Dusty Rhodes brings oldies back
 

Dusty Rhodes brings oldies back
BY JOHN KIESWETTER | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Longtime DJ Dusty Rhodes couldn't get a radio station to play oldies, so he and
friends are leasing WBOB-AM (1160) to revive the format.

The Hamilton County auditor, who lost his oldies show when 1530 AM switched to
liberal talk a year ago, has teamed with radio executive Brian Kauffmann to
lease the frequency from Christian Broadcasting Systems Ltd. of Flint, Mich.,
which recently purchased it from Salem Broadcasting.

"We loved the music so much, we bought the station," says Rhodes, 66, who was
one of the "Good Guys" on old WSAI-AM (1360) in the 1960s, and helped bring the
Beatles to Cincinnati Gardens in 1964. He has done oldies shows on WKRC-AM,
WLW-AM and WGRR-FM.


The station licensed to Florence will be called 1160 WDJO-AM. From 1985-90,
another AM station here played oldies as WDJO-AM. Rock oldies from the 1950s and
'60s replaced syndicated conservative talk hosts Bill Bennett, Laura Ingram,
Michael Medved and Mike Gallagher on Saturday.

"We're aiming at the 50-plus market, which we believe is still viable. There are
a ton of us, and we've got money to spend," Rhodes says. Oldies WGRR-FM does not
play much music from the 1950s or early '60s.

Rhodes hints that he'll return to the airwaves, along with other personalities
from the "Real Oldies" format dumped by Clear Channel for Jerry Springer and Air
America talk. Local staffing will be announced Feb. 24, after two weeks of
commercial-free music, he says.

Kauffmann will be general manager of the station, which will keep studios at
Broadcast Plaza, 635 W. Seventh St., Queensgate, near WXIX-TV (Channel 19). Mike
Gavin will be sales manager. Kauffmann's brother, a WCPO-TV (Channel 9) salesman
who has hosted oldies as "Rodger Kay," also may be involved with the station.

John L. Pierce of Florence, who brokered the deal, founded the station as
WFKB-AM (1180) in Florence in 1984. He also arranged the sale of sister station
WTSJ-AM (1050) by Salem to Christian Broadcasting Systems. WSTJ-AM will be
called WCVX-AM, and keep its Christian talk format, Pierce says.

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