The NEW EZ 103

[dmer]

EZ 103 is still calling themselves the new EZ 103. They have been on the air for over 2 years now (which is almost honored veteran status in radio today ). I think they can drop the "New" now (although I remember Buzz 102/103 was "new" up to the day they were taken off the air). They have had significant personnel changes in the last 2 years as well as changes in the voices for their liners at least 3 times. Eric seems to be the only fixture there. It seems Entercom does not want to invest in this station and doesn't know what else to do with it. It will never be a big player in the market, but with proper care it can have a modicum of success. They are a good alternative to Magic 93 for those who do not like some of the music they play. My main complaint is that while they have a no repeat 9 to 5, you can almost predict what song will be on when. Also they are almost totally voicetracked (however, this is not as big of a deal to me since they are on the air to mostly play music, not entertain with their witty comments).

 

[ThomasCarten]

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EZ 103 is still calling themselves the new EZ 103. They have been on the air for over 2 years now (which is almost honored veteran status in radio today).

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WOR had one program that was on the air for 75 years, still doing well when it was axed by some a-h whose grandfather was a zygote when it began. We need a bit more stability in the business, rather than two years here, three years there.

 

[masterg]

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EZ 103 is still calling themselves the new EZ 103. They have been on the air for over 2 years now (which is almost honored veteran status in radio today).

.
WOR had one program that was on the air for 75 years, still doing well when it was axed by some a-h whose grandfather was a zygote when it began. We need a bit more stability in the business, rather than two years here, three years there.

In a related sense, at least I hope so, have a look around at the ages of NE PA's morning people, and their time in service here. If you consider KRZ, Rock107, Magic, you've got morning people that have been in the market close to or beyond twenty years. FROGGY's Ken Medek has been in this market a long time as well. Afternoons over at KRZ, you've got Jeff Walker, who's been with them twenty-five years. Fran Pantuso is one of the original staff members(remember the rest of the original staff?)at Magic. My point(and there is one in here somewhere)is that these are unprecedented times, jocks NEVER stayed put that long anywhere in this biz. The jobs just ain't out there nowadays, you find a good one, you cling to it.

 

[yonkstur]

Fran Pantuso is one of the original staff members(remember the rest of the original staff?)

Let me give it a shot. Chris Norton, Pantuso, Kelly Reed, Carol Warholick (Sweeney), that's all I remember.

Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

Fran Pantuso is one of the original staff members(remember the rest of the original staff?)

Let me give it a shot. Chris Norton, Pantuso, Kelly Reed, Carol Warholick (Sweeney), that's all I remember.

Yonkstur

I'd say if you add Norm Marriott to the list, that would be the complete line-up. Norm Hill also did part-time work Magic at the time. Where is Norm Hill, anyone know? Or Marriott? If my memory is any good, Magic hit air in March of 1985.

 

[yonkstur]

I forgot about Norm Marriott. Norm Hill was last in the area in 2001 working with me at the now defunct call center on s. main in wilkes barre. Norm worked in the Cendent Membership Services division. Norm left the area in early 2002 with his wife Ursula to the Carolinas. That's the last I heard from him.
One of my favorite Norm Hill WARM stories was how he'd have to run the board for former Mayor McNulty's "Mayor of WARMland Show". McNulty never ended the show on time and was incapable of saying a short goodbye. It drove Norm nuts.
On Magic, the first Magic TV imaging spot included an album spinning on a turntable with America's "Magic" playing in the background.
Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

I forgot about Norm Marriott. Norm Hill was last in the area in 2001 working with me at the now defunct call center on s. main in wilkes barre. Norm worked in the Cendent Membership Services division. Norm left the area in early 2002 with his wife Ursula to the Carolinas. That's the last I heard from him.
One of my favorite Norm Hill WARM stories was how he'd have to run the board for former Mayor McNulty's "Mayor of WARMland Show". McNulty never ended the show on time and was incapable of saying a short goodbye. It drove Norm nuts.
On Magic, the first Magic TV imaging spot included an album spinning on a turntable with America's "Magic" playing in the background.
Yonkstur

Norm Hill had a major market set of pipes, and then some. Plus, he was a really good guy. A bit quirky, but a really decent human being. For whatever reason, Stormin' Norman Hill never made the connection with a big time job, not even a full-time job in this market. Actually, I don't think he gave a crap; most of us got the feeling that there was some money in his or her family, so there was no pressing need to work like a mule. Norm Marriott was a nice but very shy and quiet man. Where he is, I have no idea.

 

[Bluesmama]

"Norm Marriott was a nice but very shy and quiet man."

Shy??? Quiet??? We have GOT to be talking about 2 different people. I worked with Norm at 13-Q and he had no voice volume below 10. However, my chief memory of Norm (this was 1981-1983) is, uh, olfactory in nature.

And by the way we DO NOT say the New EZ 103 anymore. We say, EZ 103-Point-1, W...F....Easy. So hah.

Cathy D

 

[masterg]

"Norm Marriott was a nice but very shy and quiet man."

Shy??? Quiet??? We have GOT to be talking about 2 different people. I worked with Norm at 13-Q and he had no voice volume below 10. However, my chief memory of Norm (this was 1981-1983) is, uh, olfactory in nature.

And by the way we DO NOT say the New EZ 103 anymore. We say, EZ 103-Point-1, W...F....Easy. So hah.

Cathy D

Go back, try again, I said NORM MARRIOTT, not Norm Hill, was shy and quiet. Norm Marriott didn't set foot in this market until 1985. And he never worked at 13-Q, he came here from WHLO, Susquehanna's station in Akron/Canton, Ohio, I do believe. Hill, likewise a good guy, was not exacly the silent type, Norm Hill could fill a room with his presence, and I mean that in the best of ways...

 

[yonkstur]

Norm (HILL) could fill a room and was really a very nice man. I used to hire him for a lot of voice overs when I worked in PR and Communications. His pipes were great. At the Call Center, Norm always got the line from his customers, "you should be in broadcasting" and he used to just shake his head and chuckle. I'm not sure if this is true or an urban legend, but after the first Gulf War, a WARM sales rep wanted to have a contest that involved a Sadam Hussein look a like contest using Norm in the promotion. Word was it was being considered. Never asked Norm to confirm or deny, but to this day, I recall that going around.
Norm by the way looked nothing like Sadam but did have the bushy eyebrows and Jerry Colona mustache.
Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

Norm (HILL) could fill a room and was really a very nice man. I used to hire him for a lot of voice overs when I worked in PR and Communications. His pipes were great. At the Call Center, Norm always got the line from his customers, "you should be in broadcasting" and he used to just shake his head and chuckle.

God, this is too funny. Believe it or not, that's pretty much how I ended up in broadcasting - I was managing a small retail shop in Scranton, and often enough when I'd answer the phone to chat with a customer, I'd hear, "You have such a nice voice, you should be on the radio." I actually believed those people, they formed the beginnings of my life's work. Don't know whether to praise or damn them, know what I mean?

As to Norm and that promotion; it's really a good thing he never did it. I could easily see the inherent danger. In an odd way, it reminds me of a "dangerous" promotion WARM did in the early '80s. They loaded the trunk of a car(Buick Skyhawk?)with might've been well over a thousand dollars in change, then capped it with hard clear plastic. The idea, of course, was guess how much was in the trunk. WARM jocks were to drive it around to different locations several times a day so folks could have a look. Seems to me if you guessed right, you got the car and the money. That lasted about a day, that's when someome spoke up and said, "Hey, we're not doing this without some sort of guard." Think about it, think how easily a couple jocks could have been ripped off, maybe run off the road, and what could have followed. So, they hire an "armed guard" to ride escort. Turns out the "armed guard" was a very lovely, retired, 70ish guy from Duryea. They slapped a uniform(traded, no doubt, from Kranson's)on this guy and passed him off as an armed guard. If he carried a weapon, it was either fake or unloaded. This man had zero background in law enforcement. Ahhhhh, those good old days...