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Do you remember when Lyndon Johnson was president? To many people, that's ancient history. But during his final term, in April and May of 1968, something happened in St. Louis that is making history today.

In that two-month period, Dr. Martin Luther King,

Radio listeners--a lot of them--switched their AM dials to 1120, and KMOX came out on top in Arbitron's total listenership ratings locally. And it has been thus ever since. That streak of years in the top spot is a record for major market ratings at Arbitron.

Tom Langmyer worked at KMOX for 13 years as program director and general manager, and he credits the foresight of former GM Robert Hyland for the ratings success. "Through his vision and hiring great broadcasters, he developed a legacy, which remains and is carried out by their great broadcasters of today."

Langmyer predicts the streak, like all good things, will come to an end. "While this streak is certainly impressive, future forms of measurement and fragmentation may complete the Arbitron streak. But make no mistake, it will have no bearing on the station's success moving forward in a changing world."

The current vice president/ general manager of KMOX, Dave Ervin, takes a forward-looking view of the winning streak: "We continue to be proud and respectful of all the listeners who hold KMOX in high regard. We don't take it for granted."

And Ervin promises, "We work every day to live up to our mission of serving listeners, advertisers and the community to the best of our ability."

Langmyer, who now runs WGN in Chicago, says being the top position holder always invites sniping. "I know there has always been a great level of schadenfreude from competitors in the market, some former employees and others in the industry, as people watch the scoreboard on this streak," he says. "However Robert Hyland's borrowed remarks from Cadillac marketing man Theodore MacManus still apply: "This is the Penalty of Leadership.'"

Frank Absher

St. Louis, MO