[On 5 February 1998, after hearing about the buyout of 97X by Entercom, Inc., owner of WKTK, I sent an email to 97X's webmonkey trying to get some info on Gary Granger, General Manager of KTK:]
hey, do YOU have an email address for one
Gary Granger, GM of KTK?
I'm happy to call and write postcards, but I'm
sure every Gainesville musician with a computer
would gladly make their feelings known to GM GG
if we had an eddress.
When I called KTK, I was told they didn't have one,
but I wonder if that's true or not.
Can you help?
Thanks,
Ned Davis
PopCanon Minister of Dissonance & Disinformation
[Two days later I got a response from someone named 'wringa@aol.com', reproduced here with my interspersed comments:]
wringa@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> The Real Low Down
>
> Entercom Entertainment Communications Inc. owns 22 radio stations
nationwide. All but two of them in major American cities.
I suppose Gainesville is not a MAJOR American city...
>
> Entercom is completing the purchase of Gator Broadcasting which owns 97X,
Micanopy-Gainesville, Florida. The daily operation of 97X should be in
Entercom's hands within 180 days, if not sooner.
>
> Entercom also owns and manages WKTK 98.5, Gainesville, Florida.
KTK is a revenue leading, Arbitron dominant, Soft AC (Adult Contemporary)
featuring a "team-like zoo" morning show, with an emphasis on news, weather
and levity.
ugh.
>
> Other day parts consist of "maintenance announcers" (this term describes
their delivery and content, not necessarily their talent) followed by
cross-over populist talk in the evenings and on weekends.
again, ugh.
>
> KTK broadcast Jacksonville Jaguar Football in 1997.
>
> The station is famous for its Oldies Weekends, 'Coast to Coast'
power at 92,000 watts and tremendous cash give-aways.
>
> 97X is a music intensive, free-form Adult Album Alternative station with
a Blues/Americana base. 97X also carries The Fabulous Sports Babe,
Tampa Buccaneer Football, Orlando Magic Basketball and Gainesville Sun
Columnist Pat Dooley's Sports Connection Sunday evenings.
>
> 97X is famous for its music, its irreverence and its semi-annual Rock and
Roll Up Your Sleeve blood drives to benefit the people of North-Central
Florida.
and its unwavering support of local music and musicians.
>
> 97X has never been a market leading revenue producer, nor has it had a
history of Arbitron Rating success with listeners 12 and older.
>
> 97X is aimed at adults and with an output of 6,000 watts is severely
limited by signal strength. Despite those limitations 97X has scored
significant ratings points among older adults in Alachua County especially
during the important Afternoon Drive.
aren't Jerry's numbers the best in drivetime?
>
> Gator Broadcasting has been working toward a power upgrade and frequency
switch since 1987. It is expected that 97X will move down the FM dial
from 97.7 to 97.3 within the next 180 days.
>
> When that move takes place, 97X (broadcasting at 97.3FM) would transmit at
50,000 watts from a 900 foot tower. The power upgrade and move from
97.7 to 97.3 will still be completed under the Entercom ownership.
that SOUNDS great, and yet...
>
> There has been no word of any format changes at 97X yet. Many
speculate that Entercom may purchase another signal in the Gainesville-Ocala
market and house all three stations; KTK, 97X and the other, under one
roof.
there's the rub: what are the chances that 97X will be able to
maintain their independence and intellegence? Isn't it sadly
likely that we'll lose the amazing freeform beauty of the X and
get something disgusting like 'classic rock'?
How can we prevent this from happening?
>
> Entercom owns radio stations in Tampa, Seattle, St. Louis, Kansas City,
Minneapolis, Portland, Sacramento, and Gainesville.
>
> Entercom corporate offices are located at 401 City Avenue Suite 409,
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. 610/660.5610
>
> KTK General Manager Gary Granger
> 1440 NE Waldo Road, Gainesville, Fl 32641 352/377.0985
> 352/377.1884 fax
got an email address?
Thanks for this info, wringa. How did you know I wanted it?
[And then things get a little weird. Here's the response to the above question:]
>wringa@yahoo.com writes:
wringa knows
[that was the whole message. I asked Brian Krashpad, writer for Ink19, if he knew anything:]
> Yeah, I got it too. Kinda defensive, but pointedly never denies
they're
> gonna gut 97X programming-wise. The whole bit about 'em being in PA
is
> crap, programming's always handled locally, I don't care where their
> damn corporate office is.
>
> BK
Brian, in trying to determine who this 'wringa@yahoo.com' is,
i've got two weird responses. I got a response from someone named
Porter Bell, whose only answer to my pointbypoint disection of
his defensive little missive and which ended with me asking him
'how did you know i wanted this information, wringa?' was the
cryptic 'wringa knows'...
and Linda North, who runs the Linda's Music Links site here in
Gville, got this in response to a query of Yahoo.com, 'may i
ask who sent this?':
you may ask
wringa may not tell
peace
So what the fuck does that mean? Don't you think that
wringa@yahoo.com is Granger?
[Then I wrote back to wringa--real name apparently Porter Bell--and asked why he or she was trying to freak me out:]
porter bell wrote:
>
> Dont Freak,
> just a friend
> of the X
> discretion was needed
>
Sorry, that's not good enough. The cryptic messages:
'wringa knows' and 'you may ask -- wringa may not tell -- peace'
seem designed expressly TO freak people out...
You're certainly welcome to keep playing your games, but what's
your point? More importantly, what's your stake in this game?
[to which he/she/it replied:]
porter bell wrote:
>
> You were on a list with hundreds of other listeners thats how you got
> the message.
> Sorry to have freaked you out.
> Sorry to have troubled you.
> Not playing a "cryptic game"
really? 'wringa knows' is not a cryptic, gamey message?
> You will be removed from the list so as not to offend.
> Again our sincere apologies.
please do NOT remove me from any list that is offering
information about the imminent demise of the 97X that
everyone loves and wants to retain.
> To hurt, confuse or freak out was not our intent.
> Only to inform in a balanced format.
> We have done this.
again, for the nth time, who are 'we'? You're not
working alone, wringa--who do you work for?
[..but that was the last message from wringa/Porter Bell that I received,
eerily mirroring the ominous silence that the staff and employees at 97X
have had since the buyout was announced.]
[And here's what Brian Krashpad sent to 'wringa' in response:]
Hey Ned, here's what I sent to "wringa." I wonder if we could get some
local press coverage on 97X listeners' reaction to the takeover.
Obviously, I'll submit a squib to Ink 19, but that's not really a news
provider. Moon, Channel 20, and the Sun might be interested. What say
we turn up the heat a bit?
Brian Krashpad wrote:
>
> Thanks for the info, but except for some unimportant details, like
> frequency assignment and your takeover schedule, everybody (yes, 97X
> listeners know this was spammed to them) already knew this stuff.
>
> Your "low down" takes great pains to avoid ever saying anything that
> could arguably be construed as a denial that the format of 97X will be
> "maximized," as Granger reportedly said, or a denial that any- or
> everyone there will lose their jobs. These are the things that 97X
> listeners care about. Not how big Entercom is or it's market share or
> any of that "bottom line" crap. Save it for investors who consider a
> radio station merely as a way to make money.
>
> Hopefully, "maximization" merely means that you're gonna give 97X a
> better transmitter/signal. Maybe if you do, you can get more advert
> revenues, and give everybody there raises for the great job they've been
> doing.
>
> If, instead "maximization" means making 97X more like KTK, then I think
> you're dunderheads. All this will do is dilute KTK's local market share
> and piss off a hell of a lot of 97X listeners, who include most of the
> local musicians in this town.
>
> Not that any of this probably matters to you, or the boys up in PA.
>
> Cheers,
>
> BK
[Finally, on an upnote, this is an entry I submitted about 97X to an online music 'zine:]
thought you might like to know:
in a few weeks this entry will be added to SCRATCH, an online music
magazine's Favorite Radio Station section at
http://www.outersound.com/scratch/19_12-29-97/radio-response.html
>The favorite radio station of all Gainesville, FL musicians and
>any decent independent travelling musicians is 97X--WRRX, 97.7FM.
>
>This is the only station I've ever heard that has played Brave Combo,
>Thelonious Monk and Ani DiFranco in the same hour.
>
>Music Director Jerry 'the SOBedient DJ DogBoy' Gerard is unstinting
>in his support of local music and local musicians, of which Gainesville
has a ton.
>
>They've just been bought by the local Adult Contemporary station
>conglomerate in town, and all of us who actually care about music
>are horrified at the prospect of Morning Zoo hijinx and hourly
>Led Zeppelin updates taking the place of real music spun by people
>who really care.
>
>But for now at least, 97X remains the best station i've ever heard.
>
>Ned Davis
[stay tuned...]