Action Jackson is one of the best DJ's/show hosts we have. His sunny, 'I'm-glad-to-be-here' delivery works well with the usually good-time music. On Tuesday, he/they did a simple thing that works well. They played a couple of two-fers in preparation for Ringo Starr's concert at the Nautica Pavilion which was held Tuesday evening 07/20/10. It was nice to hear those songs at that time, particularly for those standing in line waiting for the venue to open.
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Local WMJI
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
No disrespect to Action as I'm sure he's a great guy, in fact I hear that he is. But... Scott Howitt is far better, all day everyday, for that format.
I realize radio is different today than Scott's last days in 2001. With that said, Scott never dropped out of the Top 3 25-54 in 11 years on the air fulltime at Majic. Action hasn't been Top 10 in quite sometime. In fact, I believe Cleveland radio to be more homegenized than ever, so Action should be doing well. And don't give me the "format is aging" defense. WMJI on the whole still does very well. Collier is Top 5 PPM.
No "show prep/news of the day" stuff for Scott. He entertained with his personality alone. And did it quite well. Just my humble opinion.
Scott Howitt, John Arthur, Danny Wright, John Russell (Q104) ... now that was Cleveland air talent at it's best for the 80s/90s/00s.
*I'll give Action his due at WZJM.
I realize radio is different today than Scott's last days in 2001. With that said, Scott never dropped out of the Top 3 25-54 in 11 years on the air fulltime at Majic. Action hasn't been Top 10 in quite sometime. In fact, I believe Cleveland radio to be more homegenized than ever, so Action should be doing well. And don't give me the "format is aging" defense. WMJI on the whole still does very well. Collier is Top 5 PPM.
No "show prep/news of the day" stuff for Scott. He entertained with his personality alone. And did it quite well. Just my humble opinion.
Scott Howitt, John Arthur, Danny Wright, John Russell (Q104) ... now that was Cleveland air talent at it's best for the 80s/90s/00s.
*I'll give Action his due at WZJM.
I thought Scott Howitt was good too. His rhyming schtick was fun and he was good at it. Maybe they thought it was too old school sounding as they started moving the music forward. For me it was just good entertanment. I remember rumors flying that the company dumped this #1 show so to push up the fortunes of its AM. :
is all I'll say to that. I'd like to see the company have both on the roster. We were blessed for a short while with Scott Howitt's appearance on WELW AM 1330 when the did their oldies format. I would listen to them through some noise just to hear their good quality personalities play some interesting music, along with the tried-and-true.
is all I'll say to that. I'd like to see the company have both on the roster. We were blessed for a short while with Scott Howitt's appearance on WELW AM 1330 when the did their oldies format. I would listen to them through some noise just to hear their good quality personalities play some interesting music, along with the tried-and-true.re: Howitt and moving the music forward.
WMJI was one of the first "oldies" stations to start playing 70s as a rule rather than not. That was in '97-98. Long before the "70s Movement" hit most stations a few years later (which hurt many stations as the didn't evolve, but just went heavy 70s).
Scott has a long history in Cleveland, going back to being PD at 92Q and also ZIP106.
If it were a current/gold format, perhaps his schtick would be an issue. But Majic is a pure library format.
It comes down to preference. Then Majic PD Dave Popovich (on his second go round at WMJI) didnt want Howitt, he wanted Action. It happens. PD's bring in their own people all the time. Popovich, let me add, is a very good programmer. I respect a great deal of his work and philosophy. One I didn't agree with was taking much of the R&B and rock off of Majic. He made it more female friendly, musically. Numbers went up. That's cool. He succeeded at what he set out to do. I for one just didn't agree with it given Cleveland's rock radio roots (WIXY, WHK, even early WMMS) and having worked there under Denny/GMan. I dig the R&B/rock slant. Dave and I chatted a few times when I was APD/PD at CC Raleigh. He was kind enough to share some databases and an AMT with us. Different markets, but the intel was useful. He asked what we were doing... I explained about some weekend programming... and voila' ... The WMJI Sunday Jukebox show that Max Heywood used to host was loosely patterned after the At The Hop show (pre-63) we did in Raleigh, which existed before my arrival. I amped it up, taking many cues from Norm N Nite's shows on WMJI. I hosted At The Hop. 21-24 shares were the norm. Our show was live, and had a wider playlist than the WMJI show. Which is impressive in that Raleigh's median age at the time was 42. The show shouldn't have done that well, based on market demos.
WMJI was one of the first "oldies" stations to start playing 70s as a rule rather than not. That was in '97-98. Long before the "70s Movement" hit most stations a few years later (which hurt many stations as the didn't evolve, but just went heavy 70s).
Scott has a long history in Cleveland, going back to being PD at 92Q and also ZIP106.
If it were a current/gold format, perhaps his schtick would be an issue. But Majic is a pure library format.
It comes down to preference. Then Majic PD Dave Popovich (on his second go round at WMJI) didnt want Howitt, he wanted Action. It happens. PD's bring in their own people all the time. Popovich, let me add, is a very good programmer. I respect a great deal of his work and philosophy. One I didn't agree with was taking much of the R&B and rock off of Majic. He made it more female friendly, musically. Numbers went up. That's cool. He succeeded at what he set out to do. I for one just didn't agree with it given Cleveland's rock radio roots (WIXY, WHK, even early WMMS) and having worked there under Denny/GMan. I dig the R&B/rock slant. Dave and I chatted a few times when I was APD/PD at CC Raleigh. He was kind enough to share some databases and an AMT with us. Different markets, but the intel was useful. He asked what we were doing... I explained about some weekend programming... and voila' ... The WMJI Sunday Jukebox show that Max Heywood used to host was loosely patterned after the At The Hop show (pre-63) we did in Raleigh, which existed before my arrival. I amped it up, taking many cues from Norm N Nite's shows on WMJI. I hosted At The Hop. 21-24 shares were the norm. Our show was live, and had a wider playlist than the WMJI show. Which is impressive in that Raleigh's median age at the time was 42. The show shouldn't have done that well, based on market demos.
Not having a real PD for WMJI over the past few years has hurt them greatly. Save for the simple strength of Lanigan's show, the station hasn't had any real direction at all. (Has that PD position EVER been filled since Meg Stevens left, or it is still the OM's responsibility? I lost track... : )
They obviously are playing off of being the only "classic hits" station in town (just like WNCX is the only "classic rock" fossil in town). Yes, WMJI could still run off of their legacy... but that can only get you so far. After Lanigan leaves, you can stick a fork in that burned turkey and call it overdone.
)They obviously are playing off of being the only "classic hits" station in town (just like WNCX is the only "classic rock" fossil in town). Yes, WMJI could still run off of their legacy... but that can only get you so far. After Lanigan leaves, you can stick a fork in that burned turkey and call it overdone.
You speak as if WMJI has seen it's better days. Have you seen the latest 6+ numbers? it's #1. Sounds like Majic is in fine shape.
6+ ??? Cosmetic. Those mean nothing. Don't get me wrong, WMJI still performs quite well considering PM drive and nights. Weekends would be better with themes like they (we) used to do. OM/PD Keith Abrams is quite skilled in the format, most recently programming KXKL/Denver (his brother Kris programs KOOL/Phoenix) and doing what he and the company feels is the right direction. I get that. Personally I think it could be better.
Lanigan IS going to retire, soon. When he does the Death Clock to a format flip will begin. Malone and Kullick may stick around for the short term, but they don't "need" to, at least not Malone. He's got FU money. Once Lanigan leaves the numbers will start to drop off. Might take a year, but they will drop.
Lanigan IS going to retire, soon. When he does the Death Clock to a format flip will begin. Malone and Kullick may stick around for the short term, but they don't "need" to, at least not Malone. He's got FU money. Once Lanigan leaves the numbers will start to drop off. Might take a year, but they will drop.
VODood said:
It is my recollection that WMJI's overall 25-54 went down--overall to third place at one point---after Sanders left and Popovich tried to go after WDOK females with less rock and R & B (the successful Gorman/Sanders approach), and more pop. At one point I heard Air Supply and Kenny Rogers (bletch). Then, Popovich left and slowly the station started inching back up over the months and years. Their overalls today look pretty good, but it is not the smashing success in every weekday and weekend time period that it was in the 90s right up to 2001. The edgy-ness is gone, the fun is missing, and the marketing and on-air presentation is pretty pedestrian.
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