Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994 TAG: 9402030010 SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Melanie S. Hatter DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Duncan says he was fired. Russ Brown, operations manager at WLDJ/WRDJ, says it was a ``parting of the ways.''
The disc jockey and the station had ``philosophical differences,'' Brown said. Duncan has been replaced by nighttime DJ Jimmy Mack.
This marks the second parting of the ways with a radio station for Duncan in three months. He left K92 (WXLK, 92.3) in October, saying he didn't like the proposed changes in its morning show because he couldn't be himself.
He describes himself as a ``shake, rattle and roll kind of personality,'' and that the oldies station should have known what it was getting when it hired him.
``The oldies format is so much different from Top 40 or a rock station,'' said the station's general manager, Jack Alix. He compared it to late-night television: The older audience expects Johnny Carson and the younger audience expects David Letterman.
``It's demographic appeal,'' Alix said.
Listeners and some advertisers had complained about Duncan's somewhat risque style. For example, Duncan admits he said ``Jesus Christ'' during one show, and a caller complained that ``I used the Lord's name in vain.''
Alix says Duncan ``is a great talent,'' but needs to find his niche.
Duncan blames advertisers for putting pressure on the radio stations to get rid of him because of a show he did at K92 that gave tips on how car buyers can protect themselves from crooked car dealers.
\ WROV-FM is starting a new radio station in Lynchburg. WLNI (105.9 FM) is the first talk and sports station on the FM dial in the area, says Mike Slenski, WROV general manager. The station, nicknamed ``The Line,'' was bought by David Moran of Moran Broadcasting in Salem from WJJS morning DJ Lad Goins and is being leased to WROV.
\ Cox Cable Roanoke has dropped its price on its Digital Cable Radio service from $10.95 to $8.95 (installation is $18.01) and is making the most of the disappearance of urban radio station V103.
``Who Stole the Soul?'' asked one of Cox Cable's advertisements for the service. ``These days, dance, rap and R&B music seem to be disappearing from the airwaves,'' it continues. ``But with Digital Cable Radio ... you can resore your soul.''
``It gives you a lot of alternatives,'' says Sharron (cq) Davies, assistant marketing manager. ``There's just such a need in Roanoke for additional music that appeals to the African American community.'' Even with an urban station in the market there's a need for more variety such as latin and jazz, she says.
Of its 52,000 customers, Cox Cable has 750 commercial and residential subscribers to digital cable. ``It's doing well in this market because it's not a big city where you have a lot of different kinds of music,'' Davies says.
Cox Cable began offering the service in April 1992 with 19 channels and expanded to 30 last year.
It's commercial-free music with compact-disc-quality sound and is transmitted digitally over the existing cable TV system and through a tuner hooked to the stereo. The channels range from big band to new age, from heavy rock to reggae. There's also a channel for children's music.
Simmons Cable TV Co. in Radford also offers the service for $9.95 a month and $10.61 for installation.
By the way, Jack Alix says he's continuing to work on getting urban contemporary WJJS into Roanoke. He said he was negotiating the possibility of airing on Vinton's WWFO (106.1 FM), which is owned by Michael Scott Copeland of Washington, D.C.
\ While many are still complaining about cable prices after recent changes, new subscribers to Cox Cable Roanoke can feel good that some of their money went to education.
Cox Cable gave $8,000 to Roanoke city ($4,500) and Roanoke County ($3,500) schools for audio-visual equipment. The money was taken from new subscriber installation fees during October. Last year, the cable company donated $6,900 to the two school systems.
General Manager Gretchen Shine said: ``It's another way we can help the schools embark upon the information highway, in addition to the Cable in the Classroom services we now provide.''
by CNB