WJNO

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WJNO

Broadcast area	West Palm Beach, Florida
Branding	Newsradio 1290 WJNO
First air date	July 31, 1936
Frequency	1290 kHz
Format	News/Talk
Callsign meaning	unknown, but could refer to Juno Beach, a suburb of West Palm
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Website	www.wjno.com

WJNO is a news/talk radio station in the West Palm Beach market.

[edit] Timeline

1936: -- WJNO signed on at 1 p.m. on July 31. According to the Palm Beach Post, WJNO was originally a CBS affiliate, and it aired everything from classical music to Steve Allen.^[1]

September 1943 -- pollsters found that 94 percent of all radios in use in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth were tuned to WJNO (1200-AM). At the time, the 7-year-old station was the only signal between Orlando and Miami.^[2]

1984: -- WJNO switches from national syndicated talk shows during the daytime to local hosts. Afternoon host Mike ("Captain Radio") Levine leaves for Tampa and Jack Cole from Boston, at that time 45 years old, takes the slot. Cole referred to imself as the "Inquisitor General" and described his program as coming from "World Headquarters."

September 1984:-- Barry Young is hired as midday talk host. According to the Palm Beach Post, Young was a conservative "who believes in nuclear energy, the death penalty and, more often than not, Ronald Reagan. Abortion is repugnant, he says, and a vice-presidential candidate that goes by Ferraro-Zaccaro would be better off as a foreign sportscar." Young came from WGBS in Miami, where he angered management by leaving. "Barry Young has a valid contract with this radio station," Lee Fowler, WGBS operations manager, said. "He totally deceived us. He said, 'I can't take South Florida.' He told me that he wanted to return to Augusta. When someone says that to you, you try to help them. This is a very people-oriented company. We were very concerned."^[3] Young left the station for KFYI in Phoenix in April 1987, where his remains today.http://www.kfyi.com/pages/barry_young.html?feed=119587&article=359580^[4] John Broward and John Levitt did the program until late summer.^[5]

1986: According to the Miami Herald, WJNO runs constant local and state news, punctuated by national feeds, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. six days a week. Weekdays, local talk hosts work from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., when a national talk show network takes over. .^[6]

1987: Mike Miller from WIOD joins the station.^[7]

May 1988: -- Jack Cole moves to Phoenix, where he is reunited with former midday host Barry Young.^[8] Lee Fowler, formerly of WNWS in Miami, moves into the slot.^[9] Geoff Charles and Dick Farrell host the program in his absence.^[10]

January 1989: -- Miller shifted to 9 a.m. to noon, Fowler moved to noon to 3 p.m., and Geoff Charles moves to the afternoon slot. Syndicated Rush Limbaugh was on the station briefly.^[11]

March 1989: -- Jack Cole returns from Phoenix^[12]

April 1993: -- Miller was fired and replaced with the synidcated G. Gordon Liddy show. Miller returned the following year hosting afternoon drive at WBZT, then moved to Jacksonville and eventually left radio.^[13][14] Miller returned the following year hosting afternoon drive at WBZT, then moved to Jacksonville and eventually left radio.^[15]

September 1994: -- [Randi Rhodes], then 36, is brought in from Miami's WIOD, where she was the evening talk show host. General Manager George Mills Mills said Rhodes would bring a "younger, more aggressive approach" to the station's lineup. "She's very talented. I think she'll be a positive addition," Mills said.^[16]

March 1997: -- Fairbanks Communications purchased a station at 1040 AM and moved WJNO to that spot on the dial, after more than six decades at 1230, to take advantage of its strong signal strength in southern Palm Beach and Broward counties.^[17]

January 2000: -- WJNO and WBZT swapped frequencies. WJNO moved to 1290 AM and WBZT moved to AM. The switch was designed to boost WJNO's signal in all of Palm Beach County but weaken it in Broward and Miami-Dade, where it competed with other Clear Channel properties.^[18][19]

January 14, 2000: -- Syndicated Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger were added to the station as Rhodes was moved to afternoon drive.^[20]

January 14, 2000: -- Randi Rhodes moves to afternoons as Jack Cole is fired. Cole said he was informed of the decision about half an hour before he was to begin his regular 3-to-7 p.m. show. The station aired a tape of an old Cole broadcast instead. Operations Director Jim Edwards said WJNO's owner, Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio "has taken the radio station in a new direction and has chosen to end the professional relationship between Jack and WJNO" ^[21]

March 2004: --- Rhodes moves to New York to join the Air America Radio liberal talk network. Her program continues in syndicated form on WJNO. ^[22][23]

[edit] References

1. ^ Eliot Kleinberg. "WJNO, Launched in 1936, County's First Radio Station", Palm Beach Post, March 29, 2000.
2. ^ Jeffrey Weiss. "Good News: WJNO Still Talking It Up", Miami Herald, July 24, 1986.
3. ^ David Marcus. "Conservative Talk Show's Host Touts Right-Wing Stuff At WJNO", Miami Herald, September 11, 1984.
4. ^ Dave Hogerty. "So Long, Barry!", Miami Herald, April 23, 1987.
5. ^ Glenn Singer. "Blue Bloods Divorcing In Palm Beach", Hiami Herald, August 15, 1987.
6. ^ Jeffrey Weiss. "Good News: WJNO Still Talking It Up", Miami Herald, July 24, 1986.
7. ^ Glenn Singer. "Blue Bloods Divorcing In Palm Beach", Hiami Herald, August 15, 1987.
8. ^ Joseph Schwerdt. "Radio Talk Host Moving To Phoenix", Palm Beach Post, May 11, 1988.
9. ^ "Ex-Radio Host Joins WJNO", Sun-Sentinel, May 17, 1988.
10. ^ Tom Jicha. "WJNO Shuffling Evening Lineup To Bring Back Talk Host Cole", Sun-Sentinel, March 22, 1989.
11. ^ Tom Jicha. "Local Radio Talk Shows Shuffling Their Lineups", Sun-Sentinel, January 6, 1989.
12. ^ Tom Jicha. "WJNO Shuffling Evening Lineup To Bring Back Talk Host Cole", Sun-Sentinel, March 22, 1989.
13. ^ Elizabeth Akoi. "WJNO, Citing 'Political Balance,' Fires Liberal Talk Host Miller", Palm Beach Post, April 15, 1993.
14. ^ Scott Benarde. "The Radio Talk Show Wars", Palm Beach Post, September 27, 1993.
15. ^ Thom Smith. "Ex-Radio Host Miller Puts Talk Into Action", Palm Beach Post, July 9, 2002.
16. ^ Bill Gato. "Day Job In View For Randi Rhodes", Miami Herald, June 29, 1994.
17. ^ Eliot Kleinberg. "WJNO, Launched in 1936, County's First Radio Station", Palm Beach Post, March 29, 2000.
18. ^ George Bennett. "WJNO Fires Talk Host Cole Half-Hour Before Show", Palm Beach Post, January 15, 2000.
19. ^ Eliot Kleinberg. "WJNO, Launched in 1936, County's First Radio Station", Palm Beach Post, March 29, 2000.
20. ^ George Bennett. "WJNO Fires Talk Host Cole Half-Hour Before Show", Palm Beach Post, January 15, 2000.
21. ^ George Bennett. "WJNO Fires Talk Host Cole Half-Hour Before Show", Palm Beach Post, January 15, 2000.
22. ^ Thom Smith. "Rhodes Show Still On WJNO", Palm Beach Post, March 3, 2004.
23. ^ Bob Betcher. "Radio's Randi Rhodes Expands, Moving To New York", Stuart News, March 21, 2004.

[edit] External links

Official website <http://www.wjno.com>

Why Do These Radio Stations Keep Switching Frequencies? South Florida Radio History article by Alan Diskin [1]