The morning host of a Cumulus Media radio station, who joined the FM in 1974 under Capital Cities Communications ownership and has been there ever since its switch to Top 40 from Beautiful Music, has announced his retirement.
Monday, April 29, will mark the final airing of the Giovanni in the Morning program at WPRO-FM 92.3, which 50 years ago to that day switched to a Contemporary Hit Radio format by joining sibling WPRO-AM 630.
Over the years, “92 PRO FM” has been the home of such personalities as Rocky Allen, inaugural Program Director Gary Berkowitz, Tom Cuddy, Tony Bristol, and Howard Hoffman. Then, there is Giovanni, who began his career playing currents from the Stylistics and today is playing tracks from Harry Styles — all at the same station.
It’s a rare feat in an industry known for its air personality nomad lifestyle and eagerness to have veteran air personalities shift to stations within a local group that perhaps better align demographically to the host. And, it shows just how “92 PRO FM” grew into a dominant Top 40 stations in Southern New England, conquering WGNG-AM 550 after a three-year battle. By October 1978, with FM still in its infancy, WPRO-FM had a 7.1 share in the Arbitron survey, behind a Beautiful Music station and its AM sibling.
WPRO-FM’s dominance would only grow across the 1980s, and in Spring 1988 enjoyed a 16.8 share of the audience, 12+, according to Arbitron. By Spring 1998, with changing music tastes and more choices on the FM dial, “92 PRO FM” remained strong, earning a 7.3 share to leader WHJY’s 7.7 as the Rocker took the crown. At that time, Citadel Broadcasting was WPRO-FM’s owner, having acquired it from Tele-Media, which had closed on its purchase of the station from Capital Cities in April 1993.
Interestingly, the legacy bearer of ABC Radio, which merged with Capital Cities, is today Cumulus Media. And, Cumulus became WPRO-FM’s owner following its September 2011 merger with Citadel under the leadership of the Dickey family.
For Giovanni, handling morning show duties began in 1999. The onetime teen intern has been in that shift ever since.
In advance of the final morning shift for Giovanni, a “Gio Takeover Weekend” will air on WPRO-FM on Saturday between 9am-2pm and on Sunday from noon-2pm. The special programming will feature some of the biggest hits that the station “broke worldwide” as Giovanni shares memories between celebratory messages for Giovanni. Indeed, it was in late October 1998 that WPRO-FM added Britney Spears’ “…Baby, One More Time” to its playlist, making it one of the first stations to embrace the career-making hit for the recording artist.
“Radio may have changed in 50 years but what has not is the amazing connections that we make in our communities, and that is what I will miss the most.”
Holly Paras, Market Manager and Regional Vice President for Cumulus’s Providence/New London station group, commented, “As we celebrate 50 years of Top 40 radio on 92PRO-FM, I want to express my gratitude to Giovanni for his commitment to this radio station for its entire run, providing entertaining and fun content and most importantly, for the connection he’s made with our community. I wish Gio the very best in his retirement.”
Giovanni shared, “WPRO-FM has been my home for 50 years, but I chose April 29 for my final show as that is the day in 1974 that we became a Top 40 station. It has been an honor to play the hits all these years, work with amazing teammates and, most of all, get to know all our wonderful listeners in Southern New England. Radio may have changed in 50 years but what has not is the amazing connections that we make in our communities, and that is what I will miss the most. It’s been an honor to be behind the mic and play the hits for 50 years at 92PRO-FM. I am the luckiest guy in radio!”
