What’s News? 

June 2013

Erica Lee Returns      6-1-13
Erica Lee will be returning to Orlando air waves beginning on Monday, June, 3. on WLOQ-FM 102.5 at 6AM.

Celebration of Life     6-1-13
The family of Gene Burns, who passed on May 25, has announced there will be a celebration of Gene’s life at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, 1901 E. Robinson Street, Orlando, Saturday, June 8 at 10AM.

Spanish Station Coming To Ocala        6-1-13 
Lance Venta at Radio Insight is reporting that Ricardo Arroyo has won the bidding on a Class A,  FM station  99.7 in Silver Springs Shores. The station will serve the Ocala market.. Arroyo is a Director in Q Broadcasting, which owns Spanish News/Talk WONQ-AM 1030 and WRMQ-AM 1140  in the Orlando market and WPSP-AM 1190, Royal Palm Beach.
 

Gainesville Stations "All Shook Up"    6-1-13
Thanks to Tony Downes. JVC Broadcasting, the new owners of  WBXY-FM 99.5, WYGC 104.9, WMFQ-FM 92.9, WTRS-FM 102.3 and WXJZ-FM 100.9 have made decisions about format changes at three of the stations.  News/Talk “99.5 The Star” WBXY becomes "Party 99.5" playing Rhythmic/Dance hits duplicating the format heard on JVC's WPTY-FM 105.3 on Long Island. WYGC will be simulcasting WTRS as "My Country". WMFQ and WXJZ will retain their existing formats. JVC Media of Long Island, N.Y., has an agreement to buy five FM stations in the Gainesville/Ocala market from Asterisk Communications and will run the stations under an LMA until FCC approval of the sale.

Shane Finch Is Leaving The Cluster     6-2-13
Shane Finch has sent along the following. "...After nearly 18 years serving Asterisk Communications President, Fred Ingham, I've prayerfully decided not to continue on with new owners, JVC Broadcasting. While I'm convinced JVC will do amazing radio in Florida, the timing is right for me to pursue several radio related business opportunities. Jana and I will be able to maintain our Ocala, Florida residence and spend time with our new grandson, Cameron! I'm thrilled to join the excellent team of A-Ware Software representing MusicMaster.  MusicMaster, created by CEO, Joe Knapp in 1983, is a music scheduling software utilized by radio and television stations around the world, including Sirius/XM..."

Shane Reeve Named VP/Market Manager     6-5-13
JVC Media, one of the leading independent, locally owned radio broadcasters in Long Island, New York and Gainesville, Ocala Florida, has tapped Florida resident and radio pro Shane Reeve to lead its brand new Gainesville, Ocala 5 station radio cluster. Shane has over 25 years of broadcast experience and was recently the VP Market Manager of the Cumulus Ft. Walton Beach Cluster. During his 25 years of service to our industry Shane has made stops at WDIZ-FM 100.3 in Orlando, WMMZ-FM 93.7 in Ocala, WEZX in Scranton, PA and after realizing that market was too cold came back to WJRR-FM 101.1, Orlando until Cox took him to run the sales department at WXGL in Tampa then Cox promoted him back to Orlando to run legendary rocker WHTQ-FM 96.5.   Ironically, Shane got his start in radio with John Caracciolo, the President and CEO of JVC Media.  “ I remember when Shane and I both started at WLIR-FM in Garden City NY.  I was the engineer and he was the best sales intern I ever saw” said Caracciolo. “ I am so happy that he is part of the family once again”, he added.

Movin' On Up     6-5-13
Dave Tyler
, Morning Co-host at WTRS-FM 102.3 has been named Program Director by new owners JVC Broadcasting.

Happy Birthday!       6-11-13
Former WTKS-FM 104.1, Monster, Daniel Dennis turns 37, tomorrow. On Thursday, the WDVH-AM 980 "Diva", Jinx Miller (McCall) celebrates. Happy birthday to you both.

Meet John Caracciolo    6-14-13
RadioInk magazine has a great interview with John Caracciolo
the President and CEO of JVC Media, the new owners of WBXY-FM 99.5, WYGC 104.9, WMFQ-FM 92.9, WTRS-FM 102.3 and WXJZ-FM 100.9.

Looking For The Blues?       6-26-13
"Biscuits, Bacon and Blues" can be heard on Sundays from 10AM-Noon on WPRK-FM 91.5 and online at wprkdj.org

Buckethead Gone From WTKS      6-26-13
From
Buckethead's (Jason Bailey) Facebook page;
Soooo...I've waited to see how the posts pan out. Definitely some very interesting ones. Yes, THE BS is done from Real Radio. Will I trash anyone...absolutely not. Why? I really have nothing bad to say. Can I explain the whole thing and how it panned out? Nope...not right now. It's not as easy as some people seem to think it is. Will I miss Real Radio? More than anyone will ever know. The Real Radio gig was a dream come true for me. I had always had the utmost respect for the shows (past and present) that were on TKS and still do. I hope that you can understand why I can't get into all of the details on this right now. 
On a more personal note. The past year has been a rough one for me professionally. I knew that with certain issues in house and in the business in general I couldn't get to where I wanted to here in Orlando. That statement shouldn't be confused with me not wanting to do it here in Orlando. I'm just not a complacent person and I found myself surrounded by that so I made the choice to move on professionally so I could move on personally.
It's very easy for you guys to judge those of us on the radio because of things you might think, hear or read. But, unless you were there you really don't know.
I will follow this up at a later time when I can explain more. Even at that time I will not bash anyone. I thank all of those that I worked with during my time at Clear Channel. What I learned by doing, making mistakes and watching is priceless and much appreciated.
In its purist form THE BS in Orlando was one hell of a good time. Great chemistry. And in its purist form the show was Prince, Bull, Oddo and myself. All 3 of those guys are extremely talented guys that belong on the radio somewhere. Everyday I learned from those guys and appreciate everything they gave to me and the brand. Unfortunately, not all stories have a happy ending. I can live with that. 
Am I unemployed? Not that it matters...well maybe if I were it might make some people feel better but that's if I were. More on that soon.
To the fans. I know you hate change. It's funny when I came to Real Radio in 2008 I remember saying to someone how passionate the listeners are. I'd never seen anything like it before. I was impressed and a bit intimidated. You guys know your radio stuff. That's a rare breed of people. I see the love and the hate. Both are good in my opinion. That means you love this radio station. I hope that no matter what...you continue to love this radio station voicing your opinions...good and bad. This day and age there aren't many Real Radios out there. I hope that this format lives for another 20 years but it won't happen without your support.
I'll miss talking to you guys everyday...I really will. I'll miss the show in its purist form. That's how I'll remember it.
I'll be in town for a little while longer and hope to run into as many of you as possible. 
Thanks again and I'll talk at ya later.

News Junkie Returns    6-26-13
After being let go back in May, 
"The News Junky", Shawn Wasson has returned to WTKS-FM 104.1 taking the spot vacated by 
The BS
.

Marion County Pirates Shut Down     6-26-13
Juan Nieves and Luis Galindo were arrested in Summerfield, an area of Marion County for the illegal operation of a radio station on 97.7. The studio was located in a single-wide mobile home with a radio tower behind the home. Mexican music was programmed and they were selling advertising to Hispanic businesses in the Summerfield area.

JVC Appoints New General Sales Manager    6-27-13
JVC Media, has tapped Florida resident and radio pro Sarita Negron as its newest General Sales Manager.  Sarita joins longtime market veteran General Sales Manager Sam Gerace, together the two will lead its brand new Gainesville/Ocala 5 station cluster. “Sarita will concentrate on growing the clusters presence in Gainesville, while Sam will continue to build the heritage brands in Ocala, and all three of us will work together to bring the group to new heights in the market”,  said Shane Reeve, VP and Market Manager for JVC Florida. Sarita has over 16 years of broadcast experience and was recently a Senior Sales Executive for Opus Broadcasting in Tallahassee.  Her career spans  many radio formats with  stops at WTKS-FM 104.1 Orlando, the powerhouse talk outlet, WRFX Charlotte, Cox’s 97X in Tampa, and WJHM-FM 101.9  Orlando.  “I love this market and I am absolutely thrilled to be working with JVC to bring exciting, new radio formats into the area, this is live and local the way radio is suppose to be”, said Sarita. “Radio is fun and if you don’t have fun doing it, you might as well be selling newspapers”, she added. 

Happy Birthday!
    6-27-13  
Former 
WXXL-FM 106.7 assistant program director and music director, Pete De Graff and former WOCL-FM 105.9 morning host/Program Director Scott "Scooter" Sherwood celebrate today. Happy birthday to you both.

Happy Birthday!      6-30-13
A good friend of this website, Tony Downes will celebrate a birthday on Monday, June 1. Many happy returns, Tony!

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