Mike Jorgenson

[michaelhagerty]

Sad news from Radio Business Report:

Former Sundance Broadcasting principal Mike Jorgenson died at his home in San Miguel, Mexico 10/13 from an apparent suicide, Detroit Radio Advertising Group President Bill Burton tells us. His home was near former AOL exec Bob Pittman there. Says Burton, on losing one of his best friends: "Mike Jorgenson was a great guy. We shot the Colorado River for three days together, white water rafting. We did 100 things together. He unquestionably was the most interesting, unique, funniest, craziest wild and sometimes-you-wanted-to-hit-him-with-a-baseball-bat guy that I ever hung out with in all my years in this business."


Jorgenson owned KZON, KYOT and KOY in the early 90s.


---Michael Hagerty

 

[johndavis]

> Sad news from Radio Business Report:
>
> Former Sundance Broadcasting principal Mike Jorgenson died
> at his home in San Miguel, Mexico 10/13 from an apparent
> suicide, Detroit Radio Advertising Group President Bill
> Burton tells us. His home was near former AOL exec Bob
> Pittman there. Says Burton, on losing one of his best
> friends: "Mike Jorgenson was a great guy. We shot the
> Colorado River for three days together, white water rafting.
> We did 100 things together. He unquestionably was the most
> interesting, unique, funniest, craziest wild and
> sometimes-you-wanted-to-hit-him-with-a-baseball-bat guy that
> I ever hung out with in all my years in this business."
>
>
> Jorgenson owned KZON, KYOT and KOY in the early 90s.
>
>
> ---Michael Hagerty
>

Wow. That's pretty (BLEEP) up. I really don't know what to say.<P ID="signature">______________
...co-moderator of the Satellite Radio, Phoenix, and San Diego boards...</P>

 

[wattsup]

> Wow. That's pretty (BLEEP) up. I really don't know what to
> say.
>
Condolences from S.D, John. I know you and a bunch of folks who worked with him in the early 90's in Phoenix. At lease Jorgy had the spirit to try new things on the radio when it was really getting stale. THE Phoenix Radio Stations.RIP

 

[johndavis]

> Condolences from S.D, John. I know you and a bunch of folks
> who worked with him in the early 90's in Phoenix. At lease
> Jorgy had the spirit to try new things on the radio when it
> was really getting stale. THE Phoenix Radio Stations.RIP

The guy could drive you crazy because he never slept... he'd keep e-mailing new ideas (or stuff that he heard wasn't right) at 3:30 in the morning.

In a bizarre way, he had us doing Jack-FM way before its time. Imagine what we could have done if he spent a couple of bucks on research and actually knew who we were targeting...

Oddly, the night before Michael posted this, I dreamt that I got a call from Jorgy saying he was putting the band back together (so to speak) and that my task was to somehow make 3 crappy stations that he bought for a song profitable with a staff of three or four part-timers and 30 sales people. I've got to stop taking Tylenol PM.

I busted my ass for the Phoenix Radio Stations for really low wages, but I learned a lifetime of radio in a short period of time. Wouldn't change a thing. Okay, I would refuse to pirate all the office software like they demanded... but the radio stuff was all good. And when I was down and out, the two people who helped me get back on my feet and refocus were Mike Jorgenson and Gary Edens. We've lost a good one.<P ID="signature">______________
...co-moderator of the Satellite Radio, Phoenix, and San Diego boards...</P>