Beginning in 1970, Casey Kasem has been a part of weekends in the US and all around the world with countdown programs on the radio. On the weekend of July 4th 1970, Casey Kasem launched "American Top 40" with an up and coming syndication company known as Watermark. The first number one song to be featured on the program was Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World".

            "American Top 40" started out as a 3 hour program in 1970, but as the length of songs grew throughout the 70's, and as Casey implemented new features like "Requests and Dedications", the program expanded to a new 4 hour schedule.

            In the 1980's, "American Top 40 With Casey Kasem" was on top, and syndicated by the ABC Radio Networks to hundreds of stations. During the 1980's, Casey Kasem also hosted a syndicated TV show known as "Americas Top 10". While the show remained one of the biggest in CHR radio history, ABC felt at the time that it would do even better with a younger host and recruited Shadoe Stevens. In 1988, ABC and Casey Kasem parted ways, and Casey left for the Westwood One Radio Network to start "Casey's Top 40" in 1989.

            While working with Westwood One, Casey Kasem created countdown shows for adult formats in addition to his classic top 40 show. "Casey's Hot 20" and "Casey's Countdown" were born to give Casey an even wider audience. These shows later became "American Top 10 With Casey Kasem" and "American Top 20 With Casey Kasem".

            After ten years with Westwood One, Casey switched networks again in 1999 to once again host a program called "American Top 40", this time for the Premiere Radio Networks.

            While "American Top 40" is no longer hosted by Casey Kasem, Casey continues to host "American Top 10 With Casey Kasem" (heard locally on WQMA OldiesRadio 1520!), "American Top 20 With Casey Kasem", "Americas Top Hits", "American Top 40: The 70's", and "American Top 40: The 80's".

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