We're Still Talking about Q-105

[BabyStringer]

I posted awhile back and feel the need to post again. Here we are ... how many weeks later, STILL talking about what has happened to Q-105 on-air talent who have become family, as well as what has happened to the station. If Ms. Deggans on www.tampabay.com is entertaining a story about this, and would like input from listeners, I would love to talk to her. As indicated by these posts that continue to be written weeks after the event, it is clear that the station managers did not understand the Tampa Bay listeners' connection to the talent and the station. In these turbulent times, Q-105 was the place to which we retreated for some familiar entertainment that made us laugh and yet provided some comfort. I can't even listen to the new JoJo - I don't know why the new PD thought that putting a corny jock who yells through his entire breaks, and whose show sounds like a cheesey late-1970's advertisement for an even cheesier broadcast school would increase their market share ... perhaps they forgot they were trying to appeal to ADULTS. Tom Kent isn't much better - and who even knows where he is located. It's not just about the music - it's about the local people who provided us with a local connection to our town. I truly hope that Mason finds an opportunity at another station and reunites the crew we have grown to love. And to that crew, if you are still reading these boards - THANK YOU for perfecting your craft and providing us with so many years of quality, fun entertainment! God speed!

 

[David Sharp]

I'll play "devil's advocate" and suggest there are many station managers, who are unaware or uncaring of the bond their announcers have with the listeners. Back in the old days...back when I started 30 years ago... programmers and radio people had control of what went to air. Now, it's really a "bottom line business" and that seems to take priority over everything else. As a sidebar: I wonder how companies would deal with today's tough economy if they didn't have 24/7 satellite feeds or couldn't "jukebox" and voice track on computers. Would they "bite the bullet" and try to maintain programming? Would they scale-back from a 24/7 operation? Or, would they just go dark (as some stations seem to be doing anyway)?

 

[Wazzie]

David, I was wondering if the same "downsizing" nonsense is going on in Australia? ???

 

[Horns]

I've been listening to Q105 for several days now. I think, in some respects, the stations sounds better. Probably because that's the type of Top-40 radio I did in the late 70s-early 80s. All of the jocks sounded the same so you knew what you'd get when you listened. We pushed the format through the hour. They are doing many old Top-40 tricks and it is so different from what you get today, I just find it interesting. The music has skewed a little older than my taste, but I've still heard some different songs lately. I guess the PD/middays is local and the afternoon guy is local (don't know for sure) and I know the night guy is syndicated. The old Q105 was a Tampa Bay tradition. The ratings over the next year will be really interesting to watch. Glad my butt isn't on the line on this one, they took a big chance.

But, I couldn't agree more about the local connection. I think that has destroyed WSJT. They used to be so local, now the syndicated jazz feed is just a joke. I've heard them saying "good morning" in the afternoon and "it's a nice Tuesday night" on Wednesday afternoon. They have nothing they can contribute locally, although the music might be a little better than before. I'm not a big fan of the music, but I'd listen to SJT much more before than I do now because it was like checking in with an old friend and hanging around for an hour. Now, it is just another channel I could get from satellite radio.

 

[BabyStringer]

I've been listening to Q105 for several days now. I think, in some respects, the stations sounds better. Probably because that's the type of Top-40 radio I did in the late 70s-early 80s.

In all fairness, I must add that I too, am enjoying some of the new variety of music being played. But that is where it ends.

... it was like checking in with an old friend and hanging around for an hour. Now, it is just another channel I could get from satellite radio.

You nailed it right here! This statement sums it all up nicely. A good station is comprised of more than just good music. It has good, local talent. Old friends. Jocks who have experienced the same things that we, the listeners experienced. Old friends with whom we could connect. I can't connect with that hyper, yelling afternoon guy, or the guy that follows him, Tom Kent. There's no "live hand-off" between the jocks and their shows and some of the very funny banter that accompanied that hand-off.

I've noticed that Nicki, Bobby and Rob Parker have all livened up their vocals. If the station wanted a little more giddy-up in the jocks' delivery, then I could understand that. But the existing on-air talents could have accomplished that ... they didn't fire the lot of them.

Maybe Max 98.3 will decide it wants some live entertainment and the whole Q-Crew can re-animate over there. Goodness, how I miss them and wish them well!

 

[flwfg]

I remain curious as to why all the talk about staff changes @ Q-105...

Having been in radio in the Bradenton / Sarasota market for 28 years, if I recall, just about any time a station was sold or a major format change was made, many if not just about all full time on air staff and sales staff was gone...Everyone had a buddy that they wanted working with or for them. It didn't matter if you were a newbie or had been at the station for decades...
You were at risk anytime a station was sold... and everyone pretty much knew it... best chances were for clerical, engineering, and part timers, at least for a while...

Wholesale changes in staff both on and off the air isn't all that new, is it ???

Enjoy the day...

 

[MsMusicRadio]

28 years ago there would have been live and local competition ready to snap up displaced people. Now there is not one in the AC/ Classic Hits/ Oldies format.

Max 98.3 sounds like a great idea. Hall might be quicker to think outside our current boxes.

I looked up the professional backgrounds of JOJO KIncaide and Tom Kent. They both were associated with major Top 40 stations over 20 years ago. Seems like the Q management replaced vibrant local talent with out of market people whose better days were elsewhere and long ago. Q 105 was the last station of its type in Tampa Bay. If Mix, Magic, the Point, and the Eagle all were staffed with strong DJ's 24/7, I'm sure this long post might not be happening. When JOJO the K was on 13Q in 1976 in Pittsburgh, every other pop music station was live 24/7. It looks as if Tom Kent shows up on a WLS history website. Great if he was there , but again, in those days there was a place for a Jack miller and a Tom Kent.

 

[BIKERCHICK BEARDSLEY]

You nailed it right here! This statement sums it all up nicely. A good station is comprised of more than just good music. It has good, local talent. Old friends. Jocks who have experienced the same things that we, the listeners experienced. Old friends with whom we could connect. I can't connect with that hyper, yelling afternoon guy, or the guy that follows him, Tom Kent. There's no "live hand-off" between the jocks and their shows and some of the very funny banter that accompanied that hand-off.

I agree 100%. They are old friends who share a history with the community, and it shows in the personal intersaction they had with the people of Tampa Bay.

I've noticed that Nicki, Bobby and Rob Parker have all livened up their vocals. If the station wanted a little more giddy-up in the jocks' delivery, then I could understand that. But the existing on-air talents could have accomplished that ... they didn't fire the lot of them.

I wonder if the news and traffic reporters on the Q were coached to pep it up a bit, or are they fitting in like chameleons with their new surroundings. Bobby and Rob have always had slightly quicker deliveries in their reports than the average conversational talker. (most likely to get the info to fit into the allotted time) Not only are they speaking slightly faster now, but so is Nicky Cruise, who I believe may have less time to do her newscasts than before the change. What is lacking is the interaction between Rob Parker and the new afternoon DJ. Rob sounded good with the morning show while Bobby was on vacation. John Kelley, Jack Miller, and Mike Reeves used to intro him, and they used to speak with him sometimes as he began a report, or have a laugh about a news story.

It seems like outside of morning drive, the airstaff no longer talks to each other. Is there a rift between the new and old DJs, or are they just "concentrating on the music"?

Come to think of it, there is less interaction with the listeners as well.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Truckin Tom "cookin" Kent was one of the WIXY Supermen way back when AM radio ruled Cleveland. JOJO "cookin" Kincaide was on B94 down the corridor in Pittsburgh.. These guys must have been beloved radio people way back in the day---------like Mike Reeves and Jack Miller just were here. tom Kent was also on WLS , CKLW, and the same B94. I don't know what this proves except Q105 sounds like any station anywhere. THe way they speed things up was how it was done then. If Wild Child Kemp were around, he would probably be on Q. I can't think of much more to say about this. Mason still has a couple of people to banter with ( standard issue news woman and traffic guy) and all is cool in munchkin land. if CBS wanted a mediocre station with little community flare------they succeeded.

 

[Don62]

I remain curious as to why all the talk about staff changes @ Q-105...

Having been in radio in the Bradenton / Sarasota market for 28 years, if I recall, just about any time a station was sold or a major format change was made, many if not just about all full time on air staff and sales staff was gone...Everyone had a buddy that they wanted working with or for them. It didn't matter if you were a newbie or had been at the station for decades...
You were at risk anytime a station was sold... and everyone pretty much knew it... best chances were for clerical, engineering, and part timers, at least for a while...

Wholesale changes in staff both on and off the air isn't all that new, is it ???

I don't think that was the case with most properties years ago.
Stations, for the most part, were run by real people, people interested in broadcasting, not today's bean-counters that only want a fast buck and a good stock price.

Here's what you get when you get today's mentality:

No it ain't Christmas Music...but the jocks outside of morning drive sure suck!

Yeah, but they're working, pal. You have an excessively nasty disposition based on what you show here.

Yeah, but the truth hurts doesn't it! I mean about the jocks outside of morning drive. And I have every right to have a as you put it "excessively nasty disposition" I was fired for no reason, just so some drunk could put his mark on a station...who also said that " If Mason doesn't play ball, I'll fire his ass too"! Now...you tell me who has the "excessively nasty disposition" ?

Sure, companies are sold and people lost their jobs in the past.
Today, people aren't any more important than budgetary numbers.
UAT has a lot to say there and we ( err... the suits ) deserve to hear it.

The industry has lost a lot. And look at who for the most part has become the victims in this soulless industry.

 

[unemployed air talent]

I remain curious as to why all the talk about staff changes @ Q-105...

Having been in radio in the Bradenton / Sarasota market for 28 years, if I recall, just about any time a station was sold or a major format change was made, many if not just about all full time on air staff and sales staff was gone...Everyone had a buddy that they wanted working with or for them. It didn't matter if you were a newbie or had been at the station for decades...
You were at risk anytime a station was sold... and everyone pretty much knew it... best chances were for clerical, engineering, and part timers, at least for a while...

Wholesale changes in staff both on and off the air isn't all that new, is it ???

Enjoy the day...

But the station wasn't sold....it was done so Scott Walker could make his mark on Q105...he did the same thing at WOMC an took them from #10 to Tied for #15...yeah...he's a real radio genuis...by the way, the thing to do is bring the station's ratings up...not down! But Scott doesn't know how to do this. Only how to bring them down. He's done it at every station he's worked as as PD. For the life of me...I can't understand how this man keeps getting jobs. Oh there is that thing in Jacksonville where he was fired over HR issues. Had he not lied to CBS to get the job at WOMC...we wouldn't be going through this mess to begin with. Liying on an appt. is grounds for dismal anyway..and he lied to CBS to get the JOB AT WOMC!!!!

 

[David Sharp]

David, I was wondering if the same "downsizing" nonsense is going on in Australia? ???

To answer your question...there is a fair bit of networking and voice tracking in the big cities, and perhaps some downsizing... but NOTHING like in the U.S. In fact, the radio job sites are still pretty active, so many of the smaller and mid-size companies are STILL HIRING. Again, I repeat from my prior post: if we didn't have satellites, networks and the ability to voice track or jukebox from computers... what would the large companies do today? This isn't the first economic slump. What about the recession in the 70's? Would broadcasters try and continue through the bad times? Would they scale back from a 24/7 operation? Would they kick the sales people to hustle a little harder? In the mid-1980's I worked at WPLA in Plant City, which then was a locally-owned station. They were 24/7 with the Mutual Network on overnights. Then they cut back and signed-off at Midnight. I was doing overnights when the cutback happened but they kept me anyway and eventually I was doing Mornings there. Just a little anecdote, as we discuss the lay-offs at Q105 and elsewhere. Sad.

 

[beachguy3b]

UAT, I don't know Walker, so this isn't about him, but I worked for a guy who was a very good PD. He came in from a station that, while he was PD, lost over half its audience. But when he came in with us, he took a struggling station up 5 notches in the first book in the demo we wanted- 25-34 females, and overall, up 3 places. Some guys just don't match a market, or have stations that just can't work in that market.

And yes, some are just idiots who shouldn't be anywhere near a radio station. I worked with a LOT of those.

 

[BabyStringer]

if CBS wanted a mediocre station with little community flare------they succeeded.

Amen! And the reason that the "new jocks" don't have much interaction with the Tampa listeners is becuase (a) they don't answer the studio phone; and I'm guessing that they don't answer the phone because (b) the Tampa listeners really don't care for them and they only want to surround themselves with callers who will say glowing things about them.

I have tried to listen to "JOJO" and Tom Kent, but I just can't take their breaks. Some of the music is okay, but those breaks are just too, too painful. That JOJO guy (whom I do not remember from B94 in Pittsburgh) just absolutely, positively disgorges his monologues. And what is with the way he annunciates and excentuates his name as though it is supposed to rally and inspire us to say "YES! YOU are THE JOCK we have all been waiting for!"

Max 98.3 has a great variety of music - oh how I hope that their "suits" troll this board and decide to pick up all of that wonderful, unemployed (and employed, i.e., Mason) air talent!

 

[David Sharp]

if CBS wanted a mediocre station with little community flare------they succeeded.

Max 98.3 has a great variety of music - oh how I hope that their "suits" troll this board and decide to pick up all of that wonderful, unemployed (and employed, i.e., Mason) air talent!

I always liked 98.3...listened to them when they were "The Rose." Have heard the "Max" format online. Have to agree, it's pretty good. A few personalities and the station would be great. Actually a little surprised that with a stronger signal they never show in the Tampa book (even though it would likely be less than a 1.0).

 

[BabyStringer]

If you would like to go to an event being organized at Quaker Steak & Lube, check out the thread below. It is being held to say thank you to the fired talent (some of whom are showing up) and to let them know that we still support them and miss them.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2008/12/more-on-air-cut.html

 

[BabyStringer]

Re: JoJo K all-caps thing ... it was in caps on the thumbnail of the link - sorry 'bout that! And I am very careful not to personally attack Mr. Kincaid because I do not know him personally. After learning that he came here to be with his ailing Mother (on another thread), I even wished his Mom well. I don't care for his radio style. It's one of those hyper, vintage things that should have stayed in the 70's-early 80's, in my opinion (along with timing his chatting over musical interludes down to the last, exact second).

He talks about Mason, but doesn't talk TO Mason, or any other Jock. Plus, it seems that the few, minor references he makes to something that Mason did, were probably spoon-fed to him by somebody who actually listened to Mason's show and said "here ... reference this ... it'll seem like you are actually interacting w/Mason." He also doesn't talk about local things, events, places, because he doesn't know them. We liked our local connection to our local jocks. We simply do not like (a) the direction the new and improved Q has taken; or (b) the steps the new leaders took to get there.

I honestly don't know what the station thinks it is going to accomplish. The new mix of music is good, but not great. I still believe that they could do a better job of choosing great songs that make us go "aha! Forgot about that one!" ... instead of saying "why that Hall & Oates song, or Gladys Night song ... and why not Naughty, Naughty, or Part-Time Lover, or Pink Cadillac. As for the new jocks - it is apparent by the postings on the blogs that won't die that many of us are not going to warm up to those guys - period.

I've been listening to Max 98.3 a lot lately. I do have "a-ha!" moments with a lot of their songs. So, I will patiently wait for them to hire all of the Q jocks, so I can recapture my local connection, with local jocks who will talk about local things, events and places (as well as to each other), and I will spend two hours per day driving and hanging out with my old friends, supporting the advertisers who are buying time on Max ... and we the listeners, along with air talent, will have another great, local station. And it'll be Good Night Gracie to the old Q.

 

[tanner]

I went thru Tampa today on business and it is the first time I have heard Q-105 since the format change. JO JO was on the air and the show had the energy of the old TOP-40 days of the 70's. I actually was singing and having a great time. I listened it longer than I have listened to a FM station in a long time. Sure beats Sunny in Orlando. I posted up several months ago that a station should go back to that era with the upbeat jocks, contests, and jingles. The hour and a half I was listening they provided all three. Someone must have read my post. They even were having a contest for Buffet tickets.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Some points:

1) Q105 did make me wonder if they were VT'ing dayparts after Mason.

2) I do like the music better, but still don't see why old airstaff had to go.

3) Maybe it would sound better with reverb and more audience interaction.

4) There is no point in critiqing Tom Kent. This is a syndicated show like Delilah or Tesh. I think it would be better overnights.

5) Although I could find lots of stuff about JoJo and Tom Kent on tribute websites like WIXY and 13Q, I can't find Scott Walker.

6. Whatever Scott Walker has done or not done or whether or not he is competent at the wheel, if he is an alcholic or just rumored to be----it is not really cool to bring it up here. I do agree with UAT that the UAT's could have stayed, but discussing Mr. Walker's alleged medical issues should be off limits . If anybody wants referrals to treatment facilities, I can provide them.

 

[stillcrazy2]

I for one prefer the older music that Q105 is now playing. The station sounds better, almost the way that WCBS FM out of NYC (which I am listening to right now) used to sound before the "mistake" of changing the station to "Jack". I do miss the former jocks though.

I wonder if it is coincidental that last week during the remote from the Big Chill that the Q105 sales manager said basically to just play the music like they used to play it on 77 WABC NYC when I was growing up. The station does sound more like a NYC station than one from tampa bay, but then again I miss NY Radio!