During the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, WKBW became a major force in pop radio over the East Coast. KB had a 50,000 watt transmitter (the maximum power allowed) at their transmitter site in Hamburg. This high power blanketed the entire eastern U.S. with Top 40 music every night, and the station actually had a better signal at night in the western Boston suburbs than Boston's own Top 40 station, WMEX, located at 1510, right next door to WKBW. Disk jockeys included future "Price is Right" announcer Rod Roddy, Dick Biondi, Danny Neaverth, Jack Armstrong, Joey Reynolds, Steve Mitchell, Bud Ballou, Norm Marshall, Tom Shannon, and the Amazin' Jim Quinn. Art Wander served as news director from 1956 to 1958, followed by Irv Weinstein from 1958 to 1964; Stan Barron, a holdover from the pre-rock and roll era, handled sports until his departure in 1965. Mike Joseph, later creator of the Hot Hits format, was a major off-air contributor to the station's approach to the "futuresonic" Top-40 format.