of its former pioneer radio station. The FCC waived existing rules and granted this request to restore a three-letter callsign years after being retired on an unrelated station in a different market, albeit with a "-TV" suffix (perhaps because Westinghouse was highly regarded as a licensee by both the industry and the FCC at that time), and the Baltimore TV station, now owned and operated by CBS, retains the call letters to this day. WABC's first era (1953–1960) Although WABC continued to air ABC programming during this time, ABC Radio – like the other major radio networks of that era – began to drop significant amounts of long-form comedy and dramatic programming, many of which migrated over to television. In response, WABC began using deejays playing recorded music in greater frequency. Some programs featured middle of the road music, including Broadway and Hollywood showtunes and popular music, while other portions of the schedule included ABC Radio's remaining long-form newscasts and dramatic program lineup, in tandem with CBS Radio's WCBS and NBC Radio's WNBC. (This would continue until 1960, as the Musicradio 77 era formally began, but WABC was still required to carry several of ABC Radio's non-music and entertainment shows, including the long-running Don McNeill's Breakfast Club during the 10:00 am hour, and a long-form news block in the afternoon-drive period. While this was not an issue prior to 1960, such commitments created a programming clash with the Top 40 format up until the network was dissected into four sub-networks in 1968.) In 1958–1959, legendary rock'n'roll disk jockey Alan Freed hosted a daily evening show on WABC, which was similar in format and musical policy to the early rock shows he had gained fame with on WJW in Cleveland, and later WINS in New York. Freed's time at WABC ended when he was caught up in the investigation of the "payola" scandals of the era; he was terminated in November 1959. Although payola was not illegal at the time, the termination occurred because Freed had refused to sign a statement admitting that he had accepted bribes. At different times in the pre-top-40 era, famed comedian Ernie Kovacs and dean of early disc jockeys Martin Block were heard on the station. The Musicradio 77 era (1960–1982) Early years When Harold L. Neal, Jr. was named General Manager of WABC, he was charged with making WABC successful in terms of both audience