WMXJ

[Earlyriser]

I heard that Bill Steadman was back in the chair at WMXJ. True dat?

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

Yep

 

[scotty t]

Who cares? Station will suck as long as the same old General Manager, Dennis Collins is there.

 

[SportsDotCom]

Hasn't Dennis Collins been there for about 30 years? He's run a very successful cluster. You must have an axe to grind sir.

 

[nleibo]

Mr. Collins may indeed run a "successful cluster"--but as "oldies" stations go--WMXJ is "Cookie Cutter"--given what they WERE 10 years ago--much MORE "personality"--more LIVELY presentation, etc. The ONLY reason they rate as High as they do is they're a DEFAULT "oldies" station--Put in ANOTHER station in the Miami Market with a decent signal & any kind of "Personality" playing Oldies & you'd see just HOW "successful" WMXJ ISN'T--"Competition brings out the BEST"--so let's SEE or HEAR just how good they can be...

 

[strangelove]

They were in competition with WAXY-FM at one time, correct?

 

[John FL]

Yes Strangelove, actually WMXJ was in competition with WAXY-FM a couple of times. Without getting into a long history, WMXJ came about when WAXY made one serious program error after the next. WAXY lost I guess what you can call its music brand as they started sounding different in various dayparts. I recall they played classic rock at night to name one boo-boo. WMXJ saw opportunity and established themselves as THE oldies station despite even the second attempt by WAXY under the same GM as Y-100 of the 80s. WMXJ succeeded, WAXY even with Rick Shaw, lost.

I think no matter what the station, there will always be those who say they should do this or do that or they are cookie-cutter etc. WMXJ is evolving and it's not an easy process nor is it one that can turn overnight. To Dennis Collins' credit, he stayed with the format and gave a lot of listeners who are quickly written off a place they can call home. It's not common to see someone in Mr. Collins' position and market size to last as long as he has. Surely, he has achieved his goals and that's what it's all about.

Majic cannot be the same station they were 10 years ago. If they didn't make strives to update the music and reduce the DJ patter, they would have been toast. From what I can tell, they have a good advertising load. Sure, they don't have the highest billing rates in town but they have a good deal of advertisers who are happy with the product and they also appear to have a good sales team who deliver. Another positive for Dennis Collins.

Majic recently completed an A-Z countdown. I can play a critic too and say they should have played this or dropped that, but overall they are making some very smart music choices. More and more 80s are being added and I wouldn't have thought they would ever play Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."

I'm happy to see Bill Steadman back at Majic. Recently, I replied to the A-Z survey via e-mail and his response to me showed that it wasn't a canned response. So often, PDs have little regard for the listener. Big mistake. Majic is in good hands with Bill Steadman. Mindy Lang is also a big asset with her knowledge and understanding of the format. She has done a great job over the years and decades. Talk about another long run in a key position!

I live in a radio market that in a word is pathetic. South Florida has a lot of great radio stations and IMHO, Majic is one of them. I listen to Miami radio via the internet often. While I respect everyone's opinion to disagree, South Florida radio is better than most markets. Trust me and be grateful there is choice and variety on your radio dial.

 

[scotty t]

Hasn't Dennis Collins been there for about 30 years? He's run a very successful cluster. You must have an axe to grind sir.

No axe grinding here. If you call low 2's in the ratings, book after book, for about 25 out of those 30 years successful, I guess Mr. Collins is successful. The Donald Trump of South Florida radio perhaps. Good day sir.

 

[B92]

I was just browsing thru the thread and happened to read thru it. I don't know John Jax and I don't know Scotty. But, I couldn't help myself from commenting on John Jax's dribble. While Scotty may or may not have some personal feelings is irrelevant. JAX SHOULD NOT BE THE LAST WORD on the thread. I can objectively say, without any connection or emotional feelings to MAJIC or personnel other than in being a listener to the station (occasionally) and a very informed person beyond being a listener (yeah, I worked in the biz) that south Florida is one of the most pathetic radio markets in the country and MAJIC is one of the dullest major market oldies stations in the country and WAXY was even worse and you can date that back to the heyday of when Rick Shaw, Budell and people like that were there. If John Jax is listening a lot on the internet, then, perhaps, he is comparing his own small hick town, perhaps, in Florida somewhere to Miami radio?? Yeah, there are worse markets, but, color it safe to say, that compared with other comparable major markets, that Miami radio sucks in comparison. Part of the problem may be in how to figure out how to program it when you have an impossible situation, in terms of bilingual issues and the big differences in Dade and Broward counties. While there are some talented major market quality personalities in the market and even at MAJIC like, for example, Ron St. John, overrall, this market is horrible. The morning shows are awful, the music mixes are not even mainstream, in many cases. It is one of the few major markets where AM radio has completely died. There is no dominant morning show, no dominant air personality for talk or music that can be associated with the market itself, there is nothing but music intensive formats, sports radio with 3 to 4 stations doesn't even have 1-dominant trusted personality that stands out as the go to guy for a sports story or a "must listen" to hear what he says. And, don't get me started on the televsion affiliates and don't tell me that Neil Rogers is that dominant personality. He may have been, but, he isn't anymore and while I respect his talent and I don't blame him for the QAM issues that affect his no longer dominant ratings and nor do I blame him for basically going through the motions to pick up a paycheck considering the way he is treated and the lack of real commitment by the station to fix itself, it pains me to listen to him these days. His show is boring and predictable and no longer a "must" listen. Again, I don't blame him for this, but, unless you are some diehard cult like fan, Neil's show is no longer a "must listen." The poll of the day format is awful. The parody songs no longer have zing and that may be by management's design, etc. But, the real problem with the show is that Neil doesn't care himself. He no longer has passionate feelings to express on much of anything. It seems like he is just numb from it and there to collect a paycheck. And, why shouldn't he? He's still the best personality in the market. It's just that that radio is no longer fun even for the broadcaster. Anyway, I didn't intend to turn this into a commentary on Neil Rogers, but, John Jax
just should not have the final word on Miami radio when his comments are so skewed. No disrespect to you, John Jax, but, you most definitely do not speak for most people that I know in and out of the biz with
your glowing comments. A major market where Hot 105 is using syndicated fare in morning and afternoon drive and getting high ratings. Yet another example of a symptom to support how pathetic this market is.
A market that has to run a show out of Tampa in PM/Drive because they can't find a quality dominating personality to anchor either morning or afternoon drive on a newstalk station in a market that, years ago,
was the benchmark for talk radio development when WINS and WINZ carried local and live stars and developing stars. A market where you had major market talent working part-time on the weekends that was
better than some markets had for full-time dayparts and now look at this market? Everyone has moved out. You can't even find quality local talent to host a talk show, news or sports, in this town, let alone
find the kind of talent that could dominate in morning drive. You'd have to import it from another major city and these stations down here are not committed enough to pay that kind of money to bring that
kind of talent to south Florida or commit to the promotions and advertising necessary to promote it. It's easier to just keep the status quo and recycle local people like Cefalo and run Schnitt and Hannity, etc.
In all fairness to management, though, this has got to be one of the hardest markets to program. There are not too many markets with (a) Dade and Broward that are so opposite from each other that if you
service one county to the best of your ability, you lose the other one. Also, there are not too many radio markets with such poor reception on AM radio working against them and that brings up another
question, why don't we have an FM talk station in this market? The answer is because too few owners own too many properties. 94.9, in particular, could be a perfect home for WIOD or a sports station,
something that English speaking people want and would respond to, but, it must be too profitable running Spanish fare and census figures show that 7 out of 10 new people entering Broward County use
English as a 2nd language. In a situation like this, keeping listeners happy has got to be a nightmare for programmers down here and probably explains why this is a pathetic radio market. But, yes, there
are worse markets than Miami. Vero Beach is not exactly cutting edge. Naples sure isn't. But, back to the orginal thought, Miami/Ft.Lauderdale is not a very good market when compared with other
markets of comparable size in population and revenue and Majic is no benchmark oldies station and WAXY was no benchmark oldies station, either. On the other hand, at one time, this was one of the
best markets in the country for talk radio, talk radio competitiveness and talent development of talk talent.

 

[B92]

One typo there. Did I say WINS and WINZ??
Guess I was recalling how WINZ used to run the CBS Network Radio sounder and stuff and sub-consciously thinking about WINS and WCBS.
Of course, I was referring to WNWS and WINZ.

 

[DJ Oldschool]

I happen to like Majic a lot...and I tend to think John Jaxs comments are much more "on the money" than Mr. Radio, I mean B92. But that's just me.

 

[John FL]

There is a lot of frustration and anger among those who really love radio and think about how things used to be. If there is a positive at all here, I'm certainly grateful Radio-Info provides all of us a platform in which we can speak our views. We may not always agree and that's perfectly fine because no one person has all the answers but we all have diverse opinions.

I do believe most would agree South Florida is a tough market. Yes, it's almost as if a big wall surrounds Broward County, where I used to live, making Miami and West Palm seem to be in another world. Personally, I never cared to hear about anything such as news or advertising if it concerned our southern or northern neighbors. It's still that way today. I also believe diversity in a community is a good thing. Perhaps radio formats don't always reflect that diversity but I still believe South Florida tries to provide format variety. Is it perfect or as good as it can be? Of course not. Radio is done on the cheap nowadays and even bigger markets than South Florida are bringing in more and more syndicated programming and voice tracking. Yes indeed, they too are getting ratings and this is just reality.

We all have bias as it relates to subjects in which we have passion. The oldies format is no doubt a subject I have written about on these boards more than I have anything else as it is something that generates a lot of personal interest and passion.

My comments in earlier posts on this board as it relates to the old WAXY and WMXJ "wars" are historically accurate. I was a part of all that as an avid listener and as a radio geek.
The old WAXY was good when they concentrated on what they did best – oldies. They had a good talent lineup in Greg Budell/Don Agony, Randi Thomas, Rick Shaw and Kenny Lee. Unfortunately, their owner RKO General was going through bad times and the station suffered from lack of promotion/marketing dollars. WAXY became way too obsessed with the success of Y-100. I heard this from a number of people I knew back then at Y-100 and others in the biz. This was their undoing as they screwed with the music to a point no one knew what the format was.

WMXJ saw opportunity and they ran with it. Again, South Florida is a tough market and it has unique demos. Today, they might not be hip enough to some but they do reflect the tastes of an older audience. Are they perfect? No. Even I have said they should do this or do that. If you put 10 radio geeks in a room and have them critique any station, you will probably get 10 different opinions.

I’m grateful Dennis Collins stuck with the format and is seeing its evolution into an updated form. He could have easily abandoned the format as Cox Radio and Clear Channel did in many markets. Majic is doing the format for 3 decades now and they have earned heritage designation – like it or not. Again, my point is South Florida is not a perfect radio market but they do better than most in reflecting the diversity of the community served. While not not perfect, I'm still happy Majic 102.7 is a part of the radio landscape in South Florida. I visit the area several times during the year and overall like what I hear on the air. That's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

 

[samb15]

B92 says, "You can't even find quality local talent to host a talk show, news or sports, in this town, let alone
find the kind of talent that could dominate in morning drive. You'd have to import it from another major city and these stations down here are not committed enough to pay that kind of money to bring that
kind of talent to south Florida or commit to the promotions and advertising necessary to promote it. It's easier to just keep the status quo..."

The ironic thing is that it is amazingly easy to bring top talent to sunnny South Fl. Many folks love this area and would want nothing more than to be here. However the market is stuck in a rut -- no one has committed to original, creative programming, and few to top talent.

Traveling often, I would agree that South FL has some of the worst overall radio around for a market its size (about as bad as DC-Balt.). Everyone seems to be in one of several shades of neutral. If the right broadcaster decides to do something new (preferably on more than one station) and creates the competition for the status quo, others will have follow suit and put their best efforts into more exciting responsive radio.

I don't buy the "difference between counties" argument. Overall, the three counties still have much more in common than anything seaparates them. We have a unique tourism and immigration economy, with a smattering of high-tech and other move-in companies. The entire area uses the same venues for major concerts, cheers for the same sports teams, has many inter-county commuters, has a substantial number of part-year residents, etc.

Now let's get bold and local -- I'm actually in discussions with a couple of local broadcasters about this and hoping to bring something fresh. We'll see what develops...

 

[strangelove]

B92 says,
Now let's get bold and local -- I'm actually in discussions with a couple of local broadcasters about this and hoping to bring something fresh. We'll see what develops...

[/color]

So... what's your idea?

 

[B92]

Well, I'm glad I revived the discussion. I surrender to the thoughtful comments by you, John Jax, and I thank you for not taking my comments to be personal which they were not intended to be. There is obviously passion in your opinions as there are in my opinions, but, I stick by my assessment and the consensus of those I associate with, in and out of the biz, when "talking radio" when I state that Majic and WAXY, in comparison to oldies stations of today and of yesterday, in their former mold, do not reflect well as landmark examples of great radio stations. The insight you provide about RKO and other things is interesting, but, regardless of the "why" I just don't think the product(s) hold up very well if one were to put it to some kind of Hall of Fame vote on great radio stations/formats/talent, etc. No offense intended, but, even bringing up the name of some obscure jock like "Kenny Lee" as part of the discussion is ridiculous. As a listener, you/we often develop a personal attachment to the jock, but, this foot soldier made no signficant contribution to the formatics or music or quality of the radio station and in the format that WAXY had, regardless of talent and skill, he did not have the platform in WAXY's format to have an impact in any signifcant or unique way to the radio station, on the air. Perhaps by management or formatic design as opposed to any limitations in talent, the role played by (a) Kenny Lee is/was one of being an interchangeable jock with limited impact on the radio station itself. I can appreciate that by responding to an e-mail or answering the phone nicely or playing a request or writing a letter back can forever have an impact on an individual listener, but, the contribution of this individual to the overrall picture is quite limited. Then again, maybe Kenny was the production director or Music Director? In those roles, perhaps, he could have had more of an impact. If history serves to validate or vindicate one's contribution, it is safe to say that, short of Rick Shaw the air personality, there are scant few that consider ANY of the former air personalities at WAXY and/or any of the current and former crop that have passed through Majic as benchmark oldies radio personalities. Randi, as an example, I believe, went on to be a great voice-over talent at events like the Academy Awards, etc. but, nobody could possibly mention her in the same sentence of the very elite great heritage CHR and/or oldies radio air personalities that impacted ratings on a radio station, then or now. Certainly not, in the platform of a basically music intensive approach in a daypart other than mornings. WAXY, in those days, outside of mornings, was a radio station that segged a gazillion songs in a row. They didn't even throw in too many jingles like many other oldies stations in that era. It was a jukebox. They didn't sell the music by talking about it and they weren't entertaining or quick witted and funny, etc. It was a continous music jukebox in a time when the presentation, in other markets, was a lot more enthusiastic. Was it terrible? No. All I'm saying is that it was not memorable with any lasting legacy or significant in the scheme of oldies radio stations. Not to pick on any one jock or person or to question talent or ability, it is interesting to note that there have been examples of great personalities that have come to south Florida and did not have the impact they had in other markets. In oldies, for example, Cousin Brucie Morrow. Big Wilson, I think, is remembered more as the Night Owl Movies Host as opposed to any real impact he had on the radio, down here. If they were so great somewhere else, why did they fail to have that impact down here? I bring up their names as support to my earlier comments about this market, itself, and how hard it is to program a successful radio station down here because of the diversity in taste between Dade and Broward listeners and even in lifestyle. Just the pace, itself. Just take a drive on I-95 and see the difference in intensity when you get deep into Dade County. Not just the traffic. Cars just move faster and seem to cut in and out of lanes more. Everything in Dade is just a bit more intense and a bit more fast. Since they removed spring break, Fort Lauderdale on the beach is calm and quiet. Less night spots, etc. Can anyone compare going to the mall in Coral Springs or even the Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale to the intensity and crowds of shopping in a mall in Hialeah. The quietness and laid back calm of a Broward flea market in comparison to a flea market in Dade. The excitement of South Beach or any part of A1A in Dade to what you have in Broward. Miami is the city and Broward is another world. It's like when they talk about building a sports stadium for everyone. Part of the big debate is about how people in Broward and Palm Beach will simply not drive far into Dade County to go to a Miami Heat or Florida Marlins game in big numbers. How many people in Broward could even tell you the name of the mayor in Miami? Think of the tuneout when local tv news shows a rally or an event or a political thing on Miami Beach if you are watching in North Broward or think of living in Coral Gables and watching a story about something that happened in Fort Lauderdale. Somehow, in a place like New York, people on Long Island and New Jersey and Connecticut care about what Bloomberg says/does in New York City even if they don't vote for the mayor. I think the difference is that people in NY, NJ and CT all commute to work and shop and use the entire tri-state area. I'll bet if you research it, you'd find that most people in Broward and Palm Beach may not even venture into Dade County more than a couple of times a year, if at all. If you look at rush hour traffic in California, you'll see people going to and from LA, but, in south Florida, the traffic in rush hour seems to be getting from point A to point B in each county as opposed to people commuting from Palm Beach to work in Miami or vice a versa. Part of that problem, too, is that Broward, for example, has no east to west highway and there hasn't been enough planning for the population increase, in terms of roads. Anyway, throw all of that stuff in and then add the language and cultural issues/tastes where people might prefer, for example, a Spanish talk or sports radio station because they talk fluently in Spanish, and you have a situation where it is very difficult to bring everyone together with radio stations that can appeal, across the board, to both counties. Miami/Fort Lauderdale should not be bunched together as one market. Of course, that would affect advertising dollars if they didn't count "all" the people in both counties, etc. But in reality, they are simply two different markets. The question then becomes, if the two markets are so different, what's the big deal? After all, radio is fragmented and niche oriented. There are no dominant powerhouse radio stations that overwhelm the ratings in most markets and there should be room for everybody. Unfortunately, the financial reality and ratings reality is, that poor WQAM, for example, can't compete with 3 or 4 English speaking sports stations and then another few Spanish speaking talk stations, on top of it and bad signal issues in areas where they should do well in the ratings like western parts of Broward County where the signal is horrible. It's just not a level playing field when you can be inside a building in Broward and not be able to pick up almost ANY AM radio station and quite a few FM stations come in poor, too, and these are demos that should be part of your core audience. Anyway, I'm all over the place in my comments which have gone beyond Majic here. Best to you, John Jax and Lotsa Luck, Samb15 with your project. I hope it succeeds. Nothing is impossible, but, I see your project as quite challenging. One final footnote example related to your challenge, Samb15. Take The Annual Car Show. Miami Beach does a fantastic job with the Car Show at the Convention Center near the Jackie Gleason Theater. Yet, for the same reasons that cause debate with the sports teams, etc. the businesspeople behind the Car Show feel it is necessary to have 2-smaller car shows, one in Fort Lauderdale and yet another in Palm Beach. Why? Primarily, because not enough people from Broward and Palm Beach will travel into Dade County for the event. Part of the sports discussion with the Marlins has been about renaming them, "Miami Marlins," in part, for that reason. People in the midwest root for the St. Louis Cardinals because even if they are several hundred miles away and in another state, they are the nearest team. In terms of attendance, proportionately, Broward and Palm Beach residents are not driving to Dade County to attend Marlins and Heat games in anywhere near expectations. Interestingly enough, in Buffalo, where the Bills transferred a game this season to Toronto which concerned people in Buffalo about losing the franchise, research shows that Canadians come into the US to shop and a lot of Buffalo folk head to Toronto, as well. In the daily commute in New York, of the hundreds of thousands driving cars on the bridges or tunnels, at any one time, you have people driving to and fro and using the city from NY, NJ, CT, but, also, Pennsylvania, which is only 90-minutes away, and they all have not just NY, but, the tri-state area, in common, and they use it. NJ draws New Yorkers for shopping because they have lower sales tax. All of them interact with each other for various reasons. But, down here, you do not see somebody who lives in North Broward or Palm Beach drive into Dade County to shop,to work, to attend a concert, to use South Beach, etc. in anywhere near the proportion that you do in other cities that overlap. You, also, do not have the same disconnect. You could live 150 miles away from Atlanta, but, everything leads to Atlanta. You could live in Connecticut and see a story on the news about a problem in Wall Street and it affects you because you may commute to Wall Street in the morning and you can expect delays or you have tickets to a Broadway play or a sports event. Down here, you have very little connection. You could be a Dade resident listening to Majic or the COAST and never change radio stations through the Palm Beaches. You could be a resident of Palm Beach and a fan of WRMF and Sunny 104.3 and never have to flip the dial on a drive deep into Coral Gables. But, a traffic report covering a problem on Lantana Road has no connection to a traffic issue on the Golden Glades. In New York, you could be cooking dinner waiting for your spouse on Long Island and a delay in the subways of Manhattan affects you because he or she will be late for dinner. You just don't have that connection down here. The president could travel to Miami and it has absolutely no affect on life in Wellington. Making radio stations and people come together in this market may not be impossible, but, it's a challenge. Good Luck to Everybody.

 

[B92]

A friend of mine who isn't a part of the boards just asked me to mention this about WAXY 106. As early as 1980, which is way back before consolidation, WAXY was using automation late at night.
That, being the case, it further supports my sentiment that WAXY 106 made little effort to provide anything more than a pretty dull and boring cheap presentation between the songs after morning drive.
Even before it was fashionable, WAXY had a disregard and/or was misguided in its presentation. Back in 1980, you could find small market oldies stations with more enthusiastic jocks for the format
that loved the music and it showed in the presentation. This was an oldies station that was not only music intensive, but, its jocks sounded like they were doing lite-fm a/c radio. Granted, some
people were Greg Budell fans, but, remember that he was really a Love94 jock and I surrender to the opinion that some may have loved the morning show and Shaw is without question, one of the
greatest on-air radio personalities, but, the station, overrall, just wasn't very good. A lot may have had to do with issues relating to RKO and other things, but, there is no way that WAXY106
deserves to be remembered as one of America's great oldies radio stations. It wasn't. But, then again, there are how many oldies radio stations in the country? It certainly wasn't the worst, but,
a market of this size deserved a lot better. MAJIC was an improvement.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

WAXY-106!

It's a sure bet that no one will remember me being on WAXY but I was there from November 1972 till around February 1974. For those who might care here is a little background. Albert S. Tedesco sold the station to RKO General as little more than a license. The transmitter was old and outdated, The final tube blew out just before the sale. The tower was on the First Federal Building at 301 E Las Olas Blvd at 165 Feet above ground. Very short for an FM. There were no studios and just a well worn automation system that needed lots of work. The format was AOR All Over The Road. The sale to RKO took almost a year to complete due to the legal problems RKO General had which intimately lead to the demise of the company. I don't know how true this is but I was told one of the stipulations by the FCC was that WAXY remain automated. Why? I have no idea but that's what I remember.

My job was part-time. I changed the tapes and got a chance to do some news, sports and public affairs programs. It was my first job in radio so it was great just to be INSIDE! WAXY carried the syndicated "Wolfman Jack Show" for awhile. I was told what to do if someone called to talk to him or if they came by the station. No one ever did, nobody!

In the early days the RKO jocks would come down from Boston or New York and strut around saying the market was just too small for them, they didn't want to work in South Florida. Maybe there wasn't enough money for them. There were some Florida jocks that passed through WAXY. Tom West who came from WQAM was there before making a name for himself at WBJW (BJ-105) Orlando, Bill Vermillion from WLOF Orlando worked at WAXY for awhile. Probably the most memorable jock at WAXY other than Rick Shaw was Greg Budell but by the time Rick and Greg got there I was gone.

I also heard from a good source that Kenny Lee was in effect the WAXY PD even though the title belonged to Rick Shaw. I think Kenny went on to work for Selector the music scheduling software company.

To me RKO General was an impressive company. They invested in the newest and finest equipment for the station and they were very aggressive when it came to getting things done. Why they were not aggressive on the air, I don't know. I agree that Y-100 was a thorn in the side of WAXY.

If not for RKO's legal problems I think it would have been a whole other ballgame, but we'll never know!

As for South Florida Radio I think with the transient population it's very difficult to become established as a personality. People are coming and going all the time. I knew a lot of people who moved to the area and then moved out right after high school.

Being a hit in Dade/Broward is easier than trying to be a hit from Palm Beach County. Just ask WRMF which tried to make inroads into Dade and Broward but never could. Palm Beach County is really another world!

 

[John FL]

Thanks Mike and B92 for the added twists and turns in this string. It's pretty interesting as we look back and relive the things that held some kind of significance for us. Hopefully, it's interesting to others as well. So here, I'll try to keep the momentum going.

No B92, I don't take anything mentioned on these boards personally. I’m opinionated and will willingly throw out comment “hooks” to get something going. Actually, we have some areas of agreement especially as it relates to the Dade, Broward and Palm Beach geography and overall assessement of WAXY 106.

Occasionally I had to go to Miami Lakes from Broward (Pompano or Ft. Lauderdale) and I dreaded it. The driving habits of those "south of the border" used to scare the daylights out of me - especially on the Palmetto. But I digress.

When I talked about WAXY 106, I said they were good - not great. In fact one of my biggest complaints about them is they sounded automated a lot of the time. They must have been on a shoe string budget at least in the early 80s when I would tune in on occasion. Rick Shaw was on 7 days a week. It was obvious he was not live on the weekends and my understanding too is he was not live from 6-8PM weekdays. I always liked Rick but his voice tracking skills (not sure if they called it that then) were not the greatest. Perahps that's why Kenny Lee's show sounded better. He took requests and overall when they concentrated on oldies and had interraction with the audience it wasn't bad. The station had an overall OK personality when they were live. For whatever reason, they had a psychic call in show on Sunday nights. I don't think it was the best decision but I have to confess to listening to it.

I think if we go back to the core discussion of how good/not good the South Florida radio market is, it comes down to a matter of personal perceptions. Certainly I'm not a subject matter expert on the market today since I no longer live there. Many of my perceptions are based in the past and it was a great radio past. To be clear, I was just commenting on the fact that you guys have more format variety than I do but I'm in a Top 50 market - Jacksonville. And no B92, this is not a hick town. It is changing and it's not bad here at all but that's another subject.

When I moved from the #1 market to South Florida, I didn't think radio there would be interesting. I was proven wrong. From the early to the mid 80s I listened to a lot of stations and it wasn't because I was searching for something good to listen to, it's just that there were so many great things available. I was big into Y-100 but I also liked 96X especially when they did Top 16 countdowns and I'd stay with them to hear a favorite song or two. You could almost set your watch to when you would hear your favs. Later, I-95 came and that was another alternative.

For something different, there was Love 94 and I liked the jazzy overtones of the station. To me, they best represented the soundtrack of what I thought was a laid back community of South Florida. Another loss that they are now gone.

I'm not sure how it happened but I discovered Neil Rogers one night on WNWS and I was hooked. There was something about him I found interesting even through the Cuban interference and the geriatric callers. Al Rantell, Shirley Peters, Steve Kane, Bob Groves, Neil and Jerry Wichner. To this day, everytime I hear "Help Me Make it Through the Night," I remember Jerry and all those cigarette raspy-voiced female callers. What a line-up! In time, I think there were 4 news/talk stations in the market. Those were the days. Today, no one wants to spend the $$$ for good local talk. The listener looses.

Finally, I'd like to get back to the string subject. Another aspect of radio that has gone away are great promotions. I'm not sure when this was, it could have been the 90s but I witnessed one heck of a successful promotion. At the time WAXY became oldies again under the Y-100 GM, David Ross, Majic went all out with a classic car show hosted by Sonny Fox and Ron Hersey followed by a 4 act oldies show featuring Johnny Rivers, the 4 Tops, Paul Revere and someone else time has made me forget. This was at the old Joe Robbie stadium and the tix cost just 8 bucks! It was an all day event and there were thousands in the audience. I recall so many diverse age groups and what seemed people from all walks of life. As I left that night and heard tons of enthusiastic comments, I knew WMXJ had won the war. Majic was THE oldies station in South Florida. It was just a few months later, WAXY became BIG Over the years, one can make the arguement that WAXY 106 had a good thing but they blew it. It wouldn't be the first time a radio station made the wrong decision. But how I miss the fight radio stations used to have in them when there were actually promotional dollars. There was a drive to be the best and to be on top. I heard it in the voices of the old Y-100 and in the excitment of Neil Rogers when he abandoned the talk that made him famous.

While I didn't want to turn this into just another trip down memory lane, it was to make a point that radio made tons of impressions on me - the listener. 20 years from now will we have commentary on this baord recalling the great radio of today? South Florida remains a special place for me and I guess I'll always look fondly at WMXJ because it's just about the only thing left there that reminds me of a lot of happy times in my life and my love for a lot of the music played. I'm sure some personal bias comes into play when I'm promted to defend the station. So much has been taken away from us as long-time radio listeners and I guess I don't want that to go away as almost everything else has. But in the meantime, no one can take away their three-decade running with the format. Few last that long nowadays and so I celebrate their continued success.

I look forward to my next visit where I usually make at least one stop at the Bahia Cabana on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. I'm the guy you'll find at the waters edge by the sign warning us not to feed the birds. Breaking the rules isn't always bad. As I throw out the bread crumbs to the birds, I think of all those great people in radio who often broke traditional rules to build a great product. They had the drive, enegy and corporate support to do their thing. Radio was exciting and markets such as South Florida thrived when those in charge were allowed to be creative.

 

[B92]

Mike's comment about the Wolfman really drew a chuckle. Of course, 73-74 was about the time of the mnovie, American Graffiti, and if you recall, in the movie, the kids tried to speak to the Wolfman at the studio and all they found was poor Bob Smith and the "tapes." What a letdown after all those years of putting your radio folk on a pedestal and then meeting them at a small station with poor equipment or seeing what they look like in person. I think that was part of the memory that was being conveyed in the movie because, of course, in those days, radio jocks were bigger than life.
RE: John Jax & Jacksonville
I remember Jacksonville market as a lot of fun, at one time. The Greaseman at 690/WAPE and a solid lineup of quality air talent back in their rock n' roll days in te late 70s and early 1980s. The "Chucker" Charles
Einstein Brittain who later worked at WLS doing mornings at I-100, WIVY. The Big WAIV with "Downtown" Hank Brown. While the Greaseman (like him or hate him) was big-time and bigger than the market,
Jacksonville had quality medium market air personalities putting out an enthusiastic product. Great radio news guys who you might hear on the networks now in New York like John Collins read the top of hour
5-minute updates. Y-100's old morning guy, Mitchell in the Morning succeeded "the Chucker" down there before coming to Miami and later leaving Miami for Dallas and doing country. Jacksonville was a really
cool little radio market back then. I recall that Greaseman did 6-years in Jacksonville and it took the owner, a guy named Kaplan, to empty his wallet and pay him a staggering $600,000 a year to keep him there
near the end until Washington, DC. called and eventually priced him out of town. WAPE, at the end, had switched to country and Greaseman was hysterical even doing the country. Did I mention the BIG WAIV?
Some good guys there, too. About 2-years ago, I remember visiting Jacksonville and hearing Cool 96.9 which was cookie cutter, but, sounded okay. They were apparently live at night because I heard the
guy taking requests and phones. On my last visit, the market sounded like it was dead. Cool 96.9 was gone and I zipped across the FM band and it really didn't sound like a medium market anymore which is
really ashamed. I also remember hearing Robbie Rose on the air on one of the FM stations which brought a chuckle. Robbie Rose was just a no-name traffic guy with a heavy southern accent that became famous as being part of the Greaseman show where Grease interacted and elevated everyone around him to be part of the show. Hearing him on an FM station, more than 20-years later, was quite funny. I, also, recognized the voice of one of the part-timers on Cool 96.9 as another guy that Grease used to talk to on his show. But, overrall, what a letdown to hear what has happened to that market.

There is no real comparison of (a) Jacksonville to (a) Miami. As pointed out, Jacksonville is a top50 and Miami is just outside the top 10 in the lower teens. So, certainly there is and was more choice in Miami
and Miami also deserves a lot more tough critical review when you consider the revenue stream in the market as compared to a top 50 market. Nobody is losing money with a decent signal in Miami and if they
are, then, they don't know how to run their station or cluster. It's one thing to downsize, but, when you have some small market radio stations that sound better and more enthusiastic and in touch than some
major market radio stations, it is a disgrace. The product in some major and medium markets is shameful. You have working stiff foot soldiers with medium level talent and a lot of enthusiasm and passion working
for working stiff salaries that put out a better product than some of the giants do in places like Miami. HEY! Another name came to me. Hager in the Morning at the Big WAIV. Hager had the unenviable task of
competing with Greaseman in the morning and the 2-stations, WAPE and WAIV on AM band used to go at it in a radio war and that was still going on in the early 1980s. Those were fun stations.

Where is the Chucker? Charles Einstein Brittain today? Last I heard him, he was doing overnights at WLS, but, that was an eternity ago before they went talk. He was a great jock. Without turning this into
some nostalgia thing, the point of bringing all this up should serve also as a reminder to what made radio great and what is missing today in Miami. As changed as radio is, you can point to morning drive in
Jacksonville, during that period. Kids and parents getting up to go to school and work could tune in an FM station and hear The Chucker or later, Mitchell in the Morning. Greaseman and Hager on AM stations and people could go to work at the water cooler and they'd remember something somebody said, as well as, getting all the info they needed. Was it Top 10 market quality? No, but, it didn't have to be. Even today,
you do find that in most major markets; a must-listen morning show. In slamming Miami as a pathetic "major" market, the point was that there is just nothing like that here. Not one mass appeal morning show coming out of Miami or afternoon show. Y-100 is gone running Elvis out of NY. Hot 105 runs Tom Joyner. You have this big major market and all these morning shows and none seems to be able to stretch beyond their own little format niche. In many markets, you'll have one or two local personalities that dominate mornings and pull in an audience beyond the limitations of their station's niche format. In New York, Stern used to grab 7-10 shares and then at 10am, the station would dip back to 4-something. WIOD runs Schnitt out of Tampa. Again, in a market this size, there should be a local morning show with appeal that is in touch with the pulse of the market. You just don't have that here in talk or morning drive or music or in any form. During the election cycle, I recall CNN trying to capture the pulse of different cities. They'd try to interview a particular radio guy from a city. They'd find a local host to talk to in smaller towns like Kansas City or Denver or Des Moines, but, in Miami, there was nobody to talk to. They asked Neil Rogers and he declined to be interviewed and they couldn't come up with a replacement. There just wasn't anybody qualified to be a radio spokesperson in touch with the city and listeners here. There's nobody talking about the community or local events at all in any meaningful way having an impact. There's no local morning guy to pull a promotional stunt to get everyone's attention like standing out in the cold for 24-hours in a bathing suit on 95 or some ridiculous thing. Tom Joyner certainly isn't going to do it. Elvis Duran isn't doing it from New York. Schnitt isn't commuting to Miami to appear at some shopping mall to solicit blood donations. Glenn Beck isn't
going to talk about school closings and possible teachers strking over pay and budget cuts in Miami. Again, this is not a nostalgia thing about local and live radio; this is part of what is wrong with this Miami
market in 2009. With all the changes in radio, other markets, bigger and smaller than Miami, still have some local presence. Just look around the country and with all the syndicated programming and voicetracking,
most cities, bigger and smaller, still somehow have at least one strong and solid local talk show host/program and at least one strong and solid local morning show on a music station that reaches an audience
that goes beyond the limitations of his own station's format. Some kind of go-to-show for mornings in that city and this is why Miami/Fort Lauderdale ranks as one of the most disappointing major market radio towns.

 

[Grk_ScorpioInTheMIA]

Mike's comment about the Wolfman really drew a chuckle. Of course, 73-74 was about the time of the mnovie, American Graffiti, and if you recall, in the movie, the kids tried to speak to the Wolfman at the studio and all they found was poor Bob Smith and the "tapes." What a letdown after all those years of putting your radio folk on a pedestal and then meeting them at a small station with poor equipment or seeing what they look like in person. I think that was part of the memory that was being conveyed in the movie because, of course, in those days, radio jocks were bigger than life.
RE: John Jax & Jacksonville
I remember Jacksonville market as a lot of fun, at one time. The Greaseman at 690/WAPE and a solid lineup of quality air talent back in their rock n' roll days in te late 70s and early 1980s. The "Chucker" Charles
Einstein Brittain who later worked at WLS doing mornings at I-100, WIVY. The Big WAIV with "Downtown" Hank Brown. While the Greaseman (like him or hate him) was big-time and bigger than the market,
Jacksonville had quality medium market air personalities putting out an enthusiastic product. Great radio news guys who you might hear on the networks now in New York like John Collins read the top of hour
5-minute updates. Y-100's old morning guy, Mitchell in the Morning succeeded "the Chucker" down there before coming to Miami and later leaving Miami for Dallas and doing country. Jacksonville was a really
cool little radio market back then. I recall that Greaseman did 6-years in Jacksonville and it took the owner, a guy named Kaplan, to empty his wallet and pay him a staggering $600,000 a year to keep him there
near the end until Washington, DC. called and eventually priced him out of town. WAPE, at the end, had switched to country and Greaseman was hysterical even doing the country. Did I mention the BIG WAIV?
Some good guys there, too. About 2-years ago, I remember visiting Jacksonville and hearing Cool 96.9 which was cookie cutter, but, sounded okay. They were apparently live at night because I heard the
guy taking requests and phones. On my last visit, the market sounded like it was dead. Cool 96.9 was gone and I zipped across the FM band and it really didn't sound like a medium market anymore which is
really ashamed. I also remember hearing Robbie Rose on the air on one of the FM stations which brought a chuckle. Robbie Rose was just a no-name traffic guy with a heavy southern accent that became famous as being part of the Greaseman show where Grease interacted and elevated everyone around him to be part of the show. Hearing him on an FM station, more than 20-years later, was quite funny. I, also, recognized the voice of one of the part-timers on Cool 96.9 as another guy that Grease used to talk to on his show. But, overrall, what a letdown to hear what has happened to that market.

There is no real comparison of (a) Jacksonville to (a) Miami. As pointed out, Jacksonville is a top50 and Miami is just outside the top 10 in the lower teens. So, certainly there is and was more choice in Miami
and Miami also deserves a lot more tough critical review when you consider the revenue stream in the market as compared to a top 50 market. Nobody is losing money with a decent signal in Miami and if they
are, then, they don't know how to run their station or cluster. It's one thing to downsize, but, when you have some small market radio stations that sound better and more enthusiastic and in touch than some
major market radio stations, it is a disgrace. The product in some major and medium markets is shameful. You have working stiff foot soldiers with medium level talent and a lot of enthusiasm and passion working
for working stiff salaries that put out a better product than some of the giants do in places like Miami. HEY! Another name came to me. Hager in the Morning at the Big WAIV. Hager had the unenviable task of
competing with Greaseman in the morning and the 2-stations, WAPE and WAIV on AM band used to go at it in a radio war and that was still going on in the early 1980s. Those were fun stations.

Where is the Chucker? Charles Einstein Brittain today? Last I heard him, he was doing overnights at WLS, but, that was an eternity ago before they went talk. He was a great jock. Without turning this into
some nostalgia thing, the point of bringing all this up should serve also as a reminder to what made radio great and what is missing today in Miami. As changed as radio is, you can point to morning drive in
Jacksonville, during that period. Kids and parents getting up to go to school and work could tune in an FM station and hear The Chucker or later, Mitchell in the Morning. Greaseman and Hager on AM stations and people could go to work at the water cooler and they'd remember something somebody said, as well as, getting all the info they needed. Was it Top 10 market quality? No, but, it didn't have to be. Even today,
you do find that in most major markets; a must-listen morning show. In slamming Miami as a pathetic "major" market, the point was that there is just nothing like that here. Not one mass appeal morning show coming out of Miami or afternoon show. Y-100 is gone running Elvis out of NY. Hot 105 runs Tom Joyner. You have this big major market and all these morning shows and none seems to be able to stretch beyond their own little format niche. In many markets, you'll have one or two local personalities that dominate mornings and pull in an audience beyond the limitations of their station's niche format. In New York, Stern used to grab 7-10 shares and then at 10am, the station would dip back to 4-something. WIOD runs Schnitt out of Tampa. Again, in a market this size, there should be a local morning show with appeal that is in touch with the pulse of the market. You just don't have that here in talk or morning drive or music or in any form. During the election cycle, I recall CNN trying to capture the pulse of different cities. They'd try to interview a particular radio guy from a city. They'd find a local host to talk to in smaller towns like Kansas City or Denver or Des Moines, but, in Miami, there was nobody to talk to. They asked Neil Rogers and he declined to be interviewed and they couldn't come up with a replacement. There just wasn't anybody qualified to be a radio spokesperson in touch with the city and listeners here. There's nobody talking about the community or local events at all in any meaningful way having an impact. There's no local morning guy to pull a promotional stunt to get everyone's attention like standing out in the cold for 24-hours in a bathing suit on 95 or some ridiculous thing. Tom Joyner certainly isn't going to do it. Elvis Duran isn't doing it from New York. Schnitt isn't commuting to Miami to appear at some shopping mall to solicit blood donations. Glenn Beck isn't
going to talk about school closings and possible teachers strking over pay and budget cuts in Miami. Again, this is not a nostalgia thing about local and live radio; this is part of what is wrong with this Miami
market in 2009. With all the changes in radio, other markets, bigger and smaller than Miami, still have some local presence. Just look around the country and with all the syndicated programming and voicetracking,
most cities, bigger and smaller, still somehow have at least one strong and solid local talk show host/program and at least one strong and solid local morning show on a music station that reaches an audience
that goes beyond the limitations of his own station's format. Some kind of go-to-show for mornings in that city and this is why Miami/Fort Lauderdale ranks as one of the most disappointing major market radio towns.

Mike's comment about the Wolfman really drew a chuckle. Of course, 73-74 was about the time of the mnovie, American Graffiti, and if you recall, in the movie, the kids tried to speak to the Wolfman at the studio and all they found was poor Bob Smith and the "tapes." What a letdown after all those years of putting your radio folk on a pedestal and then meeting them at a small station with poor equipment or seeing what they look like in person. I think that was part of the memory that was being conveyed in the movie because, of course, in those days, radio jocks were bigger than life.
RE: John Jax & Jacksonville
I remember Jacksonville market as a lot of fun, at one time. The Greaseman at 690/WAPE and a solid lineup of quality air talent back in their rock n' roll days in te late 70s and early 1980s. The "Chucker" Charles
Einstein Brittain who later worked at WLS doing mornings at I-100, WIVY. The Big WAIV with "Downtown" Hank Brown. While the Greaseman (like him or hate him) was big-time and bigger than the market,
Jacksonville had quality medium market air personalities putting out an enthusiastic product. Great radio news guys who you might hear on the networks now in New York like John Collins read the top of hour
5-minute updates. Y-100's old morning guy, Mitchell in the Morning succeeded "the Chucker" down there before coming to Miami and later leaving Miami for Dallas and doing country. Jacksonville was a really
cool little radio market back then. I recall that Greaseman did 6-years in Jacksonville and it took the owner, a guy named Kaplan, to empty his wallet and pay him a staggering $600,000 a year to keep him there
near the end until Washington, DC. called and eventually priced him out of town. WAPE, at the end, had switched to country and Greaseman was hysterical even doing the country. Did I mention the BIG WAIV?
Some good guys there, too. About 2-years ago, I remember visiting Jacksonville and hearing Cool 96.9 which was cookie cutter, but, sounded okay. They were apparently live at night because I heard the
guy taking requests and phones. On my last visit, the market sounded like it was dead. Cool 96.9 was gone and I zipped across the FM band and it really didn't sound like a medium market anymore which is
really ashamed. I also remember hearing Robbie Rose on the air on one of the FM stations which brought a chuckle. Robbie Rose was just a no-name traffic guy with a heavy southern accent that became famous as being part of the Greaseman show where Grease interacted and elevated everyone around him to be part of the show. Hearing him on an FM station, more than 20-years later, was quite funny. I, also, recognized the voice of one of the part-timers on Cool 96.9 as another guy that Grease used to talk to on his show. But, overrall, what a letdown to hear what has happened to that market.

There is no real comparison of (a) Jacksonville to (a) Miami. As pointed out, Jacksonville is a top50 and Miami is just outside the top 10 in the lower teens. So, certainly there is and was more choice in Miami
and Miami also deserves a lot more tough critical review when you consider the revenue stream in the market as compared to a top 50 market. Nobody is losing money with a decent signal in Miami and if they
are, then, they don't know how to run their station or cluster. It's one thing to downsize, but, when you have some small market radio stations that sound better and more enthusiastic and in touch than some
major market radio stations, it is a disgrace. The product in some major and medium markets is shameful. You have working stiff foot soldiers with medium level talent and a lot of enthusiasm and passion working
for working stiff salaries that put out a better product than some of the giants do in places like Miami. HEY! Another name came to me. Hager in the Morning at the Big WAIV. Hager had the unenviable task of
competing with Greaseman in the morning and the 2-stations, WAPE and WAIV on AM band used to go at it in a radio war and that was still going on in the early 1980s. Those were fun stations.

Where is the Chucker? Charles Einstein Brittain today? Last I heard him, he was doing overnights at WLS, but, that was an eternity ago before they went talk. He was a great jock. Without turning this into
some nostalgia thing, the point of bringing all this up should serve also as a reminder to what made radio great and what is missing today in Miami. As changed as radio is, you can point to morning drive in
Jacksonville, during that period. Kids and parents getting up to go to school and work could tune in an FM station and hear The Chucker or later, Mitchell in the Morning. Greaseman and Hager on AM stations and people could go to work at the water cooler and they'd remember something somebody said, as well as, getting all the info they needed. Was it Top 10 market quality? No, but, it didn't have to be. Even today,
you do find that in most major markets; a must-listen morning show. In slamming Miami as a pathetic "major" market, the point was that there is just nothing like that here. Not one mass appeal morning show coming out of Miami or afternoon show. Y-100 is gone running Elvis out of NY. Hot 105 runs Tom Joyner. You have this big major market and all these morning shows and none seems to be able to stretch beyond their own little format niche. In many markets, you'll have one or two local personalities that dominate mornings and pull in an audience beyond the limitations of their station's niche format. In New York, Stern used to grab 7-10 shares and then at 10am, the station would dip back to 4-something. WIOD runs Schnitt out of Tampa. Again, in a market this size, there should be a local morning show with appeal that is in touch with the pulse of the market. You just don't have that here in talk or morning drive or music or in any form. During the election cycle, I recall CNN trying to capture the pulse of different cities. They'd try to interview a particular radio guy from a city. They'd find a local host to talk to in smaller towns like Kansas City or Denver or Des Moines, but, in Miami, there was nobody to talk to. They asked Neil Rogers and he declined to be interviewed and they couldn't come up with a replacement. There just wasn't anybody qualified to be a radio spokesperson in touch with the city and listeners here. There's nobody talking about the community or local events at all in any meaningful way having an impact. There's no local morning guy to pull a promotional stunt to get everyone's attention like standing out in the cold for 24-hours in a bathing suit on 95 or some ridiculous thing. Tom Joyner certainly isn't going to do it. Elvis Duran isn't doing it from New York. Schnitt isn't commuting to Miami to appear at some shopping mall to solicit blood donations. Glenn Beck isn't
going to talk about school closings and possible teachers strking over pay and budget cuts in Miami. Again, this is not a nostalgia thing about local and live radio; this is part of what is wrong with this Miami
market in 2009. With all the changes in radio, other markets, bigger and smaller than Miami, still have some local presence. Just look around the country and with all the syndicated programming and voicetracking,
most cities, bigger and smaller, still somehow have at least one strong and solid local talk show host/program and at least one strong and solid local morning show on a music station that reaches an audience
that goes beyond the limitations of his own station's format. Some kind of go-to-show for mornings in that city and this is why Miami/Fort Lauderdale ranks as one of the most disappointing major market radio towns.

As long as radio is being run by clueless suits and beancounters, Miami radio will continue to suck. One simple way to fix this, just DO NOT listen to and support these syndicated programs. When the suits finally realize that nobody is listening and there is low billing, that will force them to do something.