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Questions about Orlando's CHR's in the 1980s.

R

RobynWattsV2.0

I've got a few questions about Orlando's CHR scene during the 1980s.

Why did WHLY (Y106) drop the name for WCAT in 1987? When did they return to the Y106 name? When did XL106.7 sign on?

Why did BJ-105 (WBJW) drop CHR for Hot AC/CHR as Mix 105.1?

Did I-100 (WNFI) show up in the Orlando ratings?

Thanks,
Robyn
 
Perhaps Y-106 was looking to re-brand the station to head off ratings encroachment from BJ-105. Can't say for sure, I have no inside info on that. I can remember that we (at BJ-105 at the time) were scratching our heads on that one. That was a pretty good CHR-war. BTW, as I recall, I-100 never really had much of a ratings impact in Orlando. If memory serves...and it's a bit fuzzy....I-100 was absolutely overloaded with spots.....it was a very difficult listen.
 
Why did BJ-105 (WBJW) drop CHR for Hot AC/CHR as Mix 105.1?

To appeal to an older demographic.

Whassup, John Summers? (KD and TY from BJ)
 
Is that john summers, former bj105 and wmmo host??? i used to love listening to the lost 70s tunes on my drive home from the orlando sentinel back when wmmo first hit the orlando airwaves......

I remember the Cat thing didn't last long with 106........remember when Bubba the love sponge worked at 106??? early 90s???
 
Yes, it's me.....lurking.......HEY! KD and TY......I hope all is well with you guys!! All is terrific in Dallas...the gods of Arbitron have smiled on us.

As far as the 'why they switched'.....I can only assume that it was to get a bigger slice of the 25-54 pie. Brian Thomas would have the inside skinny as that happened shortly after I left.
 
I believe it was 1989 when BJ went to Mix. At the time, the term "Mix" was becoming very trendy with Top 40 stations especially adult leaning ones. Of course these days "Mix" is used mainly by AC and Hot AC stations (and a few Urban ACs too.) When Mix 105.1 signed on it was officially "Adult Top 40." I believe it was less than a year later that Y106 switched to "XL 106.7" and it too was "Adult Top 40" and the two stations sounded nearly identical. Within a couple of years, 105.1 shifted to AC territory and 106.7 began moving to Mainstream CHR.
 
I believe it was 1989 when BJ went to Mix.

September 15, 1989. The switchover was at midnight.

It was a closely-held secret until the late afternoon the day before. So closely-held that the Production Director wasn't told. The Production Director who was the only person to remember that all the recorded traffic spots for the next morning started with "BJ105 traffic...". The Production Director who had to spend hours that night re-recording them all.

Not that I'm bitter...
 
:D .....that's OK, Old Guy. At least we got to 'interview' George Michael! ;D (LOL)
 
At least we got to 'interview' George Michael!

That's so funny. I was going to mention that to you but I didn't think you'd remember.
 
I worked at WHLY when the calls were changed to WCAT. I was only a part time announcer and wasn't at all the station meetings, but I can tell you that I'm certain that "Y106 The Cat" was a brand that was created to give the station its own identity. I recall at the time, as someone in this thread mentioned, that WCAT and BJ105 were the two CHR powerhouses in the market. Their rotation sounded very similar. I had left the overnight slot at BJ105 a couple of years earlier (1985), and they were definitely huge competitors.

I'm certain that's why Mark McKay, the Y106 PD at the time (and others who designed the strategy), wanted to create the unique brand for Y106.

Why did they change the calls back to WHLY? Simple. They changed PDs. That was a "fun" time in my life. It was the only job I ever got laid off from w/o ever talking to anyone in management. The new PD (don't recall his name) sent a written memo that said he was adjusting the schedule and would post it near the control room. Well, the new schedule never did include my name.

What a great professional. I'll always admire the guy whose name I don't remember. He put his wife on in my old slot.:mad:

Also, to answer the post starter about why BJ changed to Mix: As someone in this thread mentioned, it was to pull in that older demo.
 
The late 80s (88-89) was a great time for CHR in Orlando. Both "Y106 the Cat" and "BJ 105" were awesome top 40 stations. I remember coming down on vacation each year and rolling bunches of airchecks on them. I especially loved "Y106", and I REALLY loved the short lived "Y106 the Cat" period. I remember that when they moved to the WCAT calls and the "Y106 the Cat" name, they also became very rhythmic based and played tons of Latin Freestyle dance. I have several airchecks of their awesome evening and weekend dance mix shows ("CatMix 106" with Larry D.). Also, they had a really great evening jock at the time (I think his name was Ray "Boom Boom" Mariner if I'm remembering correctly, and also Raffi Contico (sp?) was great as well). I remember one aircheck where they are talking about Raffi cruising International Drive in the Y106 van one last time before they passed some sort of anti-cruising restricition.
Also, does anyone else remember the "Y106 the Cat" billboards. They were solid black with the cat logo in neon colors. Really cool! And they were still cool when they switched back to the old WHLY calls in '89 as "More Hits, More Fun Y106". I hated when both Y106 and BJ105 both went Hot AC within a few days of each other. It instantly turned Orlando from one of my favorite radio markets to a terrible one for a couple of years. Anyway, the re-birth of 106.7 as CHR "XL106.7" a year or so later was great, but I've never thought "XL 106.7" has ever sounded as great as the old "Y106" did.
 
I agree. Nothing has come close in Orlando radio in the last decade to the rotation that BJ105 and Y106 had in the late '80's.
 
It's so funny about WCAT. I was working at Y106 at the time (middays maybe? I was at Y for 5 years, sometimes at night, but then moved to middays for a while - my name is Jaime and I was the chick on the air for a few years). Yeah, it was Mark McKay wanting to put his mark on things. I remember we bought the calls from some country station somewhere. I still have my WCAT Staff jacket. I was just talking to Rob Q (who did weekends at the time as well as promotions and is now Cat Thomas at KLUC in Vegas) and we were laughing about it all because that's actually where his "Cat" moniker came from. I just posted a WCAT Staff photo on my Facebook page.
 
As I recall (having worked mornings at both Y-106 & BJ-105 during this period), part of the reason for "CAT" was to try and save face for one of the classic blunders by a GM in Orlando radio history.

Y-106 went from a "mellow" AC station to a hot CHR under the supervision of Rick Stacey & Jimmy Steal with input and assistance from Jeff Cohen & me (Jeff was actually the person who got all of us hired there). The owner then replaced GM Alan Rock with Jim Tillery. Within a few months Tillery had fired all of us (I had the honor of being the first to go and Jimmy technically quit). The station then, predictably, sunk like a stone in the ratings. Rather than admit mistakes, the station blamed their poor ratings on the call letters (???). They thought that CAT would send them roaring back up in the ratings. It didn't.

The owner of the station then fired Tillery and wanted the station moved back to calling itself Y-106. I know because the owner also had a conversation with me at the time about coming back to the station to serve as Program Director. Of course, BJ-105 would not let me out my contract there.

The story of the rapid rise and fall of the Stacey-Steal-Breakfast Club Y-106 would fill a book. There is a lot more intrique and double-dealing that I don't have space for here.
 
I have one great memory from the original Y-106 Breakfast club. My sister was a HUGE Duran Duran fan during that time. Anybody that knows anything about Duran Duran remembers the group Arcadia, which was a spin-off of Duran Duran. Anyways, there was GREAT anticipation for the Arcadia release "So Red The Rose" in the fall of '85. I will never forget the morning that Y-106 got the first single from Arcadia, "Election Day", and played the hell out of it during the Breakfast Club..

Really good stuff...
 
SANTA MARIA! This takes me back... I couldn't tell you how many promotions I went to wearing that funkalicious CAT mascot outfit. Foxx had me in that thing at malls, charity events, car lots, and the like. I have pics of me sporting that neon 80 foot diameter head with Foxx (and Sting), Shadow (and some MTV chick), Jamie (and Ray Parker Jr.), the list goes on.
I too, still have my beautiful black satin (with awful white liner) staff jacket, a coffee mug or two, and all kinds of junk from the cat days.
For Jamie & Cross... I also still have some old Y note pads: "From The Desk of Bobby Sharpe" etc. HAHAHA

I remember that PD put me out in a similar way (was it Dennis something?). I was running the countdown on Sunday mornings and had to fill some time at the end to make the hour (lovely job sales did), and plugged in a cart that hadn't "officially been added" (nice that it was in the control room already). He called me from the hotel he was staying in, across the street and told me that would be my last shift... The song? "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off"- Jermaine Stewart... still one of my all time faves because of that. The Arista rep sent me a gold record eventually. HA!

I used to drive that awful white conversion van (and the companion Coke Video Van) EVERYWHERE. Larry D & Raffi thought I was their driver. They used to let me take it home... I would take my friends to McDonalds and stuff, good times... Used to drive Rick's silver Nissan 300Z to the Fudrucker's to snag lunch all the time too... I thought I was PIMP!
 
Legendary calls were WBJW!!!! The Top 40 radio of today just flat out reeks.....
 
I dunno.....as a format participant then, and just a casual observer/occasional listener now, I don't think there's a world of difference. There seems to be more phone interaction these days, on every format, but I think it's pretty close.
 
Is this Bobby Sharpe??? I'm Jaime. I don't have any pics of the cat mascot ... but lots of other pics from that era. I also still have some of my notepads from Y106 as well as t-shirts and mugs from the Cat era and otherwise. And yeah ... I still have my satin Cat windbreaker too! The PD you're talking about was Dennis Reese. Loved him, actually. He went off to Mobile after that at one point, and when I moved on to the Houston market, I actually stayed with him at his house on my drive from Orlando to my new job. I'd forgotten about Larry D and Rafi ... thanks for the memories!!

bucbutchie said:
SANTA MARIA! This takes me back... I couldn't tell you how many promotions I went to wearing that funkalicious CAT mascot outfit. Foxx had me in that thing at malls, charity events, car lots, and the like. I have pics of me sporting that neon 80 foot diameter head with Foxx (and Sting), Shadow (and some MTV chick), Jamie (and Ray Parker Jr.), the list goes on.
I too, still have my beautiful black satin (with awful white liner) staff jacket, a coffee mug or two, and all kinds of junk from the cat days.
For Jamie & Cross... I also still have some old Y note pads: "From The Desk of Bobby Sharpe" etc. HAHAHA

I remember that PD put me out in a similar way (was it Dennis something?). I was running the countdown on Sunday mornings and had to fill some time at the end to make the hour (lovely job sales did), and plugged in a cart that hadn't "officially been added" (nice that it was in the control room already). He called me from the hotel he was staying in, across the street and told me that would be my last shift... The song? "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off"- Jermaine Stewart... still one of my all time faves because of that. The Arista rep sent me a gold record eventually. HA!

I used to drive that awful white conversion van (and the companion Coke Video Van) EVERYWHERE. Larry D & Raffi thought I was their driver. They used to let me take it home... I would take my friends to McDonalds and stuff, good times... Used to drive Rick's silver Nissan 300Z to the Fudrucker's to snag lunch all the time too... I thought I was PIMP!
Click to expand...
 
Anyb0ody know where Terry Foxx is nowadays? We worked together at BJ 105 in 1988 and got into a wreck on I-4 in the BJ 105 van. Sorry Rick W......
 
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