The 97X Debacle

Here are all the updates about the 97X Takeover debacle--may it rest in peace.


******** 97X TAKEOVER UPDATE! as of 15 May 1998 ********

Well, as you all no doubt know, 97X has fallen silent. It happened at 2.35 pm on Thursday 7 May, the very day that Entercom took over the station. GM John Starr, DJs Jerry Gerard, Jackson Heart and Ed Sherman, and others lost their jobs. KTK Manager Gary Granger said that the staff was kept in the dark about their fate 'for business reasons'...no surprise there.

The Dog Boy said in the Gainesville Sun article of 7 May, 'We have not failed -- we were bought and sold.' That's a small comfort to all of us who tried so hard in so many ways to help save 97X, but of course he's right. We didn't fail -- over 2000 people signed the petitions, wrote the support cards, called and faxed Granger and Entercom. But in the end, they simply didn't care what the people of Gainesville wanted. It's unlikely that *20,000* signatures would have changed their minds -- they were going to destroy the station and fire our 97X friends NO MATTER WHAT.

In a few weeks, the former station will be back on the air at 97.3 FM, and will be broadcasting 50,000 watts of rightwing talk radio. That's right -- Rush Limbaugh is back on our dial. Not quite the same as hearing 'Fishbee Island' every now and again, now is it?

The one possible bright spot is that there are currently plans afoot to find another small station (5000 watts, like the original 97X) and set up shop again with the same staff and format -- and with the added bonus of simulcasting on the Internet. This venture will be supported by some local businesses which were as shocked and angry as we were to find 97X's spot on the dial suddenly quiet, but they had the money to do something about it. Again, this is all only in the planning stages, but there is a fair chance that it WILL work out. Stay tuned.

And to Jerry, Jackson and the others, thank you so much for everything you've given the community over the years. We love you all and want you know that we're still fighting for you.


--- previous information from 20 April 1998:

Almost 2000 signatures and comment cards have been collected in the past two months since the 'Save 97X!' campaign began. This is a tremendous show of support from the Gainesville community for its One True Radio Station. All of the petitions, comment cards, newspaper articles and posters were collected and photocopied into a huge neat stack, and copies were delivered to Entercom HQ in Pennsylvania, the staff of 97X and Gary Granger of WKTK. But still we're awaiting any word at all from Entercom and KTK as to what they plan to do with our beloved 97X--the only thing we do know now is the actual date of the takeover:
Thursday 7 May. After that, no one knows. Stay tuned.

And here's the cover letter that Ned wrote to Entercom.


--- previous information from 23 March 1998:

On Saturday, 21 March, almost 20 bands and five local venues came together to show their appreciation for Gainesville's only real radio station, 97X. Starting at 8pm at the Covered Dish and running past 2am at the Hardback Café, hundreds of people came out to show their support for 97X and all manner of local music. Nearly 300 people came to the Dish, and more than half of them signed the 'Save 97X--Don't let the Dog walk!' petition and filled out the comment cards which will soon be mailed to Gary Granger (General Manager of WKTK) as well as to his corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania.

More than 1000 signatures have already been collected on the various petitions distributed throughout our town (see below for exactly where), and these petitions will remain until the end of April, which is when it's estimated that the Entercom takeover deal will actually close. It's important to get as many signatures as possible, of course, so if you haven't signed a petition yet, please do so soon. Same goes for the comment cards -- some very funny and eloquent ones were turned in on Saturday, and we need to continue collecting those. Even if you have nothing more to say than 'Please don't change the staff or format of 97X when you take over,' every postcard helps.


Once again, a huge thank you to Angie Gould and Amanda Garrigues for helping to put this all together, and all the venues and performers that made 97X Appreciation Night possible:

Bill Button Bryson and SoundWoman Extraordinaire Kristen Wanner for the Covered Dish
thanks to Amanda Garrigues for kicking it all off, Rob McGregor (late boy!), Hairy & Steve from Squeaky for the zydeco Springsteen, Elaine Mahon, Ané Diaz and Alta Mira, Super Sugar with DJ Junior Samples, the hard-rockin' Rails, Diane Ward, the (literally) smoking Noah's Red Tattoo, Big Sky, a (figuratively) smoking Slack Season, and our own PopCanon, with the '97X Fight Song' ('Man we hate the Babe!'), an unexpected Thelonious Monk jazz classic and finally the singalong flipchart fun of Jerry's theme ('ah ah ah ah ah'). [Jackson Heart proclaimed us 'Blue Ribbon Winner for Best of Show' and Jerry (who has seen a few shows in his Dog years) said our set was 'The finest ten minutes of live music i've ever seen' -- thanks, Jerry. It's all for you, man.]

Brian Krashpad and the Hardback Café
thanks to Crash Pad, Every Single Day and AllStar 69

Nigel, Bill, Moe and Andy for the Common Grounds / BlowHole
thanks to Space Heaters / Nice Guy Eddie

Joe Courter and Hyper X for the Civic Media Center
thanks to Baker Act and the Lookies


--- previous information:

As you may know, Gainesville's only real radio station 97X from turning into a McRadio station, you can go to Hyde & Zeke Records, The Covered Dish, Civic Media Center, Our Place Café, Sims Music & Sound, ProFrets Music, The Soul House, Maude's Café, Spec's Music or Babalou's Records & Tapes and make your voice heard.

For more information, here's some odd email on the subject.

And here's an article from last month's MOON Magazine about this situation.



Last modified: Mon Nov 22 16:36:17 EST