Indiana RadioWatch: October 16, 1999

Northeast

Jeff Moore, APD/MD & Afternoon guy at Country/WQHK (105.1fm, Decatur) exits for PD duties at Country/WBTU (93.3fm, Kendallville). At "K-105", Mark "After Dark" Allen segues from nights to afternoons (as "Mark Allen") and part-timer Jay Michaels takes nights. At WBTU, Moore does afternoons. Moore replaces Dane Daniels, who moves to sunny Gainesville, Florida. There, he will be PD and do afternoons at "Gator Country" WYGC in Gainesville, Florida.

Changes at Sarkes-Tarzian: AC/WAJI (95.1fm, Fort Wayne) PM Drive guy Dr. Dave segues to mornings, as producer to the "Majic in the Morning" show. Jim Barron walks down the hall, from Oldies/WLDE (101.7fm, Fort Wayne) to take Dave's spot. Miranda Rae takes Barron's mid-day slot, in the interim.

Lynn Williams, promotions director for Country/WQHK (105.1fm, Decatur), CHR/WMEE (97.3fm, Fort Wayne), News/Talk WOWO (1190am, Fort Wayne) and Sports/WHWD (1380am, Fort Wayne) exits for the Cox stations in Orlando, Florida. Williams will be a national sales assistant there.

Weasel, Interim PD/MD at Urban/WJFX (107.9fm, New Haven) is now PD. Also at WJFX, Dave Riethmiller is now Sales Manager. Riethmiller was longtime GM of Rock/WXKE (103.9fm, Fort Wayne) and Soft AC/WEXI (102.9fm, Huntington).

Speaking of WJFX, their application for a CP was approved. This gives them more power (2500 watts to 3200 watts), a taller tower (358 feet to 453 feet) and a new transmitter location (from atop tower #5 at Federated Media's broadcast facility on Maples Road, to a brand new site near Adams Center & Tillman Road).

Aaron Robbins takes the night job at CHR/WMEE (97.3fm, Fort Wayne). Robbins did part-time work at WMEE and sister Country/WQHK (105.1fm, Decatur) in the mid-90's as "Robbin Banks". Also at WMEE, John O'Rourke arrives as APD and 12-3pm guy. O'Rourke was PD at then-CHR/WDJB, what's now Standards/WSHI (106.3fm, Columbia City). PD Chris Didier moves to 10am-12pm and Boomer moves up one hour, from 2pm-6pm to 3pm-7pm.

Diane Current moves from Traffic to Programming Assistant under PD Tommy Allen at News/Talk WOWO (1190am, Fort Wayne). Also, Rob Hines moves from part-time work to produce morning man Dave Macy's show.

Talk/WGL(AM) (1250am, Fort Wayne) switches G. Gordon Liddy and Mike Gallagher. Gallagher is now on from 9am-11am and Liddy is on from 2pm-4pm.

At Rhythmic/WCKZ (102.3fm, Auburn), morning man Justin Gettys (aka "Justin Tyme") and mid-dayer Shane Teach ("Freight Train Shane") both exit, involuntarily. Several positions have been filled at WCKZ and Rhythmic Oldies/WYSR (94.1fm, Roanoke/Fort Wayne):

WCKZ
OM - Jo Valentine (nights)
PD - Brian Michel (afternoons)
MD - Jo Valentine

WYSR
OM - Jo Valentine (no airshift on WYSR)
PD - Jo Valentine

Also at WYSR, Bo Kelly, half of "Kelly & McKee" exits. Replacing him is Geno Burgess. Burgess did mornings at crosstown Urban/WJFX (107.9fm, New Haven).

Northcentral

Oldies/WGTO (910am, Cassopolis, Michigan) launches a website at http://www.wgtoradio.com

W207BF (89.3fm, Goshen) is on the air, relaying World Radio Networks' KRUC in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Northwest

W212BH (90.3fm, Michigan City) will hit the air soon, as a translator for Chicago's WBEZ.

St. Joseph's College station WPUM (90.5fm, Rensselaer) has its application for a power boost (10 watts to 1000 watts) returned by the FCC.

Eastcentral

David Rodgers acquires AC/WZZY (98.3fm, Winchester) from Picon of Winchester for $300,000. Rodgers' other stations include MOR/WKBV, and CHR/WFMG (1490am, 101.3fm, both Richmond).

Central

CHR/WZPL (99.5fm, Greenfield/Indianapolis) PD Tom Gjerdrum exits for Rock/WLOL in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

CHR/WLBC (104.1fm, Muncie) receives a CP from the FCC. Included in the changes they'll be making are a drop in power (50kw to 41kw), a taller antenna (420 feet to 459 feet) and a new tower, at their present location.

Suburban Indianapolis station Oldies/WOOO(AM) (1520am, Shelbyville) is sold by ARS Broadcasting Corp. to RSE Broadcasting, LLC for $250,000. RSE also picks up Standards/WRCR-FM (94.3fm, Rushville) from Quantum Broadcasting, for $800,000. We note that RSE Broadcasting is owned and operated by an REMC, which is a power supply corporation. Several REMC's are in Indiana; they supply power to rural areas of Indiana.

Bob & Tom add new affiliates: KPEZ (Austin, Texas), and WOCT (Baltimore, Maryland). Congrats to Bob & Tom for winning an NAB Marconi Award for "Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year". Flagship station Rock/WFBQ (94.7fm, Indianapolis) wins "Station of the Year" in the Medium Market category.

Westcentral

CHR/WMGI (100.7fm, Terre Haute) PD Rich O'Brien departs for AC/KMXD (100.3fm, Des Moines, Iowa). O'Brien will do mornings and have APD stripes. At WMGI, MD Steve Smith gets the promotion to PD.

Moody Bible station WPFR (93.9fm, Clinton) moves to a new transmitter, dropping from 531 feet to 528 feet. The new transmitter is nearby its old one on West 69th Street, north of Terre Haute. We'll be in this area in the coming weeks, and we'll be sure to check it out.

After failing to build anything, Keith Reising's Veedersburg Radio sells its CP in Veedersburg to Zona Communications, for $135,000.

WPCS-translator-of-the-day W216BB is on the air in Williamsport at 91.1fm.

Southeast

Oldies/WINN (106.1fm, North Vernon) adds Mike Keeton for mornings. Keeton arrives from Lexington, Kentucky. Also, Trey McKain arrives for part-time work.

Classic Hits WSFR (107.7fm, Corydon) boosts power from 3000 watts to 31,000 watts.

Also in Corydon, R&B WGZB (96.5fm, Corydon) adds syndicated Tom Joyner in the Morning.

Southwest

As ownership changes from Posey County Broadcasting to The Original Company, Evansville stations Soft AC/WPCO(AM) & WBLZ-FM (1590am, 106.7fm, Mount Vernon) change format to ABC's Adult Contemporary format. WPCO's new calls are WRCY, while WBLZ is now WYFX.

Tess Taylor is the new PD at Country/WYNG (105.3fm, Evansville).

Talk/WTCJ(AM) (1230am, Tell City) is sold by the trust of James Roland Brewer to Hancock Communications, an affiliate of The Cromwell Group. Selling price was $25,000.

Religious/WBGW (101.5fm, Fort Branch/Evansville) gets a CP to increase power from 1000 watts to 2100 watts.

Bethel Baptist Church's application for a new station on 88.9fm in Linton is returned by the FCC.

Otherness

The Indiana Broadcasters Association passes on word of thefts and other damage at several Indiana transmitter sites. Transmitters, exciters and audio processing gear were taken from some sites. Others were knocked off the air. We've heard about stations in South Bend, Lafayette, and Kokomo.

That's it for this issue! See you in two weeks...

Blaine Thompson
Indiana RadioWatch

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