[1] Storz invented the format in the early 1950s, using the number of times a record was played on jukeboxes to compose a weekly list for broadcast.
[5] The Top 40, whether surveyed by a radio station or a publication, was a list of songs that shared only the common characteristic of being newly released.
Some nationally syndicated radio shows, such as American Top 40, featured a countdown of the 40 highest-ranked songs on a particular music or entertainment publication.
Although such publications often listed more than 40 charted hits, such as the Billboard Hot 100, time constraints allowed for the airing of only 40 songs; hence, the term "top 40" gradually became part of the vernacular associated with popular music.
By the mid-1950s, his station, and the numerous others which eventually adopted the Top 40 format, were playing records by artists such as "Presley, Lewis, Haley, Berry and Domino".