair's Midway. For years Dittman was seen operating the game himself. The
Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo (sponsored by WABB since 1970) the
Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...
, and the
GMAC Bowl
The LendingTree Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the c ...
received financial support from Dittman and WABB through the years. Since WABB was the
Emergency Broadcast System
The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), sometimes called the Emergency Broadcasting System or the Emergency Action Notification System (EANS), was an emergency warning system used in the United States. It replaced the previous CONELRAD system an ...
primary station for Mobile, Dittman and his radio staff kept residents informed during severe weather, especially during, and after hurricanes.
Awards and honors
Dittman received numerous awards of recognition for his professional and public service over the years. In 2005, he was named Broadcaster of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association.
Death
In October 2006, Dittman had a stroke and was placed in a hospital. On the night of October 25, he died at the age of 79 following an illness that had begun just the week before. In the days following his death, friends and family expressed their feelings and shared memories of the man many came to know as someone who cared deeply for his stations, current staff, and former staff.
Betsey Dittman succeeded her father after relocating from
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
to Mobile, fulfilling the promise Bernie Dittman had of never selling out in an age when a single corporation can own multiple stations and radio stations are mostly automated.
In 2012 the Dittman Family sold WABB-FM to
Educational Media Foundation
Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...
(EMF) for an undisclosed price. That station flipped to the EMF's
Christian Contemporary
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
network,
K-LOVE, on March 1, 2012, and soon after adopted the callsign
WLVM
WLVM (98.3 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Chickasaw, Alabama, and broadcasting to the Mobile metropolitan area. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.
Programming
WLVM began broadcastin ...
. (EMF would trade WLVM to
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
that July, and became
WABD
WABD (97.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile, and its ...
, re-adopting the
CHR format and many elements of WABB-FM's past identity.) The EMF sale excludes WABB AM, which the Dittman family has chosen to retain for the time being.
Bernie Dittman's favorite song was
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' ''
Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Penny Lane". It represented a departur ...
''; the staff of WABB-FM played the song several times throughout the station's final day on-air as a public tribute to Dittman. It was also WABB-FM's penultimate song, the last having been the station's first, ''
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" (also listed as "Memphis Blues Again") is a song written by Bob Dylan that appears on his 1966 album ''Blonde on Blonde''. The album version also appears on 1971's ''Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits V ...
'' by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
.
"Final Hour Of 97.5 WABB"
from Airchexx.com (March 1, 2012)
References
External links
WABB AM official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dittman, Bernie
1927 births
2006 deaths
Businesspeople from Cleveland
People from Mobile, Alabama
American radio executives
20th-century American businesspeople