Post by John Quincy on Jul 24, 2004 16:54:56 GMT -5
On July 18, 2004, we received this letter from one of the principals in Sconnix Broadcasting, who owned WTMA between 1980 and 1985. Randy Odeneal -- who was also the WTMA-WSSX General Manager -- was responding to John Burwell's not-so-flattering comments about Sconnix talking over WTMA.
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John,
What a surprise to Google Sconnix and find you are now at WTMA and doing a very credible job of documenting the rich history of the radio station. I remember John Burwell although I didn’t have a great deal of involvement in the day-to-day management of the station until 1981 when we changed WPXI’s format from urban to what at the time we called fusion rock (which was really the pop side of rock).
It’s always interesting with the passage of time to note how memories alter reality to suit some particular viewpoint. John is correct that WTMA was a legendary radio station with a colorful past and a history of great accomplishments. In 1980 however the world was quickly changing for AM radio and not in a good way. I’m sure in January of 1980, when the ratings came out, it may have seemed as if WTMA’s difficulties were of little concern to us. Of course they were. After all we had just purchased the stations three weeks earlier. We had no control over the impact WCSC’s new adult contemporary programming and personalities would make. But we operated from a broader perspective. We had witnessed similar erosion at legendary pop AM’s across the country, WRKO Boston, CKLW Detroit, WABC New York, etc. etc. and it was evident the handwriting was on the wall. Meanwhile WPXI’s 100,00 watt signal had enormous potential for development so we invested our time in cultivating that opportunity and moving WTMA toward adult contemporary which was its best hope.
If the word secret implies that the deal to move WPXI’s format and announcers to a new facility was somehow underhanded, I would take issue with that. The deal was secret in the sense that if word got out prematurely and it failed to happen it would have been very disruptive for WPXI. We were also in the process of launching a new format against very capable competitors.
The rest of John’s recollections of WSSX (WPXI’s new call letters) are simply inaccurate. WSSX debuted #1 and finished the year in the same position. Not #7 as represented. In 1983 I chose to take the station more toward the pop side and it exploded again as the #1 station by a mile beating its two competitors combined and doubled. Meanwhile on the WTMA side we hired the architect and morning personalities of WCSC which made us very competitive.
WSSX was a great radio station with great personalities, Steve Cochran, Andrea, Beau, Brian Phillips and yes, you too John Q. You could go to the beach and hear the station as a wall of sound. It was just everywhere. Not everything went perfectly in 1980. John is right about that. But by 1981 the stations were on a roll and I enjoyed my time running them.
In 1985 we sold the stations since we were now committed to the major markets. Not at a loss but rather for three times what we paid for them. All of this is a matter of public record.
No station is forever. It’s very difficult to remain on top (except perhaps for KGO in San Francisco). But WSSX did a pretty good job of it and those who worked hard to make it so deserve credit for the remarkable radio they served up in the 80’s to low country listeners.
We sold our last stations earlier this year. I have always resisted commenting on articles about us no matter how far-fetched. But now that I have, I must say it’s rather cathartic.
Randy Odeneal
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John,
What a surprise to Google Sconnix and find you are now at WTMA and doing a very credible job of documenting the rich history of the radio station. I remember John Burwell although I didn’t have a great deal of involvement in the day-to-day management of the station until 1981 when we changed WPXI’s format from urban to what at the time we called fusion rock (which was really the pop side of rock).
It’s always interesting with the passage of time to note how memories alter reality to suit some particular viewpoint. John is correct that WTMA was a legendary radio station with a colorful past and a history of great accomplishments. In 1980 however the world was quickly changing for AM radio and not in a good way. I’m sure in January of 1980, when the ratings came out, it may have seemed as if WTMA’s difficulties were of little concern to us. Of course they were. After all we had just purchased the stations three weeks earlier. We had no control over the impact WCSC’s new adult contemporary programming and personalities would make. But we operated from a broader perspective. We had witnessed similar erosion at legendary pop AM’s across the country, WRKO Boston, CKLW Detroit, WABC New York, etc. etc. and it was evident the handwriting was on the wall. Meanwhile WPXI’s 100,00 watt signal had enormous potential for development so we invested our time in cultivating that opportunity and moving WTMA toward adult contemporary which was its best hope.
If the word secret implies that the deal to move WPXI’s format and announcers to a new facility was somehow underhanded, I would take issue with that. The deal was secret in the sense that if word got out prematurely and it failed to happen it would have been very disruptive for WPXI. We were also in the process of launching a new format against very capable competitors.
The rest of John’s recollections of WSSX (WPXI’s new call letters) are simply inaccurate. WSSX debuted #1 and finished the year in the same position. Not #7 as represented. In 1983 I chose to take the station more toward the pop side and it exploded again as the #1 station by a mile beating its two competitors combined and doubled. Meanwhile on the WTMA side we hired the architect and morning personalities of WCSC which made us very competitive.
WSSX was a great radio station with great personalities, Steve Cochran, Andrea, Beau, Brian Phillips and yes, you too John Q. You could go to the beach and hear the station as a wall of sound. It was just everywhere. Not everything went perfectly in 1980. John is right about that. But by 1981 the stations were on a roll and I enjoyed my time running them.
In 1985 we sold the stations since we were now committed to the major markets. Not at a loss but rather for three times what we paid for them. All of this is a matter of public record.
No station is forever. It’s very difficult to remain on top (except perhaps for KGO in San Francisco). But WSSX did a pretty good job of it and those who worked hard to make it so deserve credit for the remarkable radio they served up in the 80’s to low country listeners.
We sold our last stations earlier this year. I have always resisted commenting on articles about us no matter how far-fetched. But now that I have, I must say it’s rather cathartic.
Randy Odeneal
