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96X sign off and K-102 info...

R

Radio-X

Guest
After hearing about the old 96X (WMJX) Miami, I coudn't help but wonder why the Feds shut them down?

Some more questions...

What was 96X's coverage range like?

Where was the studios/transmitters?

Were they making decent money?

What happened to the staff...studios...etc. once they shut down?

Any answers would be cool

I also saw...long ago before oldies graced 102.7, that an AOR was on there known as K-102. Any clue on how long they were on? I did not remember them when I lived there in 95-97, so they must have signed off in the early '90's...

Thanks!

Radio-X
 
> After hearing about the old 96X (WMJX) Miami, I coudn't help
> but wonder why the Feds shut them down?
>
> Some more questions...
>
> What was 96X's coverage range like?
>
> Where was the studios/transmitters?
>
> Were they making decent money?
>
> What happened to the staff...studios...etc. once they shut
> down?
>
> Any answers would be cool
>
> I also saw...long ago before oldies graced 102.7, that an
> AOR was on there known as K-102. Any clue on how long they
> were on? I did not remember them when I lived there in
> 95-97, so they must have signed off in the early '90's...
>
> Thanks!
>
> Radio-X
>

From what I know from South FL radio history, the Feds forced WMJX, 96.3, 96X off the air in 1981 for involvement in payola. Sat dormant for 3 or so years before it was revived by another broadcaster in '85 under the calls WCJX. Sometime in '86 or early '87, the X flipped to Power 96 as WPOW to go after Y-100's audience, which the succeeded in '87. In '88 or '89, 95.7 in South Dade was added to the allotment, so 96.3 moved to 96.5, and that's where it is today, though a Hip-Hop/R&B station.

In March of '85, K-102 was on its way out, so Sconnix blew up the K and launched Magic 102(.7), WMXJ, originally as an oldies/AC hybrid, target playlist was 1965-75, with 'some later stuff sprinkled in.' As the years went on, the 'g' in Magic turned to a 'j' and WMXJ went through an array of positioners, but Oldies was the main course towards the late '80s, then it tightened up with '50s, and Majic, though playing more '70s now (sounding more like the original Magic?) right up to the present day.

Ironically, the original WQSR in Baltimore was an oldies station; anyone ever see the similarities in their logo compared to Majic's logo? I read somewhere it was a Sconnix logo special, since Sconnix, prior to filing bankruptcy, sold Majic and WQSR off.

Am I a radio geek or what? :)
 
> I also saw...long ago before oldies graced 102.7, that an
> AOR was on there known as K-102. Any clue on how long they
> were on? I did not remember them when I lived there in
> 95-97, so they must have signed off in the early '90's...

k102.jpg


WMXJ started in around '85.

Predecessor was WCKO "K-102".

Before that I think it was WRBD-FM, but I'm not sure.

73s from 954<P ID="signature">______________
* Randi Rhodes, before she became famous

* History of WGMA
</P>
 
> From what I know from South FL radio history, the Feds
> forced WMJX, 96.3, 96X off the air in 1981 for involvement
> in payola.

I understood the "final straw" happened when 96X tried to
misinform (and take credit) for Y-100 contests.
Example: Y-100 gives away a new Cadillac to John Doe of Davie...
96X goes on the air saying "96X congratulates John Doe of Davie...
winner of a new 1979 Cadillac (long pause) 96X!"

Just stupid.<P ID="signature">______________
you're not a lawyer, are you?</P>
 
> > From what I know from South FL radio history, the Feds
> > forced WMJX, 96.3, 96X off the air in 1981 for involvement
>
> > in payola.
>
> I understood the "final straw" happened when 96X tried to
> misinform (and take credit) for Y-100 contests.
> Example: Y-100 gives away a new Cadillac to John Doe of
> Davie...
> 96X goes on the air saying "96X congratulates John Doe of
> Davie...
> winner of a new 1979 Cadillac (long pause) 96X!"
>
> Just stupid.
>
About 96x -- I used to be able to get their signal regularly in Dunedin Florida (Gulf Coast just west of Tampa) with a 10 element outdoor antenna. It was the only top-40 FM I could get back in the early 70's (actually it was WMYQ back then)

K-102 went on the air in June 1979 and I have an aircheck of it during that era.

Tom S<P ID="signature">______________
Tom S</P>
 
> After hearing about the old 96X (WMJX) Miami, I coudn't help
> but wonder why the Feds shut them down?
>
> Some more questions...
>
> What was 96X's coverage range like?


I remember getting them as far north as Martin County. I don't think they went much further north of Martin County. They also had an 800 number for requsts 800-432-4133, plus a Dade and a Broward request line.


>
> Where was the studios/transmitters?

Studio was at 825 41 Street (Arthur Godfrey Rd.) Miami Beach in a two story building called They Cypen Building. The building was a duplex with law offices on the east side and WMYQ on the west side. No first floor tenants at least on the west side. The station may have used some of the floor for storage.

Transmitter was in the antenna farm by the Broward County Line.
>
> Were they making decent money?

In Spring, 1972, one year after the station became top 40, they were #1 in South Florida and the first FM station in Florida history to be #1 in its market. I think they were making a lot of money until Y-100 started on August 3, 1973. After that, they made much less money.


>
> What happened to the staff...studios...etc. once they shut
> down?

I can't answer that because I was in Philadelphia at the time. I worked at WMYQ in 1973 and 1974, not on the air.
>
> Any answers would be cool

What else do you want to know about WMYQ? I used to live for that station.

>
> I also saw...long ago before oldies graced 102.7, that an
> AOR was on there known as K-102. Any clue on how long they

I remember that WCKO 102.7 had a format called Black Gold around 1976. Their signal in Dade County was not great.

> were on? I did not remember them when I lived there in
> 95-97, so they must have signed off in the early '90's...
>
> Thanks!
>
> Radio-X
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
picking my brain here, lol.

> From what I know from South FL radio history, the Feds
> forced WMJX, 96.3, 96X off the air in 1981 for involvement
> in payola.

One of the reasons I'm almost sure that WMJX lost its license was due to a blurred line in 1978, where they reported what was really a contest/stunt as an actual news story....One of their jocks/personalities was 'reported' lost when in reality he had checked in with the station....I believe there was more to it...Today, probably nothing more than a slap in the wrist but at the time, well, you know.


> revived by another broadcaster in '85 under the calls WCJX.

Connie Wodlinger (also ran the "Hit Video USA" music channel) was responsible for reviving 96 X on or around June 15, 1985 (20 years ago this summer, I'm getting old, lol), under consultant Rick Sklar, and the "Super 16" formatics, which essentially was a continuous countdown of 16 songs, over and over..How's that for a tight playlist?? Each song had a quick "96-X!" jingle shout, followed by another "Hit Number Four!", or whatever number it was jingle shout.

> Sometime in '86 or early '87, the X flipped to Power 96 as
> WPOW to go after Y-100's audience, which the succeeded in
> '87.

Actually Tanner was more interested in Hot 105's audience....But whatever the case, every CHR in South Florida was on its knees and every CHR ended up changing its strategy.

> In March of '85, K-102 was on its way out, so Sconnix blew
> up the K and launched Magic 102(.7), WMXJ, originally as an
> oldies/AC hybrid, target playlist was 1965-75,

Believe it or not, the original Majic was actually Adult Top 40..This did not last long....I have an aircheck (not really an aircheck, just random recordings I made when I was 8), off the air with songs like "Every Time You Go Away" from Paul Young, "Dancing In The Sheets" by Shalimar, and the jock saying "Majic 102", (no "point 7"), as well as "WMXJ, Pompano Beach, Miami...South Florida's Non Stop Hits FM!!"..But you are right...The format eventually evolved into what you are recalling, Classic Hits..There were billboards with Springsteen on them that said "Classic Hits", the "point 7" was added, but the Oldies were so prevalent in the mix that sometime by 87-ish busboards began to proclaim "Now....Classic Oldies All The Time!!"

> Ironically, the original WQSR in Baltimore was an oldies
> station; anyone ever see the similarities in their logo
> compared to Majic's logo? I read somewhere it was a Sconnix
> logo special, since Sconnix, prior to filing bankruptcy,
> sold Majic and WQSR off.

Sconnix also owned WFLZ in Tampa when it was Oldies "Z-93"..The WQSR in Baltimore was Oldies (began on 105.7), but the "SR" actually comes from a format that never was....It, in the early 80s was supposed to be an affiliate from ABC's failed "Superadio" Hit music network, of which Rick Sklar was supposed to lead...It was going to feature the best of the best in jocks...Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, and Robert W. Morgan.

Sorry for the nit picky ness...I'm a radio geek, too.

--Anthony Sanchez
 
> In March of '85, K-102 was on its way out, so Sconnix blew
> up the K and launched Magic 102(.7), WMXJ, originally as an
> oldies/AC hybrid, target playlist was 1965-75, with 'some
> later stuff sprinkled in.' As the years went on, the 'g' in
> Magic turned to a 'j' and WMXJ went through an array of
> positioners, but Oldies was the main course towards the late
> '80s, then it tightened up with '50s, and Majic, though
> playing more '70s now (sounding more like the original
> Magic?) right up to the present day.

Early in 1986 (shortly after I was fired from WIOD to make way for Mike
Anthony) James Butler and I started talking about flipping WMXJ to oldies.
Shortly after, I replaced Cliff Blake as PD at "Majic" and flipped it to
oldies. The only jock that remianed through the change was Mindy Lang,
who I had worked with when I was the Station Manager at WVCG several years
earlier. We hired Shawn Burke for mornings (from WYNY/NY) and Eric Brandon and Ron St. John (who I worked with earlier at 97/A1A) and Joe Johnson. Tony Segreto did sports every morning. Linda Thornton was the Promotions Director and we were consulted by Rick Peters (before he became a Sconnix employee.)
At that time WAXY (105.9) was also doing oldies but had been on auto-pilot for several years. At Majic we started doing our regaular "chart shows" at Sunrise featuring 5-6 oldies acts (Rick Peter's idea briliantly executed by him,) plus we would appear anywhere for any event. The station really took off quickly and within a year we were #1 25-54. After that, I left to go back to Philadelphia and the station maintained pretty strong numbers. It was a great ride with a lot of great radio people, many of whom are still on the air in South Florida.
 
Mike Anthony/WIOD

> Early in 1986 (shortly after I was fired from WIOD to make
> way for Mike
> Anthony)

Wasn't he the man who came from Gannett who did major tweaks to WIOD's sound (think it included putting in C-QUAM, and in an ironic twist for a station that had gone Stereo, taking the records out of Reinieri's show?). I recall the consequences were disatrous.
 
Re: Mike Anthony/WIOD

> > Early in 1986 (shortly after I was fired from WIOD to make
>
> > way for Mike
> > Anthony)
>
> Wasn't he the man who came from Gannett who did major tweaks
> to WIOD's sound (think it included putting in C-QUAM, and in
> an ironic twist for a station that had gone Stereo, taking
> the records out of Reinieri's show?). I recall the
> consequences were disatrous.
>


Not to blow my own horn too much, but we had WIOD doing pretty well
when the new Top Dog at Cox in Atlanta wanted to find a home for his
friend Mike Anthony. At the time I had just hired Bill Calder for
afternoons and had started the ball rolling to hire Neil for mornings.
Mike Anthony came in and never really understood what the station was
about or why it was successful. He especially didn't understand Mike
Reinieri. He made a lot of bonehead changes and adjustments ... each
one worse than the last. Neil has some great stories about what it
was like at WIOD when Mike Anthony was the PD.
 
Re: Mike Anthony/WIOD

>
> Not to blow my own horn too much, but we had WIOD doing
> pretty well
> when the new Top Dog at Cox in Atlanta wanted to find a home
> for his
> friend Mike Anthony. At the time I had just hired Bill
> Calder for
> afternoons and had started the ball rolling to hire Neil for
> mornings.
> Mike Anthony came in and never really understood what the
> station was
> about or why it was successful. He especially didn't
> understand Mike
> Reinieri. He made a lot of bonehead changes and adjustments
> ... each
> one worse than the last. Neil has some great stories about
> what it
> was like at WIOD when Mike Anthony was the PD.

Jere - if the "Neil" you are talking about is "Rogers", I didn't think Neil was at WIOD when Mike Anthony was there. Neil started at WIOD in late 1988, after Mike Anthony left, GTR's Bill Wise was OM'ing both stations in the interim, and before "Boy" Gary was hired. I don't know, but I think Uncle Mikey's records were well past camp by that time. I thought Gary Bruce did a great job in focusing Reineri's morning show. However, IMHO Gary blew it by eventually firing Mike and putting in R&S. Mike was a better fit to that whole WIOD ambience than he was given credit for.
 
Re: Mike Anthony/WIOD

> Jere - if the "Neil" you are talking about is "Rogers", I
> didn't think Neil was at WIOD when Mike Anthony was there.
> Neil started at WIOD in late 1988, after Mike Anthony left,
> GTR's Bill Wise was OM'ing both stations in the interim,
> and before "Boy" Gary was hired. I don't know, but I think
> Uncle Mikey's records were well past camp by that time. I
> thought Gary Bruce did a great job in focusing Reineri's
> morning show. However, IMHO Gary blew it by eventually
> firing Mike and putting in R&S. Mike was a better fit to
> that whole WIOD ambience than he was given credit for.
>


Maybe you're right ... maybe Neil was later. I was at Majic
by then and don't remember the dates, but I thought that Neil
and Mike A. spent some time together at WIOD. I was having meetings
with Neil at The Ark in 1986 and always felt badly that I wasn't
around when he finally started on the station. IMHO Mike R. didn't
need focus, he needed protection from programmers who felt the
need to "format" the station like an FM station with no real
understanding of why that big old AM white elephant continued
to pull numbers. After several years of "fixing" the station
and "updating" the talent, there wasn't much left. If Neil hadn't been
around, the station would have failed much sooner. Lots of great
memories though of many years spent on that little island in the
bay!
 
Michael Anthony & The Millionaire

> > Early in 1986 (shortly after I was fired from WIOD to make
>
> > way for Mike
> > Anthony)

Wasn't he the man who gave away a million dollars every week from John Beresford Tipton on TV?

;-)

73s from 954
<P ID="signature">______________
July 2005 Radio News
June 2005 Radio News</P>
 
Re: picking my brain here, lol.

> > From what I know from South FL radio history, the Feds
> > forced WMJX, 96.3, 96X off the air in 1981 for involvement
>
> > in payola.
>
> One of the reasons I'm almost sure that WMJX lost its
> license was due to a blurred line in 1978, where they
> reported what was really a contest/stunt as an actual news
> story....One of their jocks/personalities was 'reported'
> lost when in reality he had checked in with the station....I
> believe there was more to it...Today, probably nothing more
> than a slap in the wrist but at the time, well, you know.
>
>
> > revived by another broadcaster in '85 under the calls
> WCJX.
>
> Connie Wodlinger (also ran the "Hit Video USA" music
> channel) was responsible for reviving 96 X on or around June
> 15, 1985 (20 years ago this summer, I'm getting old, lol),
> under consultant Rick Sklar, and the "Super 16" formatics,
> which essentially was a continuous countdown of 16 songs,
> over and over..How's that for a tight playlist?? Each song
> had a quick "96-X!" jingle shout, followed by another "Hit
> Number Four!", or whatever number it was jingle shout.
>
> > Sometime in '86 or early '87, the X flipped to Power 96 as
>
> > WPOW to go after Y-100's audience, which the succeeded in
> > '87.
>
> Actually Tanner was more interested in Hot 105's
> audience....But whatever the case, every CHR in South
> Florida was on its knees and every CHR ended up changing its
> strategy.
>
> > In March of '85, K-102 was on its way out, so Sconnix blew
>
> > up the K and launched Magic 102(.7), WMXJ, originally as
> an
> > oldies/AC hybrid, target playlist was 1965-75,
>
> Believe it or not, the original Majic was actually Adult Top
> 40..This did not last long....I have an aircheck (not really
> an aircheck, just random recordings I made when I was 8),
> off the air with songs like "Every Time You Go Away" from
> Paul Young, "Dancing In The Sheets" by Shalimar, and the
> jock saying "Majic 102", (no "point 7"), as well as "WMXJ,
> Pompano Beach, Miami...South Florida's Non Stop Hits
> FM!!"..But you are right...The format eventually evolved
> into what you are recalling, Classic Hits..There were
> billboards with Springsteen on them that said "Classic
> Hits", the "point 7" was added, but the Oldies were so
> prevalent in the mix that sometime by 87-ish busboards began
> to proclaim "Now....Classic Oldies All The Time!!"
>
> > Ironically, the original WQSR in Baltimore was an oldies
> > station; anyone ever see the similarities in their logo
> > compared to Majic's logo? I read somewhere it was a
> Sconnix
> > logo special, since Sconnix, prior to filing bankruptcy,
> > sold Majic and WQSR off.
>
> Sconnix also owned WFLZ in Tampa when it was Oldies
> "Z-93"..The WQSR in Baltimore was Oldies (began on 105.7),
> but the "SR" actually comes from a format that never
> was....It, in the early 80s was supposed to be an affiliate
> from ABC's failed "Superadio" Hit music network, of which
> Rick Sklar was supposed to lead...It was going to feature
> the best of the best in jocks...Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, and
> Robert W. Morgan.
>
> Sorry for the nit picky ness...I'm a radio geek, too.
>
> --Anthony Sanchez
>



You're pretty close there Anthony. K102 did evolve into a "Chicken CHR" after they got the upgrade to C1 100KW. And yes, they were playing with Oldies when I got involved. I convinced Sconnix to pull the plug and do Oldies. I was just consulting them at the time. At that time, there were only 3 or 4 FM Oldies stations on the air in the entire US (CBS-FM, WMGK, KLUV, (which I took Oldies for TK). The success was almost instantaneous. 3-4 years of #1 25-54 numbers. After that, we took Indianapolis FM Oldies (WKLR). Then we purchased WQSR and took it Oldies, patterned right after Majic. Same success. Eventually we had an Oldies FM in every market.

One small point...Sconnix never went "bankrupt". Frankly, like most entrepreneurial companies, they built it to sell it. There was private equity money involved, and they eventually sold all the stations, the last market being Laconia, NH last year.

Scott McQueen (the Sc in Sconnix) and I now own Bluewater Broadcasting and operate our first acquistion (3FM's and 1 AM) in Montgomery, Alabama. We both still live here in SFla.
 
Re: picking my brain here, lol.

That is an excellent first post.

I lived in Philadelphia until 1983. I moved there from Miami Beach in 1977. I don't remember WMGK with an oldies format. Around 1984, Philadelphia oldies stations were WPGR 1540 (formerly WRCP), WFIL, WCAU-FM (maybe they were in 1985) and WIOQ. Four oldies stations is pretty good, but none of them were WMGK. Did you mean another station in town?

>
>
> You're pretty close there Anthony. K102 did evolve into a
> "Chicken CHR" after they got the upgrade to C1 100KW. And
> yes, they were playing with Oldies when I got involved. I
> convinced Sconnix to pull the plug and do Oldies. I was just
> consulting them at the time. At that time, there were only
> 3 or 4 FM Oldies stations on the air in the entire US
> (CBS-FM, WMGK, KLUV, (which I took Oldies for TK). The
> success was almost instantaneous. 3-4 years of #1 25-54
> numbers. After that, we took Indianapolis FM Oldies (WKLR).
> Then we purchased WQSR and took it Oldies, patterned right
> after Majic. Same success. Eventually we had an Oldies FM
> in every market.
> <P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Bluewater

> One small point...Sconnix never went "bankrupt". Frankly,
> like most entrepreneurial companies, they built it to sell
> it. There was private equity money involved, and they
> eventually sold all the stations, the last market being
> Laconia, NH last year.
>
> Scott McQueen (the Sc in Sconnix) and I now own Bluewater
> Broadcasting and operate our first acquistion (3FM's and 1
> AM) in Montgomery, Alabama. We both still live here in
> SFla.

Ahaaaa!

Bluewater owns WQKS "Alice 96.1", current home of Greg Budell (formerly on WJNA).

His Florida fans would probably listen to him if Alice was on the web.

Do you have plans for webcasting Alice?

954


<P ID="signature">______________
Mike Sheridan's History of WGMA, the Country Giant</P>
 
Re: Bluewater

> One small point...Sconnix never went "bankrupt". Frankly,
>
> > like most entrepreneurial companies, they built it to sell
>
> > it. There was private equity money involved, and they
> > eventually sold all the stations, the last market being
> > Laconia, NH last year.
> >
> > Scott McQueen (the Sc in Sconnix) and I now own Bluewater
> > Broadcasting and operate our first acquistion (3FM's and 1
>
> > AM) in Montgomery, Alabama. We both still live here in
> > SFla.
>
> Ahaaaa!
>
> Bluewater owns WQKS "Alice 96.1", current home of Greg
> Budell (formerly on WJNA).
>
> His Florida fans would probably listen to him if Alice was
> on the web.
>
> Do you have plans for webcasting Alice?
>
> 954
>


No plans to stream Alice. Greg sounds as good as ever and IMHO he's the best jock in Montgomery. Good to have him on Alice.
 
Re: picking my brain here, lol.

> That is an excellent first post.
>
> I lived in Philadelphia until 1983. I moved there from
> Miami Beach in 1977. I don't remember WMGK with an oldies
> format. Around 1984, Philadelphia oldies stations were WPGR
> 1540 (formerly WRCP), WFIL, WCAU-FM (maybe they were in
> 1985) and WIOQ. Four oldies stations is pretty good, but
> none of them were WMGK. Did you mean another station in
> town?
>
> >

My mistake. I was talking about JMK in Chicago. Only FM Oldies in 86 were CBS-FM, JMK, KLUV, (maybe KHJ-FM L.A.)and then Majic. MGK has always been a great Classic Hits/AC. Not talking about AM stations, but FM's. Oldies had a great run in the late 80's. Almost every major market and top 5 25-54 in every single one. Now...Jack S#*T.

> >
> > You're pretty close there Anthony. K102 did evolve into a
>
> > "Chicken CHR" after they got the upgrade to C1 100KW. And
>
> > yes, they were playing with Oldies when I got involved. I
>
> > convinced Sconnix to pull the plug and do Oldies. I was
> just
> > consulting them at the time. At that time, there were
> only
> > 3 or 4 FM Oldies stations on the air in the entire US
> > (CBS-FM, WMGK, KLUV, (which I took Oldies for TK). The
> > success was almost instantaneous. 3-4 years of #1 25-54
> > numbers. After that, we took Indianapolis FM Oldies
> (WKLR).
> > Then we purchased WQSR and took it Oldies, patterned
> right
> > after Majic. Same success. Eventually we had an Oldies
> FM
> > in every market.
> >
>
 
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