Re: Magic 105 and Beaker Street
I don't keep up with CC and didn't know that they had to spin off any LR properties... But if that is so, I suppose it makes more sense for CC to keep the bigger signal (105.1) and keep control of the second country format in the market. If whoever eventually buys 106.7 were to really compete with KSSN, I suppose things could become challenging for CC. With Magic's numbers being low 12+, it gives them an excuse to make the change now.
It is sad to lose the second longest lived format in Little Rock, but now that it is done, we should celebrate the success of Magic 105 and Tom Wood and his staff for what they have accomplished there. Not many people in radio have held down the exact same job for 28 years. 28 years!!! I "discovered" radio in 1980, which I believe is the year that Magic 105 launched. Their transmitter was on that mountain between Conway and LR (near Mayflower) and they were hard to pick up in Southeast Arkansas, but I enjoyed listening when I could. KSSN is the only station that has remained in it's format for all that length of time. More than half the stations currently in LR didn't even exist back then, or were located elsewhere and subsequently moved in.
Let's also celebrate Clyde Clifford and Beaker Street. The first time I heard Beaker Street was on the last day of KAAY. Somewhere I still have a tape of his last hour on the Mighty 1090 leading up to midnight when the station went off the air for a while, then returned with the preaching. Please tell me Clyde Clifford has a place on Tom-FM.
Little Rock has always had some gems on the radio dial, and Tom Wood and Clyde Clifford are two of the people responsible for this. KAAY and Magic 105 won't soon be forgotten.