Jingles, news updates, traffic, and other features were designed to make Top 40 radio appeal to car listeners.
[3] Drake applied modern methods such as market research and ratings demographics to the format to increase the number of listeners.
He advocated limiting the amount of disc jockey chatter, the number of advertisements and playing only the top hits.
Drake-Chenault controlled aspects including the DJs that were hired to radio contests, visual logos, promotions, and commercial policy.
In the spring of 1965, Drake-Chenault were hired by the then-financially-struggling KHJ in Los Angeles, after KGB's owner, Willett Brown, suggested to his fellow RKO board members that Drake could improve the station's performance.
Drake hired Ron Jacobs as program director, Robert W. Morgan in the mornings and The Real Don Steele in the afternoons.
Drake also programmed KFRC in San Francisco, WOR-FM in New York, KAKC in Tulsa, WHBQ in Memphis, WUBE (AM) in Cincinnati, WRKO in Boston and 50,000 watt CKLW, in Windsor, Ontario.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Drake and Chenault formed Drake-Chenault Inc., marketing the format via similar customized Johnny Mann jingle packages used on KHJ.