Watermark Inc. was a radio syndication company that was founded in 1969 by

Tom Rounds Tom Rounds (June 6, 1936 – June 1, 2014) was an American radio broadcasting executive, founder and chief executive officer of Radio Express in Burbank, California. Biography Early years After first entering the broadcasting profession at the c ...

and Ron Jacobs. Watermark's best known programs were ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

'' and its spinoff ''

American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 40 country songs of the previous week, from No. 40 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay cha ...

''. Both shows were created by

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

and

Don Bustany Donald S. Bustany (August 10, 1928 – April 23, 2018) was an American radio and television broadcaster. Biography Bustany was born in Detroit to Lebanese-American parents. He and radio host/voice actor Casey Kasem were childhood friends, and la ...

. Watermark also syndicated other shows including ''The

Robert W. Morgan Robert Wilbur Morgan (July 23, 1937 – May 22, 1998) was an American radio personality best known for his work at several stations in Los Angeles, California, in particular KHJ (AM), KHJ-AM. Morgan also did morning drive at KMPC-AM, KKLQ (FM ...

Special of the Week'', ''

Alien Worlds ''Alien Worlds'' is an American science fiction anthology comic that was published by Pacific Comics and, later, Eclipse Comics, in the early 1980s. It was edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell.Johnston, Rich"When Diamond Comic Distributor ...

'', ''Soundtrack of the 60's'' (hosted by "

Murray the K Murray Kaufman (February 14, 1922 – February 21, 1982), professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he freque ...

" from 1980 to 1981 and

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

to series end), ''TV Tonite with

Ron Hendren Ron Hendren, born Ralph C Hendren (Born August 3, 1945) is a journalist and television personality. He is best known as one of the original hosts of ''Entertainment Tonight'', joining the syndicated television show at its debut in 1981. Hendren h ...

'', ''Profiles in Rock'' (hosted by

Terry McGovern Terry McGovern may refer to: *Terry McGovern (boxer) (1880–1918), boxer who held the world bantamweight and featherweight titles *Terry McGovern (actor) Terence McGovern (born May 11, 1942) is an American actor, television broadcaster, radio pe ...

), '' Ringo's Yellow Submarine'', and ''The

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Story'', as well as occasional specials. The company also produced the "Cruisin'" series of albums, recreating top 40

disk jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

shows of the 1950s and 1960s and released on Increase Records (which at the time was a unit of Watermark), and Jack S. Margolis' comedy album, ''A Child's Garden of Grass'', for

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

. In 1982 Watermark was bought by

ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to: Australia * History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for: ** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station ** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only c ...

in order to acquire its flagship shows ''AT40'' and ''ACC''. Watermark became a subdivision of ABC Radio and would continue to exist until 1995 when the original AT40 program ceased production. The last new Watermark program, '' American Gold'', debuted in 1991 with

Dick Bartley Dick Bartley (born 26 July 1951), a popular American radio disc jockey since June 21, 1969, has hosted several popular syndicated radio shows of the oldies/classic hits genre, including the current ''Dick Bartley's Classic Hits'' and ''Rock & Roll ...

as host. ''American Gold'' ended its run in March 2009, when Bartley left ABC (by this time being dissolved into

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

External links

Watermark On the web

Alien Worlds On the Threshold of The Unknown
Defunct radio networks in the United States Defunct mass media companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1969 Mass media companies disestablished in 1995 American Top 40 {{US-media-company-stub Defunct radio stations in the United States

Further reading

External links