Palm Beach/Treasure Coast

[John FL]

There’s an interesting post in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale board regarding the Palm Beach radio market. Technically, that string should have been on this board. It’s happened numerous times and I’m sure it will happen in the future. It’s probably a natural inclination to include Palm Beach in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale discussions.

If you take a close look at radio ratings, you’ll find a good number of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale radio stations show listenership in Palm Beach County. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. No doubt, there are many who live and/or work in Palm Beach County who have ties to the counties to the south. Here’s the latest ratings for the Palm Beaches:

Nielsen Audio Ratings

When Hubbard Radio came to the Palm Beaches, extensive TV advertising happened promoting several their stations in the cluster. It was money well spent IMO. I was also immediately impressed with how Hubbard positioned WEAT-FM. (Sunny 107.9 The Greatest Hits of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.) Long an AC format; the move was made to Classic Hits. It was all done exceedingly well. It would look like they were able to retain a good portion of the female-friendly AC audience.

That format has been at top or near the top of the ratings since it made the flip. Musically, I consider their playlist to be among the best I’ve seen. There’s honest-to-goodness variety with pop hits being at the center. In the Palm Beach market discussion on the other board, Hubbard was cited as having among the best billing stations in the market. Sunny 107.9 is one and is often a top 2 in billing.

Interestingly, Hubbard decided to continue the tradition of offering non-stop holiday music on WEAT-FM just as was done in their AC days. It has proven to be a winning strategy. Last year, Sunny had a commanding lead in the holiday book. This year, they tied with their sister station, ratings juggernaut Hot AC WRMF.

I can’t recall a time WRMF was ever in ratings jeopardy. Not only a top biller, but kudos to Hubbard for not screwing up a good thing. We sometimes see a new company come along making changes that prove to be the wrong ones creating a mess that should never have been.

Hubbard has created a formidable combo in WRMF and WEAT. Where Sunny ends chronologically in music, WRMF picks up from there. WRM features music from the 00's, 10's and today.There’s no music overlap with WEAT. Hubbard also promotes local talent and local contests. It's today's personality radio with emphasis on local events.This is no doubt a shot aimed at iHeartMedia.

I don’t think there are too many cases in the country where a Classic Hits station beats an AC in offering wall-to-wall Christmas music. iHeart’s AC WOLL (KOOL 105.5 More Variety from the 80s to now) remains formidable competition. But that station has seen many of its very long-term jocks dismissed in favor of syndicated voice tracking. Whether that gives Sunny the edge, I’m not sure. Typical listeners don’t think in terms like that. But changes can make some listeners uncomfortable. They certainly had an alternative. Hubbard does deliver quality brands.

More on the Palm Beach market and the nearby Treasure Coast coming up…

 

[dlf1]

I don’t know if other stations did so or still do, but WSHE in the 80’s would say at the top of the hour, the WSHE calls followed by Fort Lauderdale/Miami and the Palm Beaches.

 

[John FL]

Yep. She's Only Rock 'n Roll. What a classic! The station I clearly remember doing that as well was WHYI Y-100. There were others but I'm not sure which ones. As you say, I believe this was a practice in the 80s. While I sometimes think the 80s was just 10 years ago, my memory of events from that time are getting cloudy. The way the jocks announced the 3 counties would make the station sound bigger than life. At least that's how I saw it. I was very lucky to have lived in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale radio market through the 80s. We all have our favorites but hands down radio was the best I ever experienced anywhere.

 

[John FL]

NPR is proving to be popular in many markets. Palm Beach County is no exception. There was a time Palm Beach County had a dedicated NPR station. That was WXEL-FM carrying the same calls as the TV station. When I lived in N.Broward, the mom & pop cable provider prior to being bought out by Comcast carried a number of Palm Beach County TV channels.

WXEL-FM was sold and a Christian format WFLV took its place at 90.7 FM. Miami’s WLRN-FM comes in like a local in the southern half of Palm Beach County. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a good number of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale signals that make the Palm Beach County book. Not too surprising. In all my trips through the area, I was able to hear most Miami/Ft. Lauderdale stations extremely well up to around the Palm Beach International Airport.

I read WLRN-FM also programs W270AD 101.9 in West Palm Beach, Florida separately as “NPR for the Palm Beaches.” The good ratings showing for WLRN-FM in the Palm Beach book are the result of Miami’s signal penetrating Palm Beach County well enough. The translator earns fractional shares.

There are two other news/talk formats in the Palm Beaches. One is the long-tenured WJNO-AM owned by iHeartMedia. Many AM news/talk formats have found their way to FM. WJNO-AM is a consistent middle tier performer in the ratings. iHeartMedia may have considered an FM spot but where to put it is the question. Perhaps an FM news/talk with Conservative talk hosts competing against NPR in a very blue county doesn’t make economic sense.

Hubbard owns the usually low-rated news/talk WFTL-AM. It’s another home for conservative talkers. It’s a 50,000-watt daytime signal which comes in as a local from just south of Ft. Lauderdale to just south of Port St. Lucie on the Treasure Coast. The signal completely covers all of Palm Beach County to the farm area of the west by Lake Okeechobee and the area known as “The Glades.”

I was most familiar with the station in the early 80s when it was a local news/talk outlet based in Broward County. Hence the calls F.T.L. signifying Ft. Lauderdale. As much as I loved music formats, I listened a great deal to the AM talkers of the 1980s. They were quite good.

I will always associate WFTL with a guy named Craig Worthing. I’m not sure if he’s still alive but he did lots of live spots for restaurants. He was so good at pitching that I tried them all. My favorite was in the Lauderhill area known as “The Blu Grotto.” It’s been closed for a long time, but I frequently saw Craig there and enjoyed some interesting conversations. Anyway, I digress but what a nice man!

Other standouts in the market are WIRK-FM, another Hubbard station. They have been doing the country format in what seems forever. iHeartMedia’s WKGR-FM has been rocking the Palm Beaches for many years as well and has been a top tier contender for a long time too.

Despite the proximity to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, the Palm Beach market is different. There are Spanish formats, but they don’t come close to the shares to the market to the south. The market to the north of Palm Beach is known as The Treasure Coast that is upcoming in discussion. That one has little commonality to the Palm Beaches. There are many platforms that compete with radio. But it’s the sense of local that I believe gives radio an advantage.

As I think of all the PPM markets in Florida and my knowledge of them, I’d put the Palm Beach market at #2 behind Miami/Ft. Lauderdale but not by much. Palm Beach County is growing tremendously. I sense we will see radio respond to those changes because it’s smart to do so. More to come.

 

[davideduardo]

Yep. She's Only Rock 'n Roll. What a classic! The station I clearly remember doing that as well was WHYI Y-100. There were others but I'm not sure which ones. As you say, I believe this was a practice in the 80s. While I sometimes think the 80s was just 10 years ago, my memory of events from that time are getting cloudy. The way the jocks announced the 3 counties would make the station sound bigger than life. At least that's how I saw it. I was very lucky to have lived in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale radio market through the 80s. We all have our favorites but hands down radio was the best I ever experienced anywhere.

During the Tanner years at Y-100, "She" did not average even half of the numbers Y-100 had.

 

[Mikey Radio]

During the Tanner years at Y-100, "She" did not average even half of the numbers Y-100 had.

I think it'd be interesting to have a series of Zoom or videoconference discussions since many are working from home, or some of the older guys on this discussion site are retired or semi-so and staying in to avoid the Covid. One topic I'd really like to learn more about is what made Tanner so amazing and what gifts he posessed. As I understand it, he took 3 different stations with 3 different formats in the Miami market alone to #1, and most everyone who's worked with him speaks of him as a "genius"...But why? His story is also interesting to me as most everyone has flaws, and his arrest and eventual dropping of the case against him interested me as well.

 

[davideduardo]

I think it'd be interesting to have a series of Zoom or videoconference discussions since many are working from home, or some of the older guys on this discussion site are retired or semi-so and staying in to avoid the Covid. One topic I'd really like to learn more about is what made Tanner so amazing and what gifts he posessed. As I understand it, he took 3 different stations with 3 different formats in the Miami market alone to #1, and most everyone who's worked with him speaks of him as a "genius"...But why? His story is also interesting to me as most everyone has flaws, and his arrest and eventual dropping of the case against him interested me as well.

You are forgetting the second trio of station groups: First, Russ Oasis' Spanish language stations, then WAMR and after that, the SBS Miami cluster.

The arrest was due to Tanner involving local "issues" in his morning show, and he irritated some provincial, reactionary Broward Country rubes in city and country government. It was a fabrication of the worst kind.

I worked with him on three occasions: I was PD at an AC in Birmingham when he was in Jackson, and we traded talent tips. Then, we were both with Metroplex in Miami where I was GM at the "other" station. Finally, we spent half a decade together with KLVE, KSCA, WAMR as well as the Dallas HBC cluster and several other market situations.

 

[John FL]

One topic I'd really like to learn more about is what made Tanner so amazing and what gifts he posessed. As I understand it, he took 3 different stations with 3 different formats in the Miami market alone to #1, and most everyone who's worked with him speaks of him as a "genius"...But why?

The Y-100 of most of the 70s was typical CHR fare mirroring a good deal of what you'd hear on Casey Kasem's AT40. It was in the late 70s that I moved to South Florida and I recognized something very appealing about the entire sound of the station. That affection would grow over time.

Bill Tanner would often jokingly refer to himself as the lovely and talented. He certainly made up for any physical deficiencies with his programing chops. He saw the South Florida radio audience in a way no one had before. As time moved along into the 80s, many of Y-100's most played tunes didn't mean they were in the Top 20 nationally. Some of the songs never even charted. There was research (Call out etc) but I believe it went beyond that. The Clubs were very popular. From what I learned, Bill had insight as to what was popular on the dance floor and the reactions of people going out and having fun.

I didn't realize how creative and innovative Bill Tanner was until I took a trip to visit family back in New Jersey. Turning on the radio, I was amazed at how many songs I didn't know and honestly didn't care for. Y-100 was way different and way better. Bill Tanner had a lot of guts doing what he did. He created something amazingly special. David Eduardo also recounted Bill's other successes but I am not not knowledgeable enough to include them here.

I followed Bill to Power 96 and Hot 105. But, in my view, his time at Y-100, and the programing direction the station took in the early 80s was radio at its very best. Bill captured the lifestyle, energy, and diversity that was South Florida. Bill often said it was expected unexpected or something like that in regard to his programing concepts. Whatever it was. It worked and it was incredible to experience.

 

[John FL]

For many years, I traveled between Jacksonville and the Ft. Lauderdale area. The trip heading south was much preferred. For those of you who have followed by posts over the years know I’m not a fan of radio in Northeast Florida. There were some interesting stations I’d tune to along the way. One was 103.7 WQOL. For as long as I can remember it was an oldies format.

Here are the ratings (Fall book) for the Treasure Coast which constitute three counties just north of Palm Beach:

Nielsen Audio Ratings

I’ve followed WQOL’s ratings for quite a long time. It was rarity to find WQOL was not #1. The station has been trending down and is now in 5th place. We’ve seen how Covid-19 has affected listenership. That probably accounts for some of it. But I believe more is involved.

For many years I dreamed of a station like WQOL to be a part of the Jacksonville radio landscape. A sister station to WQOL only lasted a little more than a year there. Among the many problems with Jacksonville radio and its decisions is few understood the potential of the format. The market had lots of other issues. So, you can imagine my joy when I moved from there almost three years ago to settle on The Treasure Coast.

I suppose timing is everything. It wasn’t too long after my move that WQOL shed its oldies branding and became “The Treasure Coast’s Greatest Hits.” iHeartMedia didn’t rush making too many music changes but I knew they would be coming. They eventually did and they were quite dramatic.

It’s the business of radio and I understand it. WQOL’s slide is typical of nostalgia-based formats when major music updates and personnel changes are made. No doubt, they are shedding their older listeners in order to attract more in the money demos. Listeners have many options nowadays such as SiriusXM where time stands still on their nostalgia channels. Their concern is subscriptions and not 25-54.

Perhaps the ratings setbacks are temporary. But the station has lost its uniqueness in my opinion. That uniqueness doesn’t equate to value worth keeping from what I can tell at big companies. As iHeart has done elsewhere, local programing and the roster of local talent has been replaced with their Premium Choice programming and jocks. It’s more business of radio.

This ratings report lists WZTA-AM as a news/talk format which is not correct. iHeartMedia launched its syndicated oldies format back in July. Programming on WZTA is also heard on FM translator W300BQ at 107.9. The format was probably launched as a flanker to Classic Hits WQOL. Perhaps this was in response to WOSN, a Soft AC, overtaking WQOL in the previous book. More on that station later.

Ratings have gone up two-tenths of a point for oldies. Pretty flat but given the FM translator signal can’t be heard in over 2/3 of the Treasure Coast, it probably still makes sense. Where the station is heard decently enough, it’s in coastal Vero Beach, a senior citizen mecca. Considering the prior format was a hodgepodge of things, oldies make better sense. iHeart does a decent job with it.

WQCS-FM (NPR) has a history of performing exceedingly well on The Treasure Coast and is currently the #1 ranked station. It’s not surprising considering the need for news updates with both the Pandemic and the recent election cycle. Outside of SiriusXM and my own music, I have probably listened to WQCS when I want to hear news than any other station. They do a great job.

More Treasure Coast ratings and analysis to come.

 

[Mikey Radio]

The Y-100 of most of the 70s was typical CHR fare mirroring a good deal of what you'd hear on Casey Kasem's AT40. It was in the late 70s that I moved to South Florida and I recognized something very appealing about the entire sound of the station. That affection would grow over time.

Bill Tanner would often jokingly refer to himself as the lovely and talented. He certainly made up for any physical deficiencies with his programing chops. He saw the South Florida radio audience in a way no one had before. As time moved along into the 80s, many of Y-100's most played tunes didn't mean they were in the Top 20 nationally. Some of the songs never even charted. There was research (Call out etc) but I believe it went beyond that. The Clubs were very popular. From what I learned, Bill had insight as to what was popular on the dance floor and the reactions of people going out and having fun.

I don't intend to minimize what you've stated, but this makes it seem that, while at Y-100, he basically programmed what was most popular at the clubs at the time (I'm guessing Miami/Lauderdale still had the "mega-clubs" back then, which had all but disappeared by the mid-2000s?) rather than the standard stuff that was listed on the Billboard Top 40 list? How about the other stations he was at? If he understood how to program multiple formats and somehow made each of them so appealing to the audience there that he took all of them to #1 and seemingly every station he touched turned to gold, he must have had some gift or knack which ran deeper than playing was was most popular at the clubs at the time? @DavidEduardo any further insight?

 

[Alex Browne]

WQCS-FM (NPR) has a history of performing exceedingly well on The Treasure Coast and is currently the #1 ranked station. It’s not surprising considering the need for news updates with both the Pandemic and the recent election cycle. Outside of SiriusXM and my own music, I have probably listened to WQCS when I want to hear news than any other station. They do a great job.

Hey, John, thanks for mentioning WQCS. I have worked for (or been associated with) NPR stations in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and here in Florida, and the NPR stations serve a unique role in many markets (if not in WPB, certainly here in the Treasure Coast) as commercial radio stations over the years have abandoned news, (non-conservative) talk and conversation, and classical and jazz music. I also noticed WQCS's ranking as #1, and that is not an anomaly -- NPR stations are at or near #1 in a number of markets.

 

[John FL]

I don't intend to minimize what you've stated, but this makes it seem that, while at Y-100, he basically programmed what was most popular at the clubs at the time.

I appreciate your interest in this subject. It's not easy expressing thoughts in forums such as this because it's easy to misunderstand. I may not have been clear enough in my reply to you. The Y-100 of the early 80s was every bit a CHR format. Most of the songs on the playlist were the hits of the day stations across the country was playing. Bill Tanner also built an incredible team. The success of the station was truly a team effort.

The dance clubs of the day didn't play obscure songs. In the early 80s there were artists such as John Cougar Mellencamp and hits like "Hurts So Good." It was a popular song in the clubs. You may remember Melissa Manchester's "You Should Hear How She Talks About You." It charted high nationally back in 1982 but was a staple in the clubs and very popular song indeed. Many of these popular songs were on Y-100. Bill didn't just get songs from the Top 40. There was the R&B charts and dance charts. Like seasoning, just a few songs from those charts found their way into rotation.

So, while a large part of the playlist contained the big national hits of the day, it went beyond that and that's what separated Tanner from virtually everyone else. What's also important to remember is the mix of music wasn't all rhythmic, there were rock tunes too. They were carefully selected and they sounded well positioned next to virtually anything else. You may remember Asia. "Only Time Will Tell" and "Heat of the Moment" got significant airplay on Y-100 in the early 80s.

One song that I believe can truly demonstrate the station's ability to separate itself from everyone else was Shalamar's "A Night To Remember." That song never cracked the AT40. It was a very popular song in the dance clubs. It hit #15 in dance charts and #8 in the black singles chart. That song was #1 at Y-100 for a month as I recall. It was the stations #1 song in 1982 during their top 100 countdown for the year. 1982 was an incredible year musically and for Y-100. In my view, Bill was at his very best that year and the bar was set very high.

 

[John FL]

Hey, John, thanks for mentioning WQCS. I have worked for (or been associated with) NPR stations in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and here in Florida, and the NPR stations serve a unique role in many markets (if not in WPB, certainly here in the Treasure Coast) as commercial radio stations over the years have abandoned news, (non-conservative) talk and conversation, and classical and jazz music. I also noticed WQCS's ranking as #1, and that is not an anomaly -- NPR stations are at or near #1 in a number of markets.

Thanks, Alex. You're so right. NPR stations are doing very well in many markets across the country and in many Florida markets. We'll resume our discussion on Treasure Coast radio later today. Appreciate all the comments!

 

[John FL]

We went a little off course in discussing CHR of the past. But there was a time, and it was for many years that CHR was far and away the #1 format in many markets. Certainly, in the Y-100 of the past discussion, the ratings were something to behold. Nobody came close.

In the Palm Beach market, I neglected to mention iHeartMedia’s WLDI (Wild 95.5) It’s a heritage format and to the best of my knowledge, it’s a stand-alone CHR format. WHYI (Y-100) has long made a ratings showing in the Palm Beach ratings as its signal covers a decent portion of the county.

In the old Y-100 days (of the 80s) and that includes other markets there was a total of 3 CHRs at one time or another in the market. I recall it was common for a market to have 2 or 3 stations doing some kind of CHR.

In the Treasure Coast market, there technically isn’t even a pure CHR format. The demographics probably don’t support that. WGYL (Today’s Best Music) comes close but it’s a Hot AC. The ratings report I posted earlier states the station is AC but that’s not accurate. Like we see elsewhere, WGYL lies in the middle of the pack behind news/talk, country, Soft AC, and Classic Hits.

Over the last few years, I’ve read a few articles regarding CHR’s decline. Please note, decline may not be the correct word but overall shares are going down from year to year. Formats that target 35+ are holding up better because TSL is higher and so they are often seen in a higher ranking to CHR. Much has also been said about younger people listen less to traditional radio. This probably explains why most markets don’t have lots of CHR formats as we’ve seen in the past.

While I admit to knowing nothing about today’s CHR formats, I must wonder if musically they’ve hit a bit of a dry spell. I’ve seen it happen in the past. Sometimes a superstar will come along and electrify the public’s interest and the format can regain ground again. Then again, the Pandemic may not help these formats either as concerts are on hold. Promotions involving large gatherings have taken a hit too.

Anyway, CHR no doubt does a good job in 18-34 but not great enough to attract the kind of competition that once existed.

The Treasure Coast of Florida is an interesting radio market. It's also an incredible place to call home. Additional comments are upcoming to include a concern I have as well.

 

[Groove1670]

The Y-100 of most of the 70s was typical CHR fare mirroring a good deal of what you'd hear on Casey Kasem's AT40. It was in the late 70s that I moved to South Florida and I recognized something very appealing about the entire sound of the station. That affection would grow over time.

Bill Tanner would often jokingly refer to himself as the lovely and talented. He certainly made up for any physical deficiencies with his programing chops. He saw the South Florida radio audience in a way no one had before. As time moved along into the 80s, many of Y-100's most played tunes didn't mean they were in the Top 20 nationally. Some of the songs never even charted. There was research (Call out etc) but I believe it went beyond that. The Clubs were very popular. From what I learned, Bill had insight as to what was popular on the dance floor and the reactions of people going out and having fun.

I didn't realize how creative and innovative Bill Tanner was until I took a trip to visit family back in New Jersey. Turning on the radio, I was amazed at how many songs I didn't know and honestly didn't care for. Y-100 was way different and way better. Bill Tanner had a lot of guts doing what he did. He created something amazingly special. David Eduardo also recounted Bill's other successes but I am not not knowledgeable enough to include them here.

I followed Bill to Power 96 and Hot 105. But, in my view, his time at Y-100, and the programing direction the station took in the early 80s was radio at its very best. Bill captured the lifestyle, energy, and diversity that was South Florida. Bill often said it was expected unexpected or something like that in regard to his programing concepts. Whatever it was. It worked and it was incredible to experience.

Y-100 had success with songs and groups that wouldn't chart well say in Topeka or Denver. The B-52's Rock Lobster, Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight, Grandmaster Flash - The Message, songs from Shalamar, The Gap Band, etc. are just some of the examples. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall, and Steve Winwood - While You see a Chance also did well on Y-100, but didn't chart well in other cities.

The Club hits were more of a influence during Tanner's tenure at Power 96 with groups like information Society, Stevie B. and Magazine 60.

I'm from South Florida and we listened to 96X, Power 96, I-95, Y-100 for many hours. Hot 105 not so much. Most of us were grown when hot was on the scene and spent less time listening to the radio.

 

[davideduardo]

Y-100 had success with songs and groups that wouldn't chart well say in Topeka or Denver. The B-52's Rock Lobster, Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight, Grandmaster Flash - The Message, songs from Shalamar, The Gap Band, etc. are just some of the examples. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall, and Steve Winwood - While You see a Chance also did well on Y-100, but didn't chart well in other cities.

The Club hits were more of a influence during Tanner's tenure at Power 96 with groups like information Society, Stevie B. and Magazine 60.

The music on Y-100 was just fill in between the promotions, the contests, the events and Tanner, Footy, The Madam, Kramer, Cox on the Radio, Mark in the Dark and many others who were the reason we listened to Y-100.

 

[Groove1670]

The music on Y-100 was just fill in between the promotions, the contests, the events and Tanner, Footy, The Madam, Kramer, Cox on the Radio, Mark in the Dark and many others who were the reason we listened to Y-100.

Agreed. There was never a dull moment listening.

 

[John FL]

The music on Y-100 was just fill in between the promotions, the contests, the events and Tanner, Footy, The Madam, Kramer, Cox on the Radio, Mark in the Dark and many others who were the reason we listened to Y-100.

There were so many elements that made it all "The Amazing FM." One other notable was newsman Jim Reihle. It was a welcome change from what I experienced growing up. News broadcasters on music stations were all so serious and above all the shtick of whatever jock was on at the same time. Jim did lots of voices and characters. It was in many respects out of character for the news guy. But it worked.

One feature that I thought kept people listening as well was the treat that came right after the news. Jim would say something like 'that's what happening March 1, 1982." Then Tanner would say March 1, 1965/a year from the past, and an oldie would play from the Beatles, Motown, Beach Boys, you name it. That was a great feature.

Today, many morning shows include someone who gives some headlines from a sister news/talk station. There's no banter or even a warm hand off. The times have changed. I realize radio responds to listener preferences but if they only knew how entertaining radio could be.

Y-100 had success with songs and groups that wouldn't chart well say in Topeka or Denver. The B-52's Rock Lobster, Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight, Grandmaster Flash - The Message, songs from Shalamar, The Gap Band, etc. are just some of the examples. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall, and Steve Winwood - While You see a Chance also did well on Y-100, but didn't chart well in other cities.

You have great recall. The music that played on Y-100, especially in the 80s, have had profound influences on me. Whatever throwback format I've listened to, I've never heard many of the songs that I totally dug. Those were great times.

Almost anticlimactic but it's back to the subject at had for some final thoughts. A number of times in the past, I've talked about Vero Beach Broadcasters. They are also known as Treasure Coast/Space Coast Radio. Theirs is a nice little cluster. Their country format is doing very well. They've got a HOT AC I mentioned earlier, Adult Hits (Jack FM), News/Talk, and my favorite music station on the Treasure Coast WOSN, a Soft AC that sounds like Tampa's The Dove from 10-15 years ago.

It's small town radio but perhaps in this stage of life, it's much preferred. Their morning host has been on the radio in the Treasure Coast for well over 40 years. Perhaps it's not the place to make the big bucks but for some, it's enough and I get it.

Last year when I discussed ratings in every part of Florida, I got a chance to sample all the various companies, big and small, and I formulated a number of impressions. Before doing that, I knew nothing about Cummulus. I sampled a good number of their stations and they didn't impress me much. Cummulus' syndicated programing, especially in Classic Hits, was in a word - dull. That's just my opinion.

I would hate to see a mom & pop cluster like Vero Beach Broadcasters be a part of a big conglomerate. I also realize we will never have anything like the old Y-100 of the 70s and 80s but in my view, small town radio run by a local company has a uniqueness to it that's worth keeping. This turned out to be a great string with interesting perspectives