ROBERT GIFFORD, WHO RADIO PROGRAM DIRECTOR, DIES

The man who led WHO, Des Moines, into the talk radio era dies at age 80.  The obituary for Robert Gifford is published in the Des Moines Register. 

Gifford came to WHO to be radio programming director in 1964.  With him came a number of changes, including a new morning man, Don Warren.  Warren had been with Gifford at WOC, Davenport.

More importantly, Gifford created a number of new talk programs on WHO.  From 9:00 AM until 11:00 AM, Monday through Friday, Phone Forum was the featured program.  In the beginning, the program was hosted by two very unlikely talk show hosts:  Duane Ellet and Lee Kline.  Ellet was well known and highly regarded as a children's television program host which featured a puppet he'd created, Floppy, the dog, as well as a singer, and a man who created literally a thousand voices and characters.  Kline was a member of the WHO Farm Department and was recognized for his interviews.  Phone Forum had a seven second delay, created by a continuous loop of audio tape, to prevent any profane or improper material from being broadcast.   After several years on Phone Forum, Kline requested to leave so that he could, again, concentrate on his duties in the Farm Department (increased in part by the retirement of long-time WHO Farm Director Herb Plambeck).  Kline was replaced by WHO announcer Bob Williams.  Later on the daughter of Des Moines Register and Tribune columnist Gordon Gammack, Julie, took the reigns of Phone Forum.

For the early afternoon audience on WHO, Gifford created Call Jim Zabel, a telephone talk show that featured WHO Sports Director Jim Zabel.  The program starting at 1:00 PM.  Call Jim Zabel was an ecclectic mix of events of the day, sports and receipts.  The program allowed Zabel to demonstrate his broad range of knowledge and interests.  The receipts he collected from listeners found their way into several editions of the Jim Zabel Pink Apron Cookbook.  Many days Duane Ellet would be the control board operator/announcer for Zabel's program.  When things were slow, Zabel would field a call from Maurice Chevrolet, Paddy O' Furniture or another of the characters and voices created by Ellet.

Evening programming on WHO did not miss the Gifford touch.  He added Clear Channel Conversation which took advantage of the 50,000 watt clear channel signal of WHO, especially during the winter months.  Clear Channel Conversation was hosted during its lifetime by a number of individuals including Del Ulmer, Roy Fox and Joe Lombardo.

In addition to Clear Channel Conversation, WHO added Minnesota Twins baseball play-by-play during the evenings and weekends of the baseball season.  The WHO signal gave the Twins a significant advantage in the "battle" for listeners in the middle west.  The Twins at that time were originated by another 50,000 watt clear channel station, WCCO, Minneapolis, MN.

During the winter months, WHO broadcast not only Iowa Hawkeye basketball, but also Iowa State and Drake games.  This was in the era before colleges and universities entered into exclusive broadcast contracts for their sports teams.  On occasions there were split broadcasts or double headers with Zabel at the microphone for the Iowa game and Mike Newell handling either the Iowa State or Drake contest.  Salesman Bob Earle would also handle some of the play-by-play duties.

"From coast to coast, border to border, and then, some......"  Gifford brought to WHO country music  disc jockey Mike Hoyer who presided over Country Music USA during the 1960s and early 1970s.  Hoyer was followed by Billy Cole in the overnight program that beamed country music across the country.  Country Music USA was especially popular with truck drivers in the upper midwest because of the strong signal of WHO.  Members of the United States Air Force on board the "Looking Glass" airplane were also known to listen to the program.  On several occasions there were requests to the station for a particular song from personnel on board "Looking Glass".

Gifford retired from WHO in 1984.  For another decade he continued to work in radio as the weather reporter for country music station, KJJY.  His on the air name was "Storm Kennedy".