Russ reports:
I went into the ad agency business from 96X in 1979. I had done well in advertising and bought my first station (WXDJ in Miami) in 1987. I remained in the ad agency biz and ran the station at the same time until 1993, when I sold the advertising business to concentrate soley on radio. I purchased two more stations, one in Miami -- WRMA, a sick AC, which I flipped to Spanish to compliment WXDJ (also Spanish) -- and one in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (WFWI).
Both WXDJ and WRMA were brought to general market rating prominence prior to selling them for $111,000,000 to Spanish Broadcasting System (1997). (I also sold WFWI, Ft. Wayne.)
In 1999, I purchased WJFX in Ft. Wayne to stay in the game. I love radio, and am always looking for new challenges.
While at LOVE 94, the Program Director was released and a new one brought in (some things never change). I knew that the new program director wanted his own people and was going to fire me. As he called me in to the station during the day (I was the night jock), I had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen (after all, you learn from experience). I grabbed a Snoopy WWI leather flying cap, stuffed a micro cassette recorder in my briefcase, and went to the station.
As soon as I knew that he was indeed firing me, I put the cap on, started the hidden recorder, and dropped to my knees pleading for my job. Since he really didn't like me, this took all of the fun out of the firing for him. He kept telling me to get off my knees, and I kept telling him how I just wanted to do "the clean up shift" or just sweep the floors at any station he worked for.
Fortunately, I got a job at 96X (for the second time) later that same day (thank you college radio buddy Beau Raines).
To this day, whenever I get together with a couple of guys that were fellow jocks from the old days, playing back the "firing session" is always worth a few good laughs.
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