When WING, 1410 on your AM radio dial, went on the air for the first time in May of 1921 it was known by the call letters WDBS (Watch Dayton’s Broadcasting Station.)
The company was owned by Stanley M. Krohn and first operated out of a suite in the old Beckel House hotel building on East Third Street downtown. Krohn changed the call letters to WSMK, using his own initials, in 1926.
In 1940, the station was purchased by Charles Sawyer and the call letters changed to WING to cash in on Dayton’s heritage as the birthplace of powered flight. The studios moved to offices above the old Lowe’s Theater on Main Street and then by 1960 the station was broadcasting out of a building at 128 W. First St.
Since 1975, the station has had modern studios at 717 E. David Road in Kettering and currently is a talk and sports format station owned by Main Line Broadcasting.
Many familiar broadcasting names have been associated over the years with WING, especially during the 1940s and ’50s when the station was called “High Flying WING.”
Kim Faris, still active in Dayton radio and now the morning host on WLQT-FM, Lite 99.9 got her broadcasting break on WING. And Bill Nance, the morning host on WFCJ-FM (93.7) in Dayton spent many years on WING. Among others, Carl Day, retired Channel 2 television anchor, at one time hosted an afternoon program there.
Then there was a personality that you perhaps have never heard of who worked at WING in the 1960s on weekends and overnight, filling in as needed.
His name is Chuck McKibben.
All these years later it turns out that McKibben has forged a successful life in radio and television production and voice-over work, and has been associated with some of the best known personalities in show business.
“I left Dayton in 1972 and head to Los Angeles,” McKibben said. “I had a great time at WING and was always impressed that Jonathan Winters got his start at the station and that the wonderful Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, first worked for WING also.”
But he left WING with a box of tapes and $500 in cash and headed west to make a name for himself in Hollywood.
“I was able to get jobs producing commercials,” he said. “I started doing ‘voice over’ work and landed some top jobs as a freelance voice artist.”
He said his big break came when he met Mel Blanc, the actor who was the voice of cartoon characters including “Bugs Bunny.” McKibben said, “I was in the right place at the right time and was hired by Blanc, and it changed my life forever.”
McKibben worked his way up to the position of operations manager for the Mel Blanc studios.
“Hollywood’s biggest names were frequent visitors at the Blanc studio,” he said. “I was working when we recorded such luminaries as Jack Benny, Kirk Douglas, Jack Palance, Vincent Price and Rod Serling.”
According to McKibben, “Jack Benny was a dear sweet man, and in real life was an extraordinarily generous soul, in complete contrast to his miserly character. I found out that Jack was quick to give a helping hand to someone in financial trouble.”
McKibben said Vincent Price “was a respected authority on fine art and gourmet dining. He talked at length about both.”
McKibben spent some years in New York City doing voice over work, and today lives in Philadelphia where he is one of the industry’s top freelance voice artists, an audio book reader and a voice coach.
“It is 46 years since my start as a nighttime disc jockey at WING,” he said. “And I am a very lucky man. I am still going strong.”
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ale Huffman would
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