past nine years." During 1957 Bartell trade advertisements began to stress the notion of family radio, although Gerald Bartell later conceded that it was more of a marketing gimmick than a real difference in what music the station played. In any case, by 1958, Bartell Family Radio was termed by Billboard magazine to be "one of the most successful chains of radio stations in the industry." Pioneers of Top 40 radio In time, pop music became the primary component of WOKY's schedule, with disc jockeys choosing the songs they played based on the Billboard and Cash Box best-seller charts and on local record sales. WOKY served as the city's premier hits-playing station during most of the 1960s and was known for much of that time as the "Mighty 92". The Top 40 radio format was coming into being during the 1950s and on; Northern Michigan University scholar Charles F. Ganzert has written that the innovation of the Top 40 format helped keep radio a viable business after the advent of the television era. The format was not developed all in one place or at one time, and other contributors during this time including Todd Storz and Gordon McLendon as well as Plough Broadcasting, but Ganzert states that the Bartell Group made significant contributions as well. David T. MacFarland has also identified these four as the main creators of the format, with Gerald Bartell as the main force behind the Bartell Group and Harold Krelstein being the same for Plough. Music author Jim Curtis has written, "If we speak of pioneer innovations in Top 40, we must speak of three men: Todd Storz, Gordon McLendon, and Gerald Bartell." Storz and McLendon clearly got the most attention in the radio industry press for their actions, while Bartell got less and Plough none at all. However, Bartell may have benefited from Milwaukee being an out-of-the-way city and thus being able to innovate without purveyors of conventional wisdom telling him what could or could not be done. In particular, while singing commercials had been heard on network broadcast radio before, Bartell stations pioneered the use of customized singing commercials on local radio. Bartell stations also established a "hot clock" where predetermined pieces of programming would happen at certain times in each hour. The personality of the disc jockey was important; the New York Times described the Bartell formula as being "built around the folksy