Wally A. Schwartz Passes Away

Palm Beach Area Deaths, Obituaries, Funeral Homes and cemeteries for Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast
Anybody who grew up in the metropolitan New York area in the 1960s, or who listened to the radio at night up and down the East Coast and Southeast Canada, would be familiar with Wally's work even though they might not recognize his name. Wally Schwartz was the General Manager of WABC, Musicradio 77. Wally fired Bob Dayton, but he also hired Rick Sklar as Program Director. Rick Sklar understood what personality and fast moving radio was all about. Like so many of the people in entertainment in his era, he was an impresario. He knew what talent was all about and he staffed WABC with the best. It's a testimony to his skill that a generation after WABC switched to talk, that people still remember the names associated with that station; Dan Ingram, Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Charlie Greer. WABC appealed to all ages. Even though the older folks preferred stations like WNEW, they could still listen to WABC and understand it. Bob Dayton was dismissed for something that wouldn't be thought about twice on the radio today. I have to wonder if in 25 years from now, people will remember their favorite stations of today because they played a better variety of music so they could listen longer. Consultants and researchers have been trying to duplicate the elements that went into the creation of WABC and other stations of that era, but they either don't have the people able to accomplish it, or that they have too much at stake to go out on a limb. It could be because of the fact that Top 40 radio was young and they had no guidelines, no research and nothing to lose that this group of people crafted a radio station that would set the standards for successful radio for generations.

Here is the obituary from the Palm Beach Post.

WALTER A. SCHWARTZ Walter A. Schwartz (Wally), a former radio and television broadcasting executive, died on Wednesday, December 14 at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach, Florida. Wally was born in Detroit, Michigan, attended Michigan State University and graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit. He served as a Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during World War II and again with the Air Force during the Korean War. Wally began his career in radio with WWJ in Detroit and then moved to New York where he became General Manager of WABC. In 1967, Wally was named President of the ABC Radio Network. During his administration, ABC adopted its unique four network programming plan which transformed the organization into the nation's largest and most profitable network. In 1972 he was named President of ABC Television where he oversaw the ABC Television Network, ABC Sports and ABC Entertainment. In 1975, he joined the John Blair Company as president of it's television stations and then became President and CEO of Blair Television from which he retired in 1986. Wally is survived by his wife of sixty years, Virginia (Ginny), his daughter Leslie Frazer of Churchville, Maryland, his son, Kerry of Indianapolis, Indiana, five grandchildren and one great grandchild. There will be a memorial service held in Boynton Beach, Florida in January.
Boynton Memorial Chapel Family owned & operated (561) 734-5600
Published in The Palm Beach Post from 12/19/2005 - 12/20/2005.