Al Cohen out of radio?

[Art Sutton]

After 32 years at WTIF, former GM manager/owner and most recently sales person, has been let go by the folks who own the station along with WTIF-FM.

Al has been in radio since his teenage years and remains a great community broadcaster. He went to Tifton in 1975 and along with business partners, Gil Moor and Bill Brown, bought WTIF from the late Brodie Timm. WTIF had been a dog since it went on the air in 1957 taking the 1340 frequency abandoned by WWGS, Tifton's oldest station, which moved to 1430 to go from 250 watts full time to 5KW daytime, later adding 1KW-4 tower DA nights in the early 1960s. WWGS was also a great community station...a Top 40 station with NBC and strong local news while WTIF was country with strong local news and CBS. Ralph Edwards long time owner of WWGS sold out in 1981 and the slide for WWGS and sister station WCUP began. WTIF was already on its way to the top and Ralph's sale of Tifton Broadcasting Corporation increased its pace to the top. In 1982 when I went there as local news director from Sylvester's WRSG(formerly WOGA), WTIF commanded over 60% of the local Tift County radio audience.

Al turned WTIF into a dynamo which it remained until he and his partners sold the station in the late 1980s. By then it had added WJYF, then a Class A beautiful music station licensed to Nashville. In those days, that was the closest new FM channel you could get to Tifton. WJYF, Joy FM, used Kalamusic's beautiful music format to fill the void left when WWGS' sister station, WCUP, changed from beautiful music. Then 100KW on a 600 ft tower next to WWGS' array, WCUP is now Albany operated WOBB. WWGS has been silent for years although the four towers still stand west of Tifton.

Besides being a great community radio broadcaster and as good a radio salesman there has ever been, one of Al's qualities, although biting at times, is his total candor. He tells it like he sees it...many times when not asked.

I'm sure the folks who own WTIF are good people but they seem to know little to nothing about what it takes to run a good community radio station and have been greatly responsible for destroying what was once one of the best radio towns in South Georgia...both in terms of quality of stations; community acceptance, local news coverage, and profits.

 

[Radio Lawyer]

Al Cohen is one of the most interesting people who ever worked in Georgia radio.

He gave me my first job after graduating from Auburn in 1975. I joined the staff as a one-man news team who did our first live local newscast at 6:30 in the morning and our last one at 5:30 in the afternoon. I also did Tift County High School football, ABAC basketball and a Sunday night 6 to midnight shift as well as numerous public relations appearances and occasional remotes. (I even had be Santa Claus the Friday after Thanksgiving one year at Roddenberry Hardware when longtime Santa Claus John Harrell (now with Georgia Extension Service radio) wasn't available.

Everything Art said was true. Al literallly turned a nothing station into a gold mine that from 1975 to the early nineties was a true community station. In addition to Art and me, Al hired people like Allen Tibbetts, Dave Callaway, Joe Williams, Ed Roberts, David Haire and others who worked day and night to make WTIF the station it became.

One WTIF story I remember. Before Al and his partners took over WTIF, the station would sell time to anyone whenever and whatever they wanted to do. There was a preacher named Dewey Adamson who had a show from 11 to 11:30 Saturday morning that totally disrupted the programming flow. Al told Rev. Adamson he had four more weeks and he either had to move to Sunday or leave the air. Rev. Adamson and a man from a very fundamentalist publication called "Sword of the Lord" took the air on one of the last broadcasts and--with Al present in the station--prayed for him to repent and let the show stay on the air. Al still kicked the show off the air and a few months later bought a house across a narrow side street from Faith Baptist Church, where Rev. Adamson preached. Al mowed his lawn one Sunday morning during church, presumably as payback. I don't know if the two ever made peace.

He had a talented voice and always treated his employees well--even when we told him in no uncertain terms about a decision he made.

Al also worked for Faulkner Radio at one time for the original WLBB and WBTR in Carollton. Those stations ultimately lost their licenses and Al never totally denied his role in finding documents that ultimately ended up with the FCC.

 

[radionut925]

After 32 years at WTIF, former GM manager/owner and most recently sales person, has been let go by the folks who own the station along with WTIF-FM.

Al has been in radio since his teenage years and remains a great community broadcaster. He went to Tifton in 1975 and along with business partners, Gil Moor and Bill Brown, bought WTIF from the late Brodie Timm. WTIF had been a dog since it went on the air in 1957 taking the 1340 frequency abandoned by WWGS, Tifton's oldest station, which moved to 1430 to go from 250 watts full time to 5KW daytime, later adding 1KW-4 tower DA nights in the early 1960s. WWGS was also a great community station...a Top 40 station with NBC and strong local news while WTIF was country with strong local news and CBS. Ralph Edwards long time owner of WWGS sold out in 1981 and the slide for WWGS and sister station WCUP began. WTIF was already on its way to the top and Ralph's sale of Tifton Broadcasting Corporation increased its pace to the top. In 1982 when I went there as local news director from Sylvester's WRSG(formerly WOGA), WTIF commanded over 60% of the local Tift County radio audience.

Al turned WTIF into a dynamo which it remained until he and his partners sold the station in the late 1980s. By then it had added WJYF, then a Class A beautiful music station licensed to Nashville. In those days, that was the closest new FM channel you could get to Tifton. WJYF, Joy FM, used Kalamusic's beautiful music format to fill the void left when WWGS' sister station, WCUP, changed from beautiful music. Then 100KW on a 600 ft tower next to WWGS' array, WCUP is now Albany operated WOBB. WWGS has been silent for years although the four towers still stand west of Tifton.

Besides being a great community radio broadcaster and as good a radio salesman there has ever been, one of Al's qualities, although biting at times, is his total candor. He tells it like he sees it...many times when not asked.

I'm sure the folks who own WTIF are good people but they seem to know little to nothing about what it takes to run a good community radio station and have been greatly responsible for destroying what was once one of the best radio towns in South Georgia...both in terms of quality of stations; community acceptance, local news coverage, and profits.

Pretty sad, isn't it? Surely, he'll be missed out there. Still, it's a sign of the times in the radio industry these days. :'(

 

[tiftonpd]

I see Al Cohen as one of the last great 'cowboys' of yester-year of radio. I highly respect Al Cohen and his abilities as an all around GREAT radio man. As a subordinate of his, He treated me well and treated others I knew well. Around the ladies he was always soft and a little flirtatious. Radio and myself and the legion of WTIF listeners and advertisers will GREATLY miss him. I got the PRIVILEGE to watch him do his last remote at a local bank. An art form lost... truly....

Mr Art Sutton. I highly respect you as well. You can look back and see where my respect has been reflected in posts past concerning yourself as a great radio man. But I can not accept the further bashing of Three Trees Communications. You seem to always bash the weak when they are down. I am sure there are many reasons for the release of one of WTIF's greatest sales persons/radio people to grace the door. Those reasons of which you are not privy too. So what makes you qualified, old respected radio man that you are? This is kind of like ex-presidents trying to tell the president, and PRESSING their opinion mind you, what to do. You seem to be more like, (purely as an example) Bill Clinton, seeming to get more involved then you should when YOU do not have all the information and can not make an even EDUCATED guess on the situation... Please take my analogy for what it means....

Three Trees went through some very BAD decisions by personnel in the past year and has had a VERY hard time making it through the thick and thin of those decisions. Three Trees is better radio people then you think. They have given chance after chance to some personnel who were not qualified to do the job they were placed in. While this is ultimately 3 trees fault, again, you have to make an educated guess to even make sense. Why don't you go roll your sleeves up and turn the station around like you know you can? Instead of sitting idly by and watching someone else drown, why not throw out the rope and PULL??

Just some thoughts..

'nuff said. Thanks.

 

[jovialjay]

I highly respect Al Cohen and his abilities...

Art, I highly respect you, as well. Why don't you go roll your sleeves up and turn the station around like you know you can?

Brian...

I think you missed the whole point of what Art was trying to say. Three Trees had the answer/solution to their problems in Al Cohen, but they put him out to pasture.

Art Sutton is inherently qualified to state his opinion on Three Trees stewardship of WTIF/WJYF. He is a true broadcaster...the Three Trees principals are not. It's okay if they want to own radio stations, but they should've left the operating of them to qualified broadcasters...like Al Cohen.

Three Trees paid a lot of money for those radio stations, and the price was based on the radio stations' performance. Could the stations be improved? Sure...there's always room for improvement, but...you don't take a business with a long history of success, and let ANYBODY drag it downhill, via Big Ego Boulevard. That's what they did. What employees do (and don't do) are the responsibility of the owners...the buck stops with them. I don't feel sorry for them. They got into a business they knew little about, and their ignorance has cost them. Trouble is, they seemingly refuse to learn any lessons.

As for Art "rolling his sleeves up"...I suspect that he's tried to help, but that help has been refused. Again, they had Al Cohen, and now they don't. One could easily assume that Three Trees doesn't want any help. Still, Art is more than entitled to state his opinion...negative or otherwise.

 

[fwillis]

How many christian FM music stations does Tifton need?95.3,107.5,and soon to be 105.7/106.1.

 

[radionut925]

How many christian FM music stations does Tifton need?95.3,107.5,and soon to be 105.7/106.1.

Actually, 106.1 became K-LOVE in early May, primarily targeting the Albany market, and using WHKV as the call letters. As for 105.7, it's anybody's guess if it's either simulcasting K-LOVE, or sister network Air 1. Does anyone know?

 

[fwillis]

I forgot about 98.5 Ocilla,it's a satellite christian station in that area too.

 

[wayx1230]

Just a note, Dave Callaway never worked with Al at WTIF. He did work at WWGS while at ABAC. Dave had the same arrangement with Bill and Gil at WAYX/WLTE in Waycross that Al had at WTIF.

Both Al and Dave attended a GAB meeting in Athens in the 1970's and shared a room at the Cont Ed center at UGA. Dave got real bad sick overnight the night before they were to go home. They were in Dave's car and Dave refused to ride with Al so they stayed extra time and gave Dave a chance to heal. Dave new that Al drove by finding the center and right lanes and tried to stay between them. You really have to hear Dave tell the story to get the full appreciation for it.

Both Al and Dave were great radio folks. No nonsense and told you what they thought and not what you wanted to hear. Dave now publishes WAYCROSS Magazine and assists with local cable channel 42. He still does PBP for 42 of the Ware County Gators football team. Evidently radio nevers gets out of your blood.

 

[Art Sutton]

Actually, Al was an equal owner with Bill and Gil on WTIF. Each owned one third of the station. As far as I know, that's the only operation where their manager also owned an interest in the station.

I never met Dave but heard good things about him over the years from Al for whom I worked with from 1982 to 1986 and still maintain contact. Al is one of the great community broadcasters and radio sales people in the state. His candid comments have not always won him friends and neither has his driving. Actually Al has very poor eyesight but he can read wire copy with a magnifying glass faster than anyone I've ever seen.
[/quote]

Just a note, Dave Callaway never worked with Al at WTIF. He did work at WWGS while at ABAC. Dave had the same arrangement with Bill and Gil at WAYX/WLTE in Waycross that Al had at WTIF.

Both Al and Dave attended a GAB meeting in Athens in the 1970's and shared a room at the Cont Ed center at UGA. Dave got real bad sick overnight the night before they were to go home. They were in Dave's car and Dave refused to ride with Al so they stayed extra time and gave Dave a chance to heal. Dave new that Al drove by finding the center and right lanes and tried to stay between them. You really have to hear Dave tell the story to get the full appreciation for it.

Both Al and Dave were great radio folks. No nonsense and told you what they thought and not what you wanted to hear. Dave now publishes WAYCROSS Magazine and assists with local cable channel 42. He still does PBP for 42 of the Ware County Gators football team. Evidently radio nevers gets out of your blood.
-------

 

[wayx1230]

Art,
Dave had a interest in WAYX/WLTE, but I don't think it was a 1/3. He worked like he owned the station outright. He did a 2 hour morning show and would leave sometimes after 6pm. He stayed until he got the job done.

It's sad but those radio days are almost gone.