American Top 40

Syndicated radio chart show co-created and originally hosted by Casey Kasem. The show's first broadcast was on July 4, 1970 and was aired on 7 radio stations. At it's height in the early 1980s, the show was broadcast on over 1,000 stations in 50 countries. Between 1970 and 1991 the 40 songs were based on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Entries in this series should utilize the Transcription tag. Hosts: Casey Kasem: 1970-1988, 1998-2004 Shadoe Stevens: 1988-1995 Ryan Seacrest: 2004-present Watermark, Inc. was the original syndication company responsible for producing the show. In 1982 the company was purchased by ABC Radio. Today the show is produced by Cumulus Media Networks. Not to be confused with "Casey's Top 40" which was a similar but unrelated program hosted by Casey Kasem after he left AT40 in 1988 due to contract concerns with ABC. Kasem would eventually return to AT40 in 1998 after its 3-year hiatus due to cancellation.