From Presque Isle State Park to Waldameer Park & Water Word, the city of Erie, Pa., has its charms. For radio industry veterans and two generations of residents of this city along a large lake that bears its name, WJET was also one of Erie’s greatest attractions.
For 35 years on the AM band and an additional quarter-century at 102.3 MHz, WJET was a bit of a local legend. Among its “Good Guy” DJs some 50 years ago was Randy Michaels.
At the same time, WJET-24 has provided local viewers with ABC programming for 52 years.
All of this can be traced back to an investment made in 1951 by Myron Jones.
As first reported by Fybush.com, Jones has passed away at the age of 92.
Jones’ life concluded on June 28 at St. Vincent Hospital in Erie.
Services were held Tuesday morning (7/3) at a local funeral home.
From the dawn of the television age through the advent of HD Radio and digital broadcasting, Jones played a dominant role in the development in radio and TV talent, while giving this corner of Pennsylvania a memorable Top 40 radio station that signed on in 1951.
Jones was barely 26 years when he teamed with Bill Fleckenstein to secure their first radio station, and the third to serve Erie. It was WJET, at 1570 kilocycles and 250 watts of daytime-only power. WJET reached No. 1 in the ratings, and then shifted to its current-day frequency of 1400 kHz.
The frequency change allowed The WJET Broadcasting Company to expand to Youngstown, Ohio, in October 1955. This was daytimer WHOT-AM 1570, featuring such air personalities as Dick Biondi. In 1963, the facility got an upgrade, and its legacy can be found today as WGFT-AM 1330.
In April 1966, Jet Broadcasting became a multi-media operation with the sign-on of ABC affiliate WJET-24; at the time programming was limited to off-hour clearances on the CBS and NBC affiliates, with the “Batman” craze in full tilt for ABC.
By July 4, 1967, with ABC programming fully available for Erie, “Good Guys” with the names Johnny Holiday, Jim Connors, Al Knight and Frank Martin dominated the AM airwaves. Also on the air staff: Randy Michaels, who would later serve as CEO for iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel Communications.
Interviewed by Fybush.com, Michaels recalled, “I thought the world of Myron. Has anyone spent that much money on a two-site operation to get 500 watts day and a kilowatt at night? That may have been the first station with higher night power, and it was certainly some of the most creative engineering ever done.”
Even with a limited signal, WJET soared — geography made tuning in such Top 40 giants as CHUM from Toronto, or WKBW in Buffalo, impossible. Pittsburgh was too far south. London, Ontario, was just far enough away over Lake Erie. Cleveland stations barely came in.
In the “Good Guys” era, WJET was a family operation, Michaels said. “Myron’s wife did the music. Myron’s special-needs brother ran the board for the all-night show at WJET. Dick Thompson from WHOT voice-tracked the show as ‘Big Al Knight.’ Yes, Myron was doing voice tracking in the 1960s. Myron spent the least possible money on studios and furnishings, but he paid people well, and engendered amazing loyalty. It’s difficult to be frugal, tough, creative, compassionate and generous all at the same time, but that describes Myron.”
By the 1970s came more expansion, with ownership of WEEP-AM & FM in Pittsburgh; Jones sold the stations for $1 million to a rising company named Entercom.
From 1995-1996, Jet also came to own UPN affiliate KRRT-35 in San Antonio.
Sinclair Broadcast Group now owns KRRT, which today carries the KMYS calls; WJET-TV is part of the Nexstar family, which the Perry Sook-led company acquired in January 1998.
Meanwhile, WJET was still flying high, but as an FM. In 1986, as Fybush.com details, Jones wanted to move WJET’s Top 40 programming to an FM signal, but could not due to FCC ownership regulations that prohibited one company from owning an AM, an FM and a TV signal in the same market.
WJET-AM was sold to a minority owner; Jones’ company purchased a station that from 1971-1980 dominated the progressive rock scene in Erie, WMDI-FM 102.3. It had been reborn in 1980 as WSEG-FM, and was a laggard. Under Jones, “JET-FM 102” enjoyed a 25-year run in heavy competition with WRTS-FM “Star 104,” which continues today under Connoisseur Media ownership.
Then came a second FM in Erie, which is today WXBB-FM 94.7 and had been WFGO.
By March 2000, Jet Broadcasting was ready to conclude operations, as many companies had decided following the signing by President Clinton of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. NextMedia purchased WJET-FM and WXBB.
Jones officially retired in 2001.
Seventeen years later, radio listeners and broadcast brethren alike pause to remember a pioneer who brought good guys and great music to a shining ribbon of the reimagined Rust Belt.
