In an email Stan
fills in some history of station activities at WCKS-FM
101.1 "CK101". "I worked in the Cocoa Beach area
for 25 years (1961-1986) and I am familiar (as memory permits) with most of the
people and stations between Melbourne and Titusville. I did air
work, but was primarily involved in promotions and engineering. "During
my tenure at (WCKS-FM 101.1) "CK-101" (1974-1985) I was
consecutively and sometimes (simultaneously) Newsman; Engineer; Chief Engineer;
On-Air Personality and Promotions Director. When "CK-101" was
sold and moved to Orlando as "Star 101", (WSTF-FM
101.9) I stayed on for about
a year and then left because the 'magic' was gone. I worked at WRKT
AM 1300 (and) WRKT-FM
104.1 and then built WWBC-AM 1510 in Cocoa (1964-1976) and then worked at
WCKS-FM 101.1.
I also built the transmitter site and 2,000 foot towers in Bithlo and studios in
Maitland Center for WTKS-FM
104.1 just before it was sold to Capitol.
Much of "CK-101's" success was due to strong ongoing
contest and promotional efforts as well as intense community involvement
(before that became a catch-phrase.) It was such a fun place to work and
everyone's imagination and creativity was acknowledged and nurtured.
Some of the better known "CK-101" promotions included:
"GET XEROX OFF" -contestants were urged to send in pictures
created on XEROX machines. This contest was inspired when the John Deere
Company in Ohio fired a female employee for Xeroxing her bottom. In
addition to the 'X-Rated' stuff, we actually got a lot of excellent art work
using various (non-animate) objects.
The "FROST YOUR BALLS" weekend - Our Hit Van cruised the
local beaches giving away six packs of FROSTY Root Beer and Pizza Hut
Beach BALLS (Hence the contest name).
The "COVER YOUR 'S' " contest - in which we gave away assorted
items of wearing apparel, sunglasses, swim suits, tee shirts and sandals
(all beginning with the letter 's'). We invited listeners to send us a
picture convincing us they needed their 'S's covered.
To balance these edgy contests we also were heavily involved locally with the March
of Dimes, Brevard Handicapped Children and the Merritt Island
Jaycees, plus the Easter and Labor Day surf festivals.
Our contest structure provided for a new and different contest each weekend,
with longer term contests running concurrently. There were so many that I am
hard pressed to recall all of them. I was privileged to work with what I
believe are some of the greatest Radio people of all time."
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