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Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

T

thebeach33445

Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

Hey Guys:

How is everyone doing? I was hoping you all can help me with the history of Ft. Myers radio history with some questions. I got most of everything else.

Does anybody know:

1. Format of WRGI 93.5 from 1971 to 1983.

2. When did WLEQ 96-Q go from Top 40 to AC.

3. Any history of WINK 96.9 from 1964 to 1980's and when did it go Top 40.

4. What was 106.3 WROC AROUND 1994, 1995.

5. What was WSWF 107.1 format and WOOJ 107.1 format. I think WOOJ was AOR.

6. Any history of WINK 1240 from the 50's to 1984.

7. Any history of WNOG from the 50's to 1984.

8. Any history of WMYR 1410 UP TO 1987. Is it true that it was a ROCK station?

9. 1440 WAYK format from 1970 to 1976.

Thanks guys for all of your help on this one!!

T.J.
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

I may be able to fill in some historical information relating to Fort Myers radio...

WMYR-AM 1410 was Top 40 in the 70s and most of the 80s before flipping to country, possibly in 1987...

WINK-FM 96.9 operated with 44kw for many years and programmed beautiful music up until somewhere around 1983 or 1984 when it flipped to Top 40...

WOOJ-FM 107.1 was never AOR as it was a country station,..

WINK-AM 1240 was MOR...

WNOG-AM 1270 was MOR...

WAYK-AM 1440 to the best of my recollection was Top 40...

WRGI-FM 93.5 was Beautiful Music...

WLEQ-FM 95.9 "96 Super Q" was Top 40 up untill it changed frequency to 96.1 and went to 100kw at which time it became WRXK "96 K Rock" with a flip to mainstream AOR...

There may be a few holes that I cannot remember, but for the most part, what I gave you is correct if not exactly to the letter...

Mark Tillery
General Manager
WELE-AM 1380
Ormond Beach - Daytona, Florida
[email protected]
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

How is everyone doing? I was hoping you all can help me with the history of Ft. Myers radio history with some questions. I got most of everything else.

Well...having made a number of trips to that area between 1968 and 1991 armed with a decent radio (Superadio in the later years) I can probably help you out.....

Does anybody know:

1. Format of WRGI 93.5 from 1971 to 1983.

WRGI was Top 40 in the early/mid 70s drifting towards what we would call Hot A/C today....

2. When did WLEQ 96-Q go from Top 40 to AC.

Thats kind of vague. The difference between Top 40 and A/C became a real fine line in the late 70's. When I heard WLEQ in February, 1980 it was Hot A/C by today's standards...

3. Any history of WINK 96.9 from 1964 to 1980's and when did it go Top 40.

Definitely Top 40 by the late 70s...

4. What was 106.3 WROC AROUND 1994, 1995.

5. What was WSWF 107.1 format and WOOJ 107.1 format. I think WOOJ was AOR.

WSWF was Disco as was WOOJ for a couple of years. WOOJ flipped to Album Oriented Rock, probably around 1985.
(Orange Rock 107) Unfortunately for them, WLEQ flipped to AOR in 1986, as WRXK with 100,000 watts. WOOJ which was only 3000 watts, tweaked its format to Classic Rock in 1988. The format was flipped to Country in late 1989, as WCTK. Originally, 107.1 signed on in 1976, as WAYK-FM programming Beautiful Music.

6. Any history of WINK 1240 from the 50's to 1984.

MOR by the mid 70s, Oldies in the early 80s, Nostalgia by the mid 80s....

7. Any history of WNOG from the 50's to 1984.

WNOG was always MOR during the numerous times that I heard I heard it, from the 1970s and beyond...

8. Any history of WMYR 1410 UP TO 1987. Is it true that it was a ROCK station?

Absolutely true!!! I kept my radio locked on 1410 during a weeks vacation in April, 1968! They were great in those days! I recall that they remained in that format well into the 1980s, after most AMs had abandoned it!

9. 1440 WAYK format from 1970 to 1976.

During the 70s and early 80s, I recall that this station was consistantly Beautiful Music...

Also don't forget....

1510-Marco Island....1000 watt daytimer....
WRGI-AM Top 40...1975-1979...
WMIB-MOR early 80s...
WWWO-Country...mid 80s....

Thanks guys for all of your help on this one!!
T.J.
[/quote]
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

If anyone here knows DJ's / staff that was with WSRX "91.5 The Spark" / WBPT "Power 89.5" in the late-80's to early-90's, please direct them my way. I want to get them back on the air! (And I can!)

Does anyone else remember this station?
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

Not in your question, but we remember when the old WKZO signed on, they aired Transtar's satellite delivered, light adult contemporary, "Format-41" in C-QuAM stereo, then they went new rock(?), and then, sports. We think they came on shortly after the FCC stopped protecting the dominant clears (WABC) out to their theoretical half megawatt signal contours.
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

Yes, WOOJ was AOR to a quick "Orange 107" Classic Rock when I was in town building Way-Fm with Bob Augsburg (1987).... Things changed drastically when I moved to build Way-Fm's Nashville outlet... I remember 95.3 sold from Riverside Baptist to become Oldies-95.3...Riverside then went high powered non-com inspo on the non-com dial...(90.3 or 90.5?).... WSOR... Then I remember "The Spark" and teen center in Naples... (I was actually asked by the Feds to tape them for illegal commercial content on a non-com, based on the rules of the late 80's and early 90's.... I passed on it... They were a really hot teen station, but were way over the gray area of commercial matter and call to action...I did not feel it was my job to monitor other non-coms!) Old days.....
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

I was hired over the phone to become Production Director at WMYR/WHEW back in 1986 - Run by the actual Mom and Pop team of Bob and Kathleen Hecksher, by the time I'd packed everything in a uhaul and driven to Florida, I was too embarrased to cut and run when I saw the station. It was a dive of epic proportions - but the Heckshers were great at recruiting by phone - and never brought anyone in for a visit, pre-hire. WMYR was Ft Myers original top 40 station, with rip and read news - by the dj at the top and bottom of every hour, (we used the WKRP ChiChiRodriquez pronounciation since the Heckshires didn't know any different) trading post where people called in to offer everything for sale (including the Production Director calling in character from the other studio offering rewards for his long lost wife, Lurleen). Bob Heckshire (sp?) had been one of the pioneers of Fort Myers Radio. first with WMYR as the top 40 am, later with WHEW, a country station. But by the time I got there, he was in his 80's and 'eccentric'. After about six months of WMYR, I was hired to produce over at WOOJ, with the promise of building a multi-track studio - which sort of happened. WOOJ was Album Rock - but pretty heavily consultant influenced. This time, the mom and pop were Bob and Margie Dwyer, although Margie didn't do much. There was also a AM, WGTR in Lehigh Acres, which was country but the signal only covered about a 6 block area. On good days. We did a lot of great stuff at OJ, including a morning zoo team - Jay Hamilton, half of that duo is on-air in Little Rock as Cory and Jay. We had lots of beach promotions with MTV and the local beer distributors - huge conflict between retirees and college students on spring break which we were always happy to help inflame. In one failed promotion, we actually broadcast coverage of synchronized swimming - "look at that Jay, they're right together on that move" "and Gene, you would call that move what exactly what?." "Why I'd call it stunning Jay, stunning". Jon Bon Jovi used to be this kid that would stop by the station and bug us when he was in town - till he dropped off a copy of his first album, sans artwork, got famous and never came back. Then the Beasleys came along with KROCK out of bonita springs, with Swinging Dick Tyler and Chris Corley (who you still hear doing voiceovers for nearly every station in the country) and took over the top spot in Album Rock, we tried Classic Rock for a couple of books, (sounds exactly the same now as 1987). The next year, WOOJ changed over to Cat Country and took over the top country spot from WHEW and I ended up selling spots at WAVE 101 out of Naples and running Rolling Thunder Studios doing production on the side. Fun times. And one radio market that I couldn't wait to get out of. Other locals of note - Shep Smith was the NBC news anchor at the time, and Hoda Kotbee was at WINK TV I think. I'm really sorry about that "Hoda H-O-D-A Hoda" parody we did to the Kinks Lola tune.
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

Very interesting post! Filled in a few gaps for me (I've been in Naples since 1988).
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

my first job in radio was with WHEW in April of 86, doing overnights and cleaning up cocaine residue left behind by the legendary Donnie Dees...that format was something, one song, 3 commercials, one song, 3 commercials...all day long. As many as 35 units an hour 6a-7p...phenominal. And they expected you to talk between the commercials too. WTF do you say between commercials? Got let go after 4 years because Bob and Kathleen (or as she was referred to by her loving husband "Moose") felt I didn't have a good enough voice for radio. I told them I was perpetually hoarse from all the talking we were expected to do. 19 years later I'm still in radio, just goes to show that sometimes you don't need a mentor to grow, sometimes you just have to watch someone do it the wrong way and not repeat the mistakes. Working with Swingin Dick at K Rock for 18 months after WHEW showed me how fun radio could be, and him letting me fill in for him whenever he was out helped my confidence level tremendously. Thank God for that, although a mentor would have been preferable to 4 years of cue burned 45's, roaches running around the size of prescription bottles and toilet backwash flowing down the hall everytime it rained...sales people would call the dept of health on their own bosses so they'd clean it up, otherwise they wouldn't. That kinda mom and pop radio needs to stay retired
 
Re: Ft. Myers Naples History questions (Help)

1063 WROC was an active rock station that came out of the chute like gangbusters, but ended up being gutted and smashed by an ego maniac consultant (who shortly after leaving Burkhardt Douglas went on to program WROC's direct competitor against WROC...hmmmm) and a spineless owner once his son (who was the GSM) left the station. Also didn't help that the station lost its morning show 6 months in, Rocko went to Diz in Orlando (never shoulda let him go to morning show bootcamp) and the amazingly talented Jennifer Vaughn was let go shortly after because the owner couldn't justify her 22k salary. Jennifer is now one of the most successful voice talents in the world, Jennifer Vaughn Productions. Spineless owners son is still in the business, running Black Crow Broadcasting and has plenty of spine
 
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