Legendary local radio icon
Bernie Dittman dies
Mobile radio icon Bernie Dittman, seemingly the one constant in the ever-changing world of radio, died this morning, according to reports.
Dittman, 79, was the owner/general manager of WABB/Mobile for nearly 50 years.
Mobile Bay Times called on members of the local radio community for their thoughts on Dittman's passing.
"I went to the Bernie Dittman school of
business and broadcasting. There were
three rules for a successful station.
(1) Watch the budget.
(2) Play the hits.
(3) Remember rules one and two.
Joking aside, though conservative in many ways, Bernie would also take a risk if he thought there was an opportunity. He was a risk taker with Top Forty in the early 60’s. He gambled on Album rock in the 70’s.
He stood up to powerful competition thereafter.
If you worked for Bernie you never really adjusted to corporate radio. If you had an idea for a promotion, a contest or other station event you went to see Bernie and got a yes or no in short order. At the corporate station the idea would often get lost going up or down the corporate ladder.
I’m sure many people who worked for Bernie have all sorts of stories to tell. I would hope someone would mention his sense of humor. For example, I needed a new typewriter and my requests were being ignored. I sent Bernie a memo typed on the old machine which said I was glad he didn’t hire me to dig ditches because he would give me a spoon to do it. He laughed and I got a typewriter. Not a new one but a better one.
It’s time for the Fair. I can’t think of the Fair without thinking of WABB’s high striker. That simple promotion worked successfully for 40 years.
All in all, if you read the trade magazines, over the last 40 years there were three larger than life radio station owners, Stan Kaplan in Charlotte, George Mooney in Nashville, and Bernie Dittman in Mobile. I was lucky to work for two of the three. In many ways they were alike and I think you could make an analogy with the guys who started Hollywood. After the founders passed on, things were not the same or as good."
-- Lee Stamp, Mobile attorney and local radio veteran
"Bernie was a master salesman. He told me that he and his dad owned a store in Cleveland that sold televisions. He said that when televisions were new products, he put a television in a baby carriage and walked up and down the street, asking people "Don't you want to take one of these babies home?"
Bernie talked with the biggest, best and most successful people in the broadcasting industry, yet he valued the opinion of the average Mobilian more than he did the advice of the radio experts. During a boom in country music in the 1990s, Bernie came in one day, and proclaimed forcibly that, "The guy down at the Shell Station says we need to play Garth Brooks!" And so we played Garth Brooks.
You'll hear a lot of funny stories about Bernie being "frugal," but there was another, more important and lovable side to his character: Bernie was loyal to many of his employees, and he always gave people a second chance. Or a third chance. Or a fourth chance. If you spent a few years working with him, you'd see familiar faces come and go, over and over again, as Bernie rehired people who were talented but had personal problems or bad luck. Many of these people would quit and storm out of town, and then return a few years later, humble and looking for help. Bernie would hire them again when most businessmen wouldn't. Bernie didn't hold grudges.
I worked at WABB for seven years, and I can only recall Bernie taking time off once. He worked all the time. He would call us on the hotline before sunrise, and he would call the overnight deejay after midnight. It'll be hard to imagine him not sitting in his office anymore.
This is sad news. Bernie was a one-of-a-kind showman. Radio was show business to Bernie, and WABB his life. I love Bernie Dittman. Even though I knew this time was coming sometime soon, I still find it devastating on a personal level."
-- Uncle Henry, Mobile radio personality
"I love Bernie Dittman. I have had a wonderfully amazing career in radio. I’ve worked with some very talented and creative people over the years. As much as I love the people I work with here at Clear Channel Radio, my fondest memories of what has turned out to be a 40-plus year broadcasting career come from the corner of Catherine and Springhill.
I was with WABB from 1975-1980. During that time I was a member of the announcer (deejay) staff and in 1979 was named program director of WABB-FM. It was my years on 1480 that I treasure most.
Bernie and I got along well from the day I arrived. One day he found out I like to play tennis. He had just taken an interest in the game and wanted to play me. So, we met at Lyon’s Park one Sunday and played. He was a beginner so I had no trouble winning the match. From that moment on, almost every weekend and sometimes during the week, we played tennis. I don’t think he ever beat me but he had such a good time trying. He came close several times over the years, though. And he never gave up. To this day, he is the only opponent I’ve ever had that would switch hands! Instead of hitting a backhand he would often quickly put the racket in his other hand and hit the ball back to me, sometimes winning the point! Ambidexterity was one of his many talents. I don’t know if he ever learned to hit a decent backhand. My guess is, he did.
Everyone said Bernie was a very good table tennis player but I never saw him play. I understand he used to operate a business for table tennis players. Sort of like a pool room except it was for ping pong! That was before I knew him.
One day, around 1976, we had an opening for a full time DJ. I recommended my brother Dave Griffith. Gary Mitchell, with Bernie’s approval, hired my brother who did afternoons for many years and became known as “Dave the Rave!”
Not long after that we had another opening. I had another brother. Even though my brother, John, was very qualified and very talented, Bernie was not sure about having three brothers on his staff. He approved the hire of John anyway and for many years my brothers and I covered noon-midnight on WABB AM 1480. John used the air-name “Uncle Bob.”
Dave ended up in San Antonio; John in Jacksonville. Almost every time I have seen Bernie over the past 25 years he has asked about my brothers. Many times during his visits to Mobile, Dave stops by to say hello to Bernie.
Bernie Dittman is a one of a kind broadcaster. He was unique in so many ways. He was innovative and willing to take chances. He was a strong promoter and knew how to keep his radio station competitive. And, he had a very keen ear for the music his radio station played. He hired good people and let them work without much supervision. If you had a problem and took it to Bernie you were taking it to the “highest court.” His door was always open. He would be difficult sometimes and easy other times. He was always fair. During my time at WABB I gave him several reasons to fire me and he never did.
Last year I celebrated my 30th anniversary on the radio in Mobile. There was an on air roast of me hosted by Uncle Henry. Bernie participated. He recorded a very nice bit about our years together and we put it on the air during the roast. I bet it is the only time ever Bernie’s voice was heard on a radio station other than WABB. I was very honored he participated in the show that day.
For a couple of years, and I’ve never understood why, he sold top, name brand, men’s business suits right out of his office. According to Bernie, they were offered at a bargain price. I bought one even though, like most DJs, I didn’t wear a suit often.
Even after leaving WABB I would always make a point to visit with Bernie at the Fair and during Bayfest and at the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. He was always glad to see me and we enjoyed our time together. There will never be another like him, especially in this day of corporate radio. He was a father figure and mentor to me and many of my contemporaries 25 years ago. I’m sure he remained a father figure and mentor to those who came after us. What a guy! He had a great run. I will miss him."
-- Scott O'Brien, local radio veteran
"October, the first snap of cool weather in Mobile, The Greater Gulf State Fair in progress.
How ironic or maybe it's fitting that this would be the time of year that Mobile would lose a radio icon. He loved the fair. Many Mobilians saw him each year at this time, if no other, manning the High Striker at the entrance to the Midway.
I worked for him for over 15 years. My first job in radio was at WABB, then located on Government Street between Broad and Common streets. In 1969 we moved the station from that location to its present on the corner of Springhill and Catherine. I was on the air that night, in the early morning about 2 o'clock I started a record (a 45 rpm) on the turntable at the Government street studio, jumped in the car and hauled ass to Springhill Ave. arriving just in time to start the next. Quite a feat when you consider that most of the tunes of the day were less than 4 minutes long.
I learned radio from him and after 35 years in the business I can tell you there could be no better teacher. He was a fierce competitor, all those who tried and failed to usurp WABB's position in the market can attest to that. In these days of corporate-owned groups of radio stations, he was part of a dying breed. Not an owner who visited the station occasionally or sat in the ivory tower of his office, but a guy who was there in the trenches every day, constantly overseeing every aspect of the operation. I have never had more respect for anyone else in the radio business.
His only fault was the reason he and I parted company.
He had such a tight rein on the day-to-day operation of his baby (WABB) that he failed sometimes to embrace the future. When I suggested to him that we buy a low power FM station and put an AM style format on it, he thought I was crazy. He wasn't alone in that thought, many others thought the same.
So I left WABB to start WNSP Sports Radio 13 years ago.
Just this past year he said to me, "I should have listened to you," and "Why was it again that we parted company?"
Everyone who knew him will understand that very typical statement. (It was) His way of saying, “I was wrong,” without admitting it.
There are many stories that could be shared about days we spent together at WABB. I could probably fill a book with them.
Many other broadcasters who worked for him at one time or another (many more than once) will tell you that WKRP in Cincinnati could still be on the air today if you only used plots developed from the days at WABB. Days when radio was alive, days when radio was fun, days when radio was not run by accountants, but by real radio people who knew it and loved it. People like Bernie Dittman.
Those days are gone now, and the glory days of radio grow fainter in the distance with the loss of one of its greats."
-- Tim Camp, WNSP
"Heard about Bernie through the old Mobile radio grapevine. He certainly is a radio legend in Mobile as he ran the station very 'hands on' for, what, 50 years? He was the first to integrate a 'white' radio station in the south and always had an open mind for promoting people regardless of race or gender. From the real old timers they said Bernie really ran things even when his old man was technically the boss. But from the time his dad retired Bernie hit the ground running ... everything from the CEO/President to handing out t-shirts in the Springdale Mall parking lot (he doubled as our promotion gopher many times). Bernie stayed true to the old school way of doing things. As 99 percent of radio stations that generate WABB's income sold out to larger broadcast corporations long ago, Bernie still ran the place like a family business. He always kept a great sense of humor, too, which filtered down and made working at his station a lot of fun."
-- Paul Fuller, ex-Mobile DJ
"Bernie was a heckuva a nice guy. I've known him since I was in high school. A part of Mobile radio passed away with him.
When I was in high school, I did a little work for his daddy, J.W. That's a whole 'nother story. He was an interesting individual. But I met Bernie then. After college, I came back to Mobile and met Bernie again. His daddy was still alive. Bernie was in his daddy's shadow. His daddy passed away and Bernie took over the reins. He was always just a delightful individual to do business with. I met Bernie in 1961 so I've known him that long. Whatever number that is, it's a big number."
-- Rennie Brabner, account manager, WPMI-AM
"Bernie was a great guy, a tenacious competitor. He was really very passionate about the business. For somebody who had been in it as long as he had, he pretty much remained impassioned about the product, that being what came out over the air.
He was a tough, tough competitor. At the end of the day, he was very professional. He did business the right way. It is sad for the broadcasting community. He was a true icon. He touched a lot of people who went on to significant careers."
"I had the pleasure of participating when he was named the state's broadcaster of the year. One year I was the recipient and the following year I was the facilitator when Bernie got it. Bernie didn't like a lot of public accolades. He didn't like the spotlight even though his station had always done very well. I had the pleasure, probably two years ago, of getting him there (the banquet). It was a tough task. His daughter, Betsey, and I had to come up with all kinds of schemes. He just didn't like the public platform. That's interesting for a man who ran such a dominant radio station for so many years."
-- David Coppock,
Vice President & Market Manager
Clear Channel Radio
Mobile & Pensacola
"I'm very sad to hear of Bernie Dittman's death. In addition to being a friend to my late parents, I always enjoyed spending time with him.
Two quick stories:
Back in the 70's, I worked as a media buyer for Ogilvy & Mather Advertising in NYC on the Maxwell House Coffee brand. Bernie would always stop at my cubicle to say hello, bringing greetings from folks in Mobile and always pitching for more media dollars to be spent on WABB.
In the 80's there was an on-air personality named David Page. David was one of the first "insult jocks" and apparently rubbed several of Bernie's advertisers the wrong way, much like Don Imus did and does today. Before Bernie sent David packing and off to Memphis for another radio gig, I tried to impress upon Bernie that Page actually engaged his audience intimately and was gaining more listeners, but to no avail. I wonder what Page is doing today?"
-- Mark Berson, Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce
Dittman is survived by his wife, Judy, and three daughters Betsey, Stephanie and Marsha.
Funeral services will be held Friday, Oct. 27 at Radney Funeral Home, 3155 Dauphin St., 251-479-4547. Visitation is from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. with a graveside service at 2 p.m.
All Access president/publisher Joel Denver said, "Bernie bought WABB-AM in 1959 and in 1973 put WABB-FM on the air, which started as a Rock station but became one of the truly great Top 40 stations in the Southeast.
"Bernie was unwavering in his personal commitment to his company to remain independently owned, turning down huge offers from Clear Channel, Cumulus, and many more over the years. He was a true pioneer in radio broadcasting and was so instrumental in the careers of Scott Shannon, Randy Lane, Leslie Fram, Mark St. John, Lee Chesnut, Wayne Coy, Dusty Hayes, Paul Fuller, Bill Evans and so many more.
"In 2005 he was named the 'Broadcaster Of The Year' by the Alabama Broadcasters Association, an honor he truly deserved. But the best honor for Bernie was the friendship and love of his friends and most of all his family. I was very proud of my friendship with him. We'll truly miss Bernie, and all that he stood for."
Dittman Broadcasting will also survive Dittman. His daughter, Betsey, will relocate from Chicago to Mobile to assume operations of the company.
