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Name that tower
- Thread starter FLjack2
- Start date
FLjack2 said:
I think that might be 1470 AM and 102.7 FM. When I lived in SoFlo in the 70s, 1470 was WRBD, a soul station. There was a sign that said "ROCKIN' BIG DADDY". 102.7 was then WCKO, probably one of the first R & B stations on FM.
I know 102.7 is now classic hits "Majic 102.7". I used to listen to it when I visited during the 90s. Not sure what 1470 is doing now. It's probably brokered out.
I know the tower. Back as recently as 2001, you could see a faded WRBD (now WWNN) on the shack.
102.7 has been down at the Antenna Farm since '86, I believe. Mr. 96X can confirm this.
102.7 has been down at the Antenna Farm since '86, I believe. Mr. 96X can confirm this.
Bingo, yeah that's "the rock." The old WRBD studios of 1470 out on Rock Island Road, near Commerical.
Beasley owns it now and its fully brokered out as WWNN. Kane is on their buying his usual blocks of airtime. I think its a 5 tower array.
I don't think there is an FM stick out there. 102.7, which was WCKO K-102 back in the day was located in the building. Like the previous entry said 102.7 is on a farm these days.
Speaking of building...after looking at the WSLM studio picks...wonder what the insides of "The Rock" look like these days...
Beasley owns it now and its fully brokered out as WWNN. Kane is on their buying his usual blocks of airtime. I think its a 5 tower array.
I don't think there is an FM stick out there. 102.7, which was WCKO K-102 back in the day was located in the building. Like the previous entry said 102.7 is on a farm these days.
Speaking of building...after looking at the WSLM studio picks...wonder what the insides of "The Rock" look like these days...
deolost14 said:
Funny how I still remember that location after all these years! Not too many people lived near Rock Island and Commercial back in the early 70s.
So Steve Kane now buys his airtime! I remember when he was the biggest talk show host in SoFlo, next to Neil Rogers. Kane had a short run in NY at WABC in 1989 and '90.
deolost14 said:
I haven't seen the insides of that place since 1980. WRBD was downstairs and WCKO was upstairs. It wasn't bad at the time but it seems like when these places go unused they fall apart quickly. The old WCKO automation was in a room with sliding glass doors on the front, same for the production room. The K-102 air studio was in the front of the building upstairs. The room was typical '70 studio with shag carpet on the walls. The equipment wasn't much, a very cheap Ramco board and Harris cart decks with buttons that kept popping off. A homebrew board in production that worked well. WRBD had the good stuff, nice RCA board but then they probably made most of the money in those days. The guys at WRBD were always nice to us.
So Steve Kane now buys his airtime! I remember when he was the biggest talk show host in SoFlo, next to Neil Rogers. Kane had a short run in NY at WABC in 1989 and '90.
Yep Kane came back to Florida, got involved with this guy Adam Klatsoff. He was an insurance guy who fancied himself a talk show host. Adam built a remote studio in his insurance office in Coral Springs and bought time on WWNN, back when it was on 980. Then somewhere along the line Kane got involved, was co-hosting with Klatsoff, Klatsoff retired and Kane took over. But its a time buy, Kane is not on staff at WWNN or employed with Beasley. Kane's on from 6 to 9 during the week live, then a best of is run from 12 midnight to 6 AM on WWNN 1470 and its Boca sister 740 WSBR. I think the overnights are a freebie though, (just guessing) the cheapest alternative to have something moving the needles. They dumped motivation fill programming a looong time ago.
Funny thing Mike, someone WAS inside using those studio around 1992ish. Broadcasting. Seriously. At that time, WSRF 1580 set up shop inside "the Rock." Story goes, that Paxson unloaded the station on some advertising company as a form of "payment" for services they provided Paxson. The this advertisign company hashed out an LMA with the Beasley (the 1470 gang), and 1580 became a brokered outlet called "Entertainment Radio." Well, "Entertainment Radio" didn't last long, and whoever this advertising company was unloaded the dump on Carl Nelson, who bought and turned into "Mystic 1580." The land on which 1580 and the old WSHE studio sat - a trailer park in Davie - was sold and WSRF got the boot. So Nelson, in a desperate bid to keep the station alive, set up shop inside the old 1470 building for a brief time...using god knows what equipment that was left over from the old K102/WRBD days. That was until the Nelson's cash feed (Radio One, I believe) up and sold the station without consulting him. So 1580 WSRF is now coowned with 1170 WAVS, both now located in Miami and Creole brokered, Nelson tried a third time with a time buy on 1400 with new owners James Crystal, who eventually gave him the boot as well.Mike Sheridan said:
RadioGuy2004 said:I know the tower. Back as recently as 2001, you could see a faded WRBD (now WWNN) on the shack.
102.7 has been down at the Antenna Farm since '86, I believe. Mr. 96X can confirm this.
Looks like they painted over the nostalgia <sigh>. Other than the antenna you can't tell what is/was on Pine Island. Majic went to the tower formerly known as Gannett in the early 80's along with a slew of others. WSRF-AM is now located at 1510 NE 162nd Street in NMB. I guess during their breaks they go to 163rd Street Mall for some quick shoppin' ;D Good ole Austin Foreman, the owner of 3/4's of Davie booted everyone from the trailer park, a couple of buildings are still there, including the fomer WSHE/WSRF memorial building.
WAVS is right off Davie Road behind the Wachovia Bank in beautiful Downtown Davie.
Mike is right. Shag on the walls was a staple. At 96X we had Red and Black Shag through the whole programming area. SWEET!!
Thanks for the update. The interesting thing is WSRF was at the trailer park location before the trailers. My friend won a prize from WSRF when I was still a teen and in those days WSRF was in the middle of a cow pasture. Not sure when the cows moved out and the trailers moved it.
The 1470 site is prime real estate I would think, being on the edge of the Inverrary Golf Course. The land is probably worth more than the radio station.
The 1470 site is prime real estate I would think, being on the edge of the Inverrary Golf Course. The land is probably worth more than the radio station.
Since WAVS has been mentioned. Early in my radio career the WAVS studios were just down the hall from my first station WAXY. Both stations were in the First Federal bank building at 301 East Las Olas Blvd in the middle of Fort Lauderdale. Man that was a very long time ago!
Mike Sheridan said:
You're not kidding Mike. The land for the old WNNN 980 Site (RIP WBSS 98 GOLD) on the Atlantic Avenue Extension off the Pompano Beach Turnpike Exit...HMS Broadcasting made a killing on selling the land. Now there sits an office/warehouse park. I do remember that being surrounded by cows back in the day. Someone told me, also horses. In fact, HMS bought 99.5 FM, a 3kw in Jupiter. They removed a bathroom in the Boca complex, built a studio for 99.5 in the area of the old bathroom, threw a 1000 disc CD changer on it with "Classic Standards" as "the Jukebox 99.5 FM." Put the station into the top 5 (Perry Como, Les Paul, Pat Boone were big money!), then sold the station and made another killing at the bank. That was before Beasley came into the picture, to own WWNN 1470, WSBR 740 and WSHR 980.
BTW, back to the WSLM thread of radio dumps...my understanding the bathroom conversion to a studio at WJBW was a shoddy job, so everytime someone used the other restroom left over, the jock would be greeted by the aroma of raw sewage. Chuck Zink always complained about it, the smell.
I lost track of who has 99.5 these days, but I believe the WJBW calls are alive and well somewhere in the CBS chain, on one of their WPB stations, right?
deolost14 said:
Whoa there! During the time when WEXY and WAXY were owned by Albert S. Tedesco the WAXY automation and transmitter were at 301 E. Las Olas. WAXY was never the FM sister to WAVS. Before it was WAXY it was WIXX-FM and simulcasted the WIXX 1520 country format. Tedesco bought 105.9 from the Findley Publishing company of Findley, Ohio. It was WFLM back then with studios and offices at 301 East Las Olas. When Tedesco bought 105.9 he cut it down to 3 rooms, just enough room for the transmitter and automation.
RKO bought WAXY 105.9 in 1973 and moved it to a 2 story building on Andrews Av (WAXY was downstairs) in Fort Lauderdale, still in the downtown area. Transmitter went to the Channel 51 tower on Pembroke Road near I-95. The move to Sunrise Blvd was sometime in the late '70's or early '80's. All this is probably more than you wanted to know.
V
vadar
Guest
More importantly, what's the height of these towers? Am told the largest (tallest FM) tower is in South Florida, correct?
FLjack2 said:
The FM stick was for 102.7 until they moved the transmitter down to one of the towers on the county line. The FM stick might just be for an emergency or maybe it's part of the 1470 AM array. According to radio-locator.com the AM 1470 transmitter is still there.
Radio-Locator also shows that WKPX the FM at Piper High has a CP to go from 3KW to 25KW directional.
Oopps, sorry Jack...to much memory lane. I think the post above is right...I can believe the FM tower from 102.7 still standing out there...makes total sense. I had no idea it was still out there...I though that was all 1470 towers out there. I'm sure Beasley is somehow using that FM stick to its advantage and its generating income, I'm sure.FLjack2 said:
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