I've been reading the archieves, and saw a few things about late 80's Columbia radio that weren't correct. Rather than revive old threads, I thought I'd start a new one.
C-103 signed on in the Spring of 1986 under the call letters WMMC (More Music & Cash), less than a month before the start of the Spring book. It was owned primarily by Jim Phillips and his partner in the stations he owned in Texas, but Chuck Dunaway, who came in to manage the station, had an ownership position, as did Kent Burkhart, who provided consulting services.
The station had previously been an Urban/Smooth Jazz outlet (can't remember the calls). Chaz Saunders, who'd been the PD stayed with the station as Program Director and did middays until Ralph Wimmer (Big Tom Winston) was brought in as PD/Mornings a year or so later.
Johnny (I can't remember his last name) switched over from WOIC and did mornings, partnered for a short time with an older guy named Gary (can't remember his last name either). They were marketed as Columbia's only Salt and Pepper morning team. Gary left soon thereafter, and Johnny continued solo for awhile, before going back to mornings on WOIC.
Pete Hamil, formerly of WNOK, did afternoons for the first few months of the station's life, and "Screamin'" Jay Michaels did nights and was MD for the life of the station.
I was hired two weeks after the station signed on from PD/Afternoons at WSSC Sumter to do 10p-2a. A short time later, I was moved to afternoon drive after Pete Hamil left. A short time later, Johnny switched back to WOIC, I went to mornings, G. Michael Keating was hired for afternoons, and Doc Reno was hired for nights.
A few months later, Doc went back to Cleveland, and JR from WNOK was hired to do late nights and production.
While the station was Churban, it was a very pop-oriented Churban, not nearly as Urban as many stations of the genre. On the other hand, though, you never heard a guitar on C-103. While I knew absolutely nothing about programming at the time, and the decisions about our playlist were held very close by those making them, I do know we had less than 100 songs in rotation, total, and had a power rotation of 1:40. We all complained about it, but, years later, after becoming an experienced programmer, I realized the narrow musical focus, tight playlist and aggressive rotations had been the cornerstones of the station's success.
We debuted at #4 in the market, right behing WNOK. I used to have the book(s) from that time, but can't find them now. I do remember we beat WNOK in that first book in either 18-34, or 18-34 Women. We fell off a touch in the Fall '86, book, but, only in 12+. The 18-34 and 18-34 women numbers were rock solid.
For reasons no one understood, Dunaway decided to take the station mainstream in February or March of '87. I do remember there being a huge argument about it between Kent Burkhart and Chuck, but, Dunaway prevailed. I'll never forget the day he walked in the studio and handed me a stack of Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Springsteen, etc. CDs and asked if I'd cart them up when I got off the air.
A couple of days later, Chuck took me to breakfast after I got off the air and said he needed me to help sell the idea to the staff, all of whom were upset about the changes. I told him we couldn't understand why we were changing when we were doing so well. Chuck said he was sick and tired of advertisers telling him we were too black, played the same old songs over and over, etc.
Now, at the time, I didn't know my ass from my elbow, but, over the years, I've often looked back on that conversation and shaken my head. Chuck was an incredibly experienced programmer and talent, and I just can't see how he didn't know that no station on the attack has ever succeeded by broadening it's musical stance, expanding it's playlist and slowing rotations. Furthermore, Dunaway was a master at creating excitement, not only in programming, but, in sales. The station had been completely sold out from the day I'd started, two weeks after it launched, and before it had any ratings at all, and Dunaway was constantly raising rates.
One thing he did better than any GM or Sales Manager I'd ever seen was maximize the value of his inventory. He'd take lower rate business, but, only with the understanding that those spots were bumpable or moveable if higher rate business came along. The only way clients could lock their rates was to sign long term contracts, and many of them did. Before we had any ratings at all, you would see Dunaway back in the poor Traffic Director's office every afternoon, bumping spots right and left. Every single month that he was there, Dunaway outperformed C-103's sales projections by a significant amount. That's why I had a hard time understanding the reasons he'd given me for the changes. Despite rumors of more sinister motivations (which I'll go into later), I have come to believe Chucks precarious financial position because of money he'd lost on the sale of his house in Texas before moving to Columbia and this being his first ownership position caused him to talk himself into making decisions he knew in his gut weren't the best ones to make. We've all done it at one time or another.
That said, I believe C-103's moving mainstream, expanding it's playlist and slowing it's rotations is the biggest mistake made in Columbia radio for at least as long as I can remember. WNOK was making mistakes common to most market leaders; too broad a musical focus, too big a playlist, too much talk, etc. When C-103 came around, WNOK added more rhythmic product in response, but, they didn't back off of any of the non-rhythmic product, so, they actually became broader when they should have tightened up. If C-103 had remained true to it's original programming philosophy, it could have carved out a very solid and profitable position for itself in the market, instead of eventually going away.
Anyway, back to the C-103 story. Within a few weeks of Chuck's broadening the station, Chaz Saunders left and Chuck brought Ralph Wimmer (formerly of WMAR/Baltimore) in as PD/Mornings. I went from mornings to afternoons. I can't remember whether G. Michael went to middays, or whether JR moved from 10a-2p to middays, and G. Man went to late nights.
After their argument over the direction of the station, Kent Burkhart played a much less significant role in the programming of the station. Under Chaz, the programming (at least musically) was essentially phoned in from Atlanta. When Ralph came in, he was the one making the decisions. Kent handed the consulting off to a subordinate, and the subordinate was only there to advise. It was Ralph's baby.
Not long after Ralph arrived, Dunaway left, taking over Go-102 and turning it into FOX 102, and the conspiracy rumors started. Dunaway had put together a group of investors to buy the station, a process which had taken more than 6 months. During that time, when he knew he would be leaving C-103, he'd made drastic changes to the programming of the station, which led to a significant drop in the ratings, from which the station would never recover. A number of advertisers also went with him, and, the rumor was, the deals to do that were made while Dunaway was still at C-103.
Dunaway was one of the two or three most influential people in my career. I put lessons I learned from him to work every day I was in radio; the basic principles he taught me were the foundation upon which I built a fairly successful programming philosophy. He gave me me a copy of Positioning; The Battle For Your Mind in 1986, and i still refer to it today. I find it hard to believe he'd do anything like that. I do know, however, that there was some really bad blood between Dunaway and Phillips before he left. It had to do with a custom-built Mercedes-Benz station wagon Dunaway bought. Still, I just can't see Chuck sabotaging something he'd worked so hard to build, and believe a lot of the rumors about him stemmed from people who were never able to get the station to bill anywhere near what Chuck had.
After Chuck left, Dale McCaskill (former GM of Z-96) was brought in as GM. I left a few months later to go work for Gary Lee Robbins at Z-96 and APD/MD/PM Drive (now, that's a story!). I'm pretty sure JR went to afternoon drive then, until Scott Summers came in for Afternoons.
The station continued like that till the spring of 1988, when Price Broadcasting out of Salt Lake City bought it. Buddy Barton, who had sold Price WEZL/Charleston, headed up the project for Price, and was in an ownership position. I'd worked for Buddy, who had owned WSSC/Sumter when I was there, and he approached me about being PD of C-103, telling me he'd decided the station needed a clean sweep and a fresh start. The sale was delayed a number of times over a 6 month period, but, in April, 1988, the deal closed, and C-103 became Power 103.
As Dunaway would say: that's "The way I Remember It.
I'd love to know where all those people are now. I know Dunaway eventually ended up as sole owner of a cluster of stations in Joplin, MO, and did very well with them. Over the years, I've hired several people who worked for him there. He sold the stations a few years ago, and is now retired.
Ralph Wimmer went to Hilton Head and put a station on the air that was owned by the same people who owned WNOK (and played A LOT of golf). I'm pretty sure he last worked in radio in Atlanta. Last I spoke to him, he was living there and working for an independent record promoter and doing voiceover work.
After leaving C-103, Chaz went to St. Louis and worked at a big Urban station there. I lost track of her after that.
I know Scott Summers is still around. I swapped emails with him a few years ago, and am pretty sure he was programming a station at a beach town in NC (that's so Scott. He's the Jimmy Buffet of Carolina radio). I also know he was at WBTS/Atlanta in 2000/2001.
G. Michael Keating has programmed a number of successfull smaller-market stations over the years. We've touched bases from time to time, but, it's been years since I've heard from him.
Doc Reno was Afternoons/APD at WKSE Buffalo when I last spoke to him, but, I know he's moved on from there.
I've always been curious about what happened to Screamin' Jay, JR and Karen St. John. Does anybody know?
Sean Phillips
C-103 signed on in the Spring of 1986 under the call letters WMMC (More Music & Cash), less than a month before the start of the Spring book. It was owned primarily by Jim Phillips and his partner in the stations he owned in Texas, but Chuck Dunaway, who came in to manage the station, had an ownership position, as did Kent Burkhart, who provided consulting services.
The station had previously been an Urban/Smooth Jazz outlet (can't remember the calls). Chaz Saunders, who'd been the PD stayed with the station as Program Director and did middays until Ralph Wimmer (Big Tom Winston) was brought in as PD/Mornings a year or so later.
Johnny (I can't remember his last name) switched over from WOIC and did mornings, partnered for a short time with an older guy named Gary (can't remember his last name either). They were marketed as Columbia's only Salt and Pepper morning team. Gary left soon thereafter, and Johnny continued solo for awhile, before going back to mornings on WOIC.
Pete Hamil, formerly of WNOK, did afternoons for the first few months of the station's life, and "Screamin'" Jay Michaels did nights and was MD for the life of the station.
I was hired two weeks after the station signed on from PD/Afternoons at WSSC Sumter to do 10p-2a. A short time later, I was moved to afternoon drive after Pete Hamil left. A short time later, Johnny switched back to WOIC, I went to mornings, G. Michael Keating was hired for afternoons, and Doc Reno was hired for nights.
A few months later, Doc went back to Cleveland, and JR from WNOK was hired to do late nights and production.
While the station was Churban, it was a very pop-oriented Churban, not nearly as Urban as many stations of the genre. On the other hand, though, you never heard a guitar on C-103. While I knew absolutely nothing about programming at the time, and the decisions about our playlist were held very close by those making them, I do know we had less than 100 songs in rotation, total, and had a power rotation of 1:40. We all complained about it, but, years later, after becoming an experienced programmer, I realized the narrow musical focus, tight playlist and aggressive rotations had been the cornerstones of the station's success.
We debuted at #4 in the market, right behing WNOK. I used to have the book(s) from that time, but can't find them now. I do remember we beat WNOK in that first book in either 18-34, or 18-34 Women. We fell off a touch in the Fall '86, book, but, only in 12+. The 18-34 and 18-34 women numbers were rock solid.
For reasons no one understood, Dunaway decided to take the station mainstream in February or March of '87. I do remember there being a huge argument about it between Kent Burkhart and Chuck, but, Dunaway prevailed. I'll never forget the day he walked in the studio and handed me a stack of Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Springsteen, etc. CDs and asked if I'd cart them up when I got off the air.
A couple of days later, Chuck took me to breakfast after I got off the air and said he needed me to help sell the idea to the staff, all of whom were upset about the changes. I told him we couldn't understand why we were changing when we were doing so well. Chuck said he was sick and tired of advertisers telling him we were too black, played the same old songs over and over, etc.
Now, at the time, I didn't know my ass from my elbow, but, over the years, I've often looked back on that conversation and shaken my head. Chuck was an incredibly experienced programmer and talent, and I just can't see how he didn't know that no station on the attack has ever succeeded by broadening it's musical stance, expanding it's playlist and slowing rotations. Furthermore, Dunaway was a master at creating excitement, not only in programming, but, in sales. The station had been completely sold out from the day I'd started, two weeks after it launched, and before it had any ratings at all, and Dunaway was constantly raising rates.
One thing he did better than any GM or Sales Manager I'd ever seen was maximize the value of his inventory. He'd take lower rate business, but, only with the understanding that those spots were bumpable or moveable if higher rate business came along. The only way clients could lock their rates was to sign long term contracts, and many of them did. Before we had any ratings at all, you would see Dunaway back in the poor Traffic Director's office every afternoon, bumping spots right and left. Every single month that he was there, Dunaway outperformed C-103's sales projections by a significant amount. That's why I had a hard time understanding the reasons he'd given me for the changes. Despite rumors of more sinister motivations (which I'll go into later), I have come to believe Chucks precarious financial position because of money he'd lost on the sale of his house in Texas before moving to Columbia and this being his first ownership position caused him to talk himself into making decisions he knew in his gut weren't the best ones to make. We've all done it at one time or another.
That said, I believe C-103's moving mainstream, expanding it's playlist and slowing it's rotations is the biggest mistake made in Columbia radio for at least as long as I can remember. WNOK was making mistakes common to most market leaders; too broad a musical focus, too big a playlist, too much talk, etc. When C-103 came around, WNOK added more rhythmic product in response, but, they didn't back off of any of the non-rhythmic product, so, they actually became broader when they should have tightened up. If C-103 had remained true to it's original programming philosophy, it could have carved out a very solid and profitable position for itself in the market, instead of eventually going away.
Anyway, back to the C-103 story. Within a few weeks of Chuck's broadening the station, Chaz Saunders left and Chuck brought Ralph Wimmer (formerly of WMAR/Baltimore) in as PD/Mornings. I went from mornings to afternoons. I can't remember whether G. Michael went to middays, or whether JR moved from 10a-2p to middays, and G. Man went to late nights.
After their argument over the direction of the station, Kent Burkhart played a much less significant role in the programming of the station. Under Chaz, the programming (at least musically) was essentially phoned in from Atlanta. When Ralph came in, he was the one making the decisions. Kent handed the consulting off to a subordinate, and the subordinate was only there to advise. It was Ralph's baby.
Not long after Ralph arrived, Dunaway left, taking over Go-102 and turning it into FOX 102, and the conspiracy rumors started. Dunaway had put together a group of investors to buy the station, a process which had taken more than 6 months. During that time, when he knew he would be leaving C-103, he'd made drastic changes to the programming of the station, which led to a significant drop in the ratings, from which the station would never recover. A number of advertisers also went with him, and, the rumor was, the deals to do that were made while Dunaway was still at C-103.
Dunaway was one of the two or three most influential people in my career. I put lessons I learned from him to work every day I was in radio; the basic principles he taught me were the foundation upon which I built a fairly successful programming philosophy. He gave me me a copy of Positioning; The Battle For Your Mind in 1986, and i still refer to it today. I find it hard to believe he'd do anything like that. I do know, however, that there was some really bad blood between Dunaway and Phillips before he left. It had to do with a custom-built Mercedes-Benz station wagon Dunaway bought. Still, I just can't see Chuck sabotaging something he'd worked so hard to build, and believe a lot of the rumors about him stemmed from people who were never able to get the station to bill anywhere near what Chuck had.
After Chuck left, Dale McCaskill (former GM of Z-96) was brought in as GM. I left a few months later to go work for Gary Lee Robbins at Z-96 and APD/MD/PM Drive (now, that's a story!). I'm pretty sure JR went to afternoon drive then, until Scott Summers came in for Afternoons.
The station continued like that till the spring of 1988, when Price Broadcasting out of Salt Lake City bought it. Buddy Barton, who had sold Price WEZL/Charleston, headed up the project for Price, and was in an ownership position. I'd worked for Buddy, who had owned WSSC/Sumter when I was there, and he approached me about being PD of C-103, telling me he'd decided the station needed a clean sweep and a fresh start. The sale was delayed a number of times over a 6 month period, but, in April, 1988, the deal closed, and C-103 became Power 103.
As Dunaway would say: that's "The way I Remember It.
I'd love to know where all those people are now. I know Dunaway eventually ended up as sole owner of a cluster of stations in Joplin, MO, and did very well with them. Over the years, I've hired several people who worked for him there. He sold the stations a few years ago, and is now retired.
Ralph Wimmer went to Hilton Head and put a station on the air that was owned by the same people who owned WNOK (and played A LOT of golf). I'm pretty sure he last worked in radio in Atlanta. Last I spoke to him, he was living there and working for an independent record promoter and doing voiceover work.
After leaving C-103, Chaz went to St. Louis and worked at a big Urban station there. I lost track of her after that.
I know Scott Summers is still around. I swapped emails with him a few years ago, and am pretty sure he was programming a station at a beach town in NC (that's so Scott. He's the Jimmy Buffet of Carolina radio). I also know he was at WBTS/Atlanta in 2000/2001.
G. Michael Keating has programmed a number of successfull smaller-market stations over the years. We've touched bases from time to time, but, it's been years since I've heard from him.
Doc Reno was Afternoons/APD at WKSE Buffalo when I last spoke to him, but, I know he's moved on from there.
I've always been curious about what happened to Screamin' Jay, JR and Karen St. John. Does anybody know?
Sean Phillips
When asked about her taste in music, she replied that she likes a mix of old and new songs. In explaining her music taste, she had mentioned that she's a huge fan of Elvis Presley fan and was fortunate enough to briefly meet him in the lobby of a casino while he was playing in Las Vegas. At the time, he was regularly wearing a ring that had the initials T-C-B, which was reported to meant "T"aking "C"are of "B"usiness, which my friend had mentioned to the questioner. (Don't know if this was the true origin of the WTCB callsign, but it's a interesting coincidence.)