MUSIC OF NEW LIFE returns to local airwaves..

The Christian classics of the 70s, 80s, 90 and early 2000s have returned to the air..at least part-time.

The program, which was developed over at WCVC years ago, went off the air in 2001 when that station changed to a talk format.

It returned to the air via the internet when I ran the MUSIC OF NEW LIFE station on Live365
from February to November of 2006. Technical problems with the computer and increasing costs
made me rethink the idea, and it ceased operations last November 3.

After a marathon 20-hour workday on Saturday that lasted until around 3 a.m., and a couple of hours of sleep, I was up early Sunday in order to sign on Musicbox 1610 with..MUSIC OF NEW LIFE.

My former 1160 AM studio is now fully functional again, and is capable of being used for
production, voice work and such while also being wired into the 1610 control room, allowing
me to broadcast the Christian music show live..without running back and forth between rooms
to grab music.

My October 21 program sure felt like a throwback to radio's retro days..cueing records,
cassette tapes and searching for CDs..reminded me of my early days with WCVC. I played some songs I haven't heard in a long time and enjoyed it thoroughly. I ended up staying live until noon, having a personal worship service right on the air. I felt lifted all day long.

MUSIC OF NEW LIFE will air Sundays from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on a regular basis. If you're
in the vicinity of the Super Wal-Mart on the Parkway, be sure to tune in. The station is
Musicbox 1610 AM.

Interestingly enough, it was the ONLY music on AM radio..everyone else had satellite feeds or preachers. That's what I discovered at around 8 a.m.

I'm not naive enough to believe that the pea-shooter station can make a difference or have an impact, but after listening to the big boys, I see why Tallahassee AM radio has a dismal 2.1 share in the ratings. (Almost 98% of the available listeners..choose not to.) It gives ME
something to listen to..and that's enough reason to keep it!

New Direction for Pro-Results?

After several months of languishing in no-mans-land, I'm developing a bit of a different direction
for my Pro-Results-Advertising venture.

There are several reasons for the change. First, I have found little-to-no response from marketing
copywriting on a local basis. Matter of fact, I've lost money and time trying to beat life into this (local) dead horse. I'm dismounting today.

More importantly, I just don't have the passion for writing on a daily basis. Sometimes I sit down and the words pour out. Other days I just draw a blank. I think my plate is just too full with family,
the tasks of taking care of the boys full time, developing Musicbox 1610 and its underlying FCC docket which would increase its power substantially. My passion is still radio and I can't seem to
get that same passion going in anything else.

Pro-Results is going to focus MUCH less on writing. I will still be pursuing catalog copywriting
jobs..but nothing else involved in copywriting.

The catalyst for this change, however, is positive: I have recently signed a three-year agreement with a California company to help develop business for them. This is a real service business involving carpet and upholstery cleaning, and helping people start their own business in this area. I'm only involved in marketing - and helping the company get their advertising out
in front of people.

Why did THIS appeal to me?

For starters, it's not another "Internet opportunity." I've been disappointed with much of what's out there in this field. I also am not interested in anything dealing with MLM, meetings,
pitching to your family and friends, or telephone sales. Been there, done that. Had enough.

I like this gig because it pays well..the pay is based on results, but it is a GOOD commission. With some decent responses, there should be no reason not to make enough to pay off our debts and make a decent living. I've got three years to make it work..which I also like..a company that thinks long-term, rather than the next few weeks ahead.

As I still also do work for EasyLife Marketing, this gives me two companies to work with. EasyLife's pay is less, and rather erratic, but is still worth doing. That income helped fund
the transmitter for Musicbox.

For about the next 6 months, I am going to focus like a cat on building up these two businesses.
Since it won't be necessary to spend so much time on copywriting boards searching out jobs that I almost NEVER even hear back from, business should improve. Knowing that the bulk of the
business income will come from two companies rather than hit-or-miss or nonpaying clients
will hopefully alleviate some of the frustrations and concerns I've had in recent weeks.

I'll be revamping the Pro website in a few days to reflect some of my new direction.

October 12..My "Radio Anniversary"

October 12 will forever be the day I'll remember as my first day in the radio business.

Back in the late 70s, the FCC still required taking a test in order to receive a license, which was then required of all employees of radio stations whose dutoes included transmitter operations
and/or monitoring. I'd been studying and studying for that test..

..and the rule changed. By 1979, that test was dumped. I applied for, and got, the restricted radiotelephone operator permit. Good for a lifetime. I still have it.

I also KNEW the rules behind that permit. I applied for jobs at every station in town. I got
nowhere. I applied again at a few. Lather, rinse, repeat. I applied SIX times at WTAL and
was hired for part-tome overnights, running the board for the Larry King Show on Mutual Network.

My first night on the air was Octover 12. At 3:06 there was a break for a 30 second local spot and 30 seconds of weather..the weather was a live read.

Talk about nervous..I was shaking as I read that forecast. But I did, and hit the network right on time.

I spent a year at WTAL, learning as much as I could. I helped pick out oldies..produced PSAs..
did other dayparts..and loved it. When the station was sold to new owners, an impending format change made me realize it wasn't going to last. It didn't, and my last day on the air at WTAL was October 12, 1980. It was a much sadder day than October 12 of the year before.

I returned to FSU to work on my degree in communications, and also did work for community group ECHO, the FSU Media Relations Office, and in 1983, I joined WCVC, where I worked
until mid-1988.

In 1990, I bought carrier-current AM station WKJO in Deltona, Fla., which sounded great in Deltona. It didn't get out of my yard when I moved it to Tallahassee. Nevertheless, I ran it
until 1995, when I sold the transmitter to a campground preacher.

I returned to WCVC in 1996, and became an acting station/sales manager until 2001. When
it switched to a talk format, I ended up resigning, and founded Delta Star Radio of Florida, Inc.,
that year. Delta Star's first venture was an Internet station, which launched July 9, 2001,
streaming a contemporary Christian format..manually by feeding CDs into the computer's CD player because I couldn't get the software to work that would allow me to just go "live." Boy,
did that get old fast! By 2002 I'd figured it out enough to run a 5-disc CD changer over the stream.

2002 was also the year I returned to WCVC for the third time. It was a financial failure under talk because no one knew how to sell. It reverted back to Southern Gospel and Christian talk - a little better than talk, but a shell of its glory days of the mid 80s.

WJJD was birthed in 2003 as a Part 15 AM station running on 1160 kHz. The coverage was pretty good for Part 15 - sometimes up to 3 or 4 miles. I ran a classic country format, and Southern Gospel on Sundays. It even made some money.

I knew the end was coming at WCVC, as the management emphasis was money, not programming, not serving the public, or anything else. It existed to stuff the owner's pockets with money. Realizing that a satellite receiver would ultimately replace me, I put my retirement into place and retired from the commercial radio business in July of 2004.

Meanwhile, WJJD 1160 was rolling along good. I was getting a bit of ad revenue here and there and an anonymous donor gave us about $650. I upgraded some equipment and did some work to enhance the signal. It broadcast through the storms and hurricanes and never missed a beat.

The Internet streaming station was faltering. Local Christian stations had come in and we were
just over 0 listening hours each month. I pulled the CCM, stunted with oldies, and took the stream country as WJJD The Country Giant in 2005. The stream continues to operate
as country WJJD today.

1160's demise came in the form of an overnight thunderstorm. Unknown to me, the coax from the transmitter to the tuning box was damaged, and when I signed on the morning of April 10, 2005, there was no "load" for the transmitter. I ordered more tubes - it blew them, and I had to
conclude that I wasn't a good enough engineer to fix an internal problem. 1160 went on the air for a mere three minutes on April 25 before the last tube blew. I traded the transmitter to a
fellow Part 15'er who could fix it for other gear.

This year, I realized how much I missed being on the air locally. The interruptions on the Internet stream ("Are You Still There") had me running back and forth to the computer to keep the stream running. Frustrated, I saved up over several months and bought a Rangemaster.

And, on September 16, 2007, I began broadcasting a variety format on Musicbox 1610. I'm lovin' it!

Since today's October 12..my radio anniversary..thought I'd share these highlights with you.