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WIOD Off the Isle

Mike Sheridan

Mike Sheridan

Looks like the WIOD transmitters will be moving off the Isle of Dreams. There is a CP for a new site off Krome Av around SW 56th in Kendall. Power increase to 50KW day 20 KW night with 4 towers.

In a related story the old site on the 79th Street Causeway next to WSVN has been purchased by the TV station in an effort to keep the developers away from the property. Not sure what owner WSVN/Sunbeam will do with the building/property. The building is in rough shape after years of neglect. This is evident by looking at this video:
 
Mike Sheridan said:
The building is in rough shape after years of neglect. This is evident by looking at this video:
Click to expand...
The guy in this video is lucky no one of importance from the station has seen it yet, tried to find out who he is and had him arrested. He kept refusing to show the entrance area or even shots looking out the windows, because he said he didn't want to give the location away or for people to know where he was, but then he repeatedly showed doors and binders with the WIOD calls on them. When inside the transmitter room (after forcing entry depending on ones' interpretation of the law) he started randomly pushing power buttons on computers and tried to log onto them without knowing what they were for or what they may have controlled, etc. I note the comments for that video on YouTube are disabled. Most likely because he made himself sound like an idiot, especially to most anyone who knows anything about electronics or even basics about radio - especially broadcasting and he'd get called out. More than once he said he had no idea what any of that stuff was. OK, then why are you pressing buttons when you obviously have no clue where you are or what any of it might do?!? I'd have loved if an engineer would've walked in and started screaming at the guy, scaring the bejesus out of him, perhaps causing him to leave a brown trail in his pants as a result. THEN detained him and called law enforcement.

@DavidEduardo you have any contacts at WIOD following your stint(s) in the Miami area? Maybe @fybush ??
 
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Mikey Radio said:
@DavidEduardo you have any contacts at WIOD following your stint(s) in the Miami area?
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I never knew anyone at WIOD. The late David Ross was the GM for Clear Channel, and I worked with him as GM of the sister Metroplex station Y-100, but lost contact soon after I left. My world was mostly Hispanic radio in the market, having been involved at one time or another with WQBA, WHTT, WSUA, WCMQ, WAQI, WAMR and WRTO.
 
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He posted some written comments that the building now has a guard 24/7 and that he works for the new owner (Sunbeam WSVN’s parent?) I don’t know. Obviously some of the blame also belongs to WIOD for not properly securing the site. It didn’t look like it was all that hard for him to get in. There should have been an alarm on the transmitter room at the very least with security cams. Someone could have gotten killed in there!
 
Also, if Sunbeam owns the property now perhaps they can enter into a lease agreement with iHeart so the transmitter site can stay put. A prefab building would do the job and the old building can be razed. Certainly better than moving out to Krome. And way better than the hovel they currently have their racks in!
 
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You should also remember the story about the lack of tower maintenance that was causing things to rust and fall off the towers landing in the parking lot and hitting the cars. I think WSVN would like to be rid of its old radio partner once and for all.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
You should also remember the story about the lack of tower maintenance that was causing things to rust and fall off the towers landing in the parking lot and hitting the cars. I think WSVN would like to be rid of its old radio partner once and for all.
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Maybe. But if they control the land and iHeart wants to stay on it Sunbeam can (and likely would) require that they maintain their facilities to so the property is protected from damage. And I would think iHeart would want to avoid the expense and red tape involved with building a new site in the protected lands out west and be willing to play nice with the neighbors.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
He posted some written comments that the building now has a guard 24/7 and that he works for the new owner (Sunbeam WSVN’s parent?) I don’t know. Obviously some of the blame also belongs to WIOD for not properly securing the site. It didn’t look like it was all that hard for him to get in. There should have been an alarm on the transmitter room at the very least with security cams. Someone could have gotten killed in there!
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I'm surprised he was able to get into the transmitter room, that was high-security, tool-proof plywood over that hole in the wall.

Seriously though, the person shooting that video may end up being a former employee. Going into the transmitter room is one thing, but messing with the computers and even just pretending to touch the power button on the transmitter is a bad move. Also, there's about half a dozen things in there that could kill you. No damage was done, but it wasn't yours to begin with, even if you thought it belonged to the new owners of the building. Should have left it alone.
 
This thread made me curious when WIOD left the Causeway, and from what I can see it was at least 7 years ago. I searched Scott Fybush's site, and he visited the old building in 2015, and reported they had left by then.

www.fybush.com

Site of the Week 10/9/15: Downtown Miami and the Beaches

Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH Last week, we circled the mighty metropolis of Miami from the edges where the
www.fybush.com

So the condition of the building is pretty understandable given it's been mostly vacant (except for the transmitter) since then.

Sunbeam has been buying up surrounding properties this year, according to this:

fleekus.com

Sunbeam Television buys North Bay Village waterfront site next to Channel 7 for $13.5M | fleekus

News by Clock | Friday, April/16, Sunbeam Television Corp., owner of WSVN-Channel 7, bought property “Trio on The Bay” - 1601 79th Street Causeway, Miami Beach, FL 33141 next to the TV station in North Bay Village for $13.5 million - 1 acre lot from BrickGroupUSA.
fleekus.com fleekus.com

Theater of My Mind said:
Speaking of @fybush I'm guessing these guys never invited you in for a tour :ROFLMAO:
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He did a pictorial of the new WIOD/iHeart building in 2015.

www.fybush.com

Site of the Week 9/11/2015: Miami, 2015 (part 1)

Text and photos by SCOTT FYBUSH There's not much excuse required, ever, to abandon snowy upstate New York in the
www.fybush.com
 
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I think the WIOD building had been vacant long before then. 610 moved up to Hollywood in 1997 when it was sold to Paxon and Hot 105 and The Coast went to 29th Ave not long after.
 
strangelove said:
I think the WIOD building had been vacant long before then. 610 moved up to Hollywood in 1997 when it was sold to Paxon and Hot 105 and The Coast went to 29th Ave not long after.
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That makes sense. The WIOD site has some great pictures of what the old building looked like when they were there. Obviously very different from what it looks like now. But at one time, what a place!

wiod.iheart.com

WIOD History | NewsRadio WIOD

610 WIOD is South Florida’s source for news, traffic, and weather! Covering Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and the entire South Florida region. Hear Ryan Gorman, Manny Munoz, Sean Hannity, and more throughout the day. Get breaking news, real-time traffic updates, and weather alerts all...
wiod.iheart.com wiod.iheart.com
 
Does WIOD even have a news team anymore? I know they have anchors but do they still send out reporters if the even have them? I confess I haven't listened to 610 in ages.
 
strangelove said:
Does WIOD even have a news team anymore? I know they have anchors but do they still send out reporters if the even have them? I confess I haven't listened to 610 in ages.
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It depends what you mean. iHeart owns Total News & Traffic, based in the Miramar office, and they provide local news to the iHeart cluster as well as other area clients.
 
TheBigA said:
It depends what you mean. iHeart owns Total News & Traffic, based in the Miramar office, and they provide local news to the iHeart cluster as well as other area clients.
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But is it a rip-and-read type operation or do they have field reporters they send out to cover stories?
 
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