| Al Brumley: KRLD's host Jones goes honorably into the good night RADIO 06/03/2001 By / The Dallas Morning News
He gave it a valiant effort, but in the end Charley Jones couldn't scale
Mount Davis.
Mr. Jones, midmorning talk host at KRLD-AM (1080), will soon vacate that
post to host the revived Texas Overnights show from midnight to 4
a.m. weekdays, which he hosted before moving to the 9 a.m.-noon shift.
Operations manager Michael Spears said Mr. Jones couldn't bring in the
ratings the station was hoping for. "I thought we could transfer his
good stuff from nights," Mr. Spears said. "But the audience levels were
never what we have to have."
Mr. Jones said Thursday that he couldn't resist the challenge of
re-building Texas Overnights to its former blanketing-the-state
status. "I'm one of those guys that's happiest when he's creating and in
the process of building," he said.
He also said he doesn't always measure a show's success by ratings. He
said that the show sold well, the phones were always lit up, and "as far
as I'm concerned, I delivered some of the best radio I've ever done."
When Mr. Jones took over midmornings for Ernie Brown in October 1997, he
found himself competing with Mark Davis at WBAP-AM (820), one of the
best talk-show hosts in the business.
Among the three news/talk stations – KRLD, WBAP and KLIF-AM (570) – Mr.
Jones consistently ranked second behind Mr. Davis.
Mr. Jones is a former disc jockey who became a talk-show host. Mr. Davis
comes from a hard-news background, and the difference is stark, at least
in the rough-and-tumble world of midmorning talk.
But Mr. Jones' more laid-back approach and soothing tones work perfectly
at night. Think of him as a Jim Bohanon with a better sense of humor and
a local agenda.
Meanwhile, there's the question of KRLD's new midmorning host. Mr.
Spears said he hopes to have the new show in place no later than July 1.
It's an intriguing dilemma, especially with former KLIF host David Gold
still unemployed and Kevin McCarthy looking as though he won't return to
KLIF.
But all Mr. Spears would say is that he's conducting a nationwide search
and looking at a number of potential candidates.
Whatever happens, Mr. Jones has no reason to hang his head. In any
number of markets he could be the No. 1 talk host. He might have met his
match in Mr. Davis, but he put up a darn good fight.
What's old is new
Well, you've gotta give 'em credit for a great stunt. For three days
KRBV-FM (100.3) played nothing but song snippets, ranging in genres from
grunge to hip-hop.
Then at noon Monday – after months of rumors that KRBV was going
all-'80s – came the big announcement: a new name!
Hold on to your seats, folks: "Hot 100" is now "Wild 100."
But it's still a contemporary-hits radio station playing basically the
same music as before, although it's sticking to newer hits, said vice
president and general manager Dave Presher.
"The older music didn't test well at all," Mr. Presher said. "This will
be a very contemporary format. It'll be a very over-the-top radio
station, with lots of contests."
The main goal with this new ad campaign is to finally get it through the
public's head that 100.3 is no longer an R&B station. Listener testing
didn't turn up many negative comments, Mr. Presher said, "but there was
some confusion about our brand, because of where we started and where we
are now."
As for the DJs, well, there weren't any last week. But J.B. & Sandy are
returning to the morning-drive shift Monday. Beyond that, Mr. Presher
wouldn't comment.
Look for the radio guide at
www.dallasnews.com/entertainment
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