WXTQ_The X_1_040296

The time had come. WXTQ had successfully driven the CHR/Urban format into the ground by late 1995. Since Athens' population is largely supplanted by the 20,000 + undergraduate student body there attending OU, the groundswell was deafening to start dipping more and more into the latest wave, now known as the Punk Revival of the 90's. Luckily, a savvy, well-trained musician herself, Lander Rose, was at the helm as PD of WXTQ. So, with the help of a music director from Cleveland radio who was working for us then, we started soliciting the punk labels for product, and dipped our toe into the waters of the Punk: we [gulp] dayparted.

Despite the historic hatred of all things dayparting-related amongst us commercial radio professionals, I can definitely say that we ran it as tight as it could be done for a night-and-day difference in music programming, starting at 7pm.

Yet we sold the crap out of it; local business were clamoring for remotes from The X, to bring in the college students, obviously, more artist concerts were open for promotion tie-ins, and hourly weather was regularly sold out for my shift. So, thanks to Lander, it was a success, at least while I was driving it for the last 6 months I was living there in Athens. In Aug 1996 I accepted a PD position on the Outer Banks, and had to move on once again.