Thursday, January 26, 1984/The Battalion/Page 5B
^Dallas DJ turns radio station’s ratings around
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United Press International
, DALLAS —^ Tom Joyner
rarely is at a loss for words. In
fact, his knack for talking has
made him one of the highest
paid disc jockeys in the country.
Joyner, 34, insists he works
hard for his $200,000-a-year sal
ary, and the job entails much
more than chattering over the
air in between spinning records.
P Listeners, however, are
attracted to Joyner’s humorous
and jovial personality so much
that he has helped push KKDA-
FM to the fifth-ranked radio sta
tion in the Dallas-Fort Worth
area with a 5.6 percent share.
| "I don’t know what made me
lar,” Joyner said. “I try
to be the same over the air as
when I’m off the air. I say a lot of
things without thinking about it.
1 like pfcople and I like pleasing
people.
K “It’s fun for me, but it’s hard
work, too. I get up at 3:30 (a.m.)
and I’m here (at the station) by 4.
1 read four newspapers and I jot
down things I will do and say on
the air. I’m constantly working
on ideas.
p “I try to appeal to the 18-34
age group, Doth men and
women, because this group is
more appealing to advertisers.”
The KKDA-FM morning
team — which includes Joyner,
Sports reporter Chris Arnold,
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oundrt United Press International
nin |J SOUTH PADRE ISLAND,
rriec! Texas — Instead of carting
them off to the garbage dump,
igu.v I' ower Rio Grande Valley resi-
mw [ iv dents are putting their dis-
ubsta: Christmas trees to good
| |e use in a project designed to en-
isaerees fy re Padre Island never loses its
picturesque sand ds.
( In the Sand Dune Restora-
(Mon Project started three years
ago by former Marine Extension
news director Drew Hayes and
producers Kyle Gibson and Phil
Williams — is on the air from
5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday
through Friday.
When Joyner joined the sta
tion in October 1983, KKDA-
FM was eighth in the Metroplex
with a 4.7 percent share of the 6
a.m. to 10 a.m. weekday slot
among listeners 12 years old and
up, the Arbitron Audience Re
port said.
Arbitron currently lists
KKDA-FM weekday mornings
with a 5.3 percent share, No. 5
behind KVIL-FM, KRLD-AM,
WRAP-AM and KPLX-FM.
KKDA-FM is far ahead of its ma
jor competitor in the black lis
tening market, KNOK-FM,
which holds the No. 11 slot in the
Metroplex with a 4.6 percent
share overall.
Like most disc jockeys, Joyner
wins listeners with promotions.
Currently the most popular one
is the Tuesday morning dating
game, which Joyner patterned
after the old television series.
“It started one morning when
a single woman called and said
she was having a hard time meet
ing eligible men and asked for
my help. So I let her talk to three
bachelors over the air and she
chose one.”
The couple gets an expense
paid evening, which includes
roses for the woman, limousine
service, dinner for two at a posh
restaurant and dancing and
drinks at a local night spot.
Joyner said the most popular
item among women listeners is
“I don't know what
made me so popular. 1
try to be the same over
the air as when I’m off
the air. I say a lot of
things without think
ing about it. I like peo
ple and I like pleasing
people. ” — Dallas
radio personality Tom
Joyner
the “All My Children” update, in
which the morning team gives a
satirical synopsis of the popular
soap opera.
“We call it the ‘Cheap and
Trashy, Slimy and Sleezy All My
Children Update.’ I’ve never
watched the show, so Chris talks
about it and I ask questions.”
A native of Tuskegee, Ala.,
and a sociology major a Tus
kegee Institute, Joyner had no
early aspirations in broadcast
ing. He and childhood friend
Lionel Richie formed a band
while in college, called the Com
modores.
Believing he had no future as
a singer, Joyner withdrew from
the group during his senior
year. The Commodores, mean
while, rose to stardom and
Richie became a major record
ing artist.
“I always had dreams of being
a success, but I was a realist. I
had a friend who programmed
radio news in Montgomery
(Ala.) and I asked him to let me
do the news. I had no experience
in broadcasting. I started doing
everything, includinscjockeying
when people were sick.
“A station in Memphis called
one day to offer one of the disc
jockeys a job and I intercepted
the call. I told them I was the disc
jockey they were looking for, but
my real name was Tom Joyner. I
sent them a tape and they liked
it.”
Joyner, who had worked for
KKDA-AM from 1972-1977, re
turned this time admist great
hoopla. Fans threw “Welcome
Back, Tom Joyner” parties and
the station gave away free “Tom
Joyner’s Back” buttons.
After leaving KKDA-AM,
Joyner traveled around the
country with former
heavyweight boxing champion
Muhammad Ali as hs man.
“I was going around the coun
try doing nothing. Then one
night, I was in a hotel room in
New York doing nothing, and I
heard Howard Cosell talking ab
out people who leech on to
celebrities. I knew I had to get
out.”
Joyner said he got his big
break in 1978 when John H.
Johnson, president of Johnson
Publishing Co. in Chicago,
which publishes Ebony and Jet
magazines, offered him a job
with his faltering radio station,
WJPC which had a .6 percent
share of the black listening mar
ket in the city.
“I turned down that job at
first because I wanted to go into
television. But I struck a deal
with Johnson. He said if I deli
vered the station, I could have a
shot at television. No one
thought I could do it.”
Joyner took over all facets of
the station, including program
ming, and by 1981, WJPC held a
4.2 percent share and was the
No. 2 black radio station in the
city.
Johnson kept his promise and
allowed Joyner to host a syndi
cated show, “Ebony-Jet Celebri
ty Showcase.” Joyner inter
viewed top name celebrities dur
ing the half-hour show, which
was syndicated in more than 70
percent of U.S. households. The
program was cancelled last Au
gust after 26 shows.
“After that, I sat at home with
the phone off the hook for about
two weeks. When I put it back
on, I got a call from Hyman
Childs, who owns KKDA. He
had wanted me to come back
ever since I left and we kept in
touch over the years. I had some
very good offers, but none were
in TV, so I came back to Dallas.”
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sa Garza, county agricultural
agent.
The first year of the project,
Garza said, 250 trees were col
lected. The number increased to
800 in 1983.
‘‘It’s been growing. We
already have 800 trees and we’re
expecting about 1,200,” she
said.
Other groups also have begun
collecting trees.
The Brownsville Jaycees don
ated about 500 trees left over
from their Christmas sales lots,
and garbage collectors save dis
carded trees they pick up on
their routes.
“We had over 100 kids out
there helping us out last year,”
OVldf) AgentJack Rickner, members of
Cameron County’s 4-H clubs
1 ,l( donate their time to collect un-
(IgCil wanted Christmas trees and
jp gj spread them along the beach.
‘ : The trees collect sand and
/ ket. ■ ward off erosion.
■Ik 1
the storm surge of Hurricane
Allen in 1980 flattened many of
that |» the dunes on this island resort
’laterb on the southern tip of Texas.
: "We lay them down in rows at
ides a i the beach where it’s flat. We bind
re," hei them with bailing string from
; reads end to end and attach the siring
to marl- to stakes. Within a couple of
esses s|* months, if the wind blows, sand
s fuuiid gathers on the trees,” said Tere
rovolii
,e the
nrcea Ji
its mean
Jer tnui
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Ms. Garza said.
Besides doing a community
service, some of the 4-H mem
bers are able to get credit for
their good deed by claiming the
work as a science project, she
said.
“It’s a good project and all of
the people on the island really
appreciate it.”
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THE
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OLLEG/ATE
DRIVING
MPIONSHIPS
IS COMING!
yOU QAN DRIVE the revolutionary 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo through
7 rally course set up on campus.
EQE STUDENT with a driver’s license and student ID is eligible
Is/her performance driving skills,
n and FREE OF CHARGE.
e winner (best time without penalties) at this campus WINS A TRIP
O DAYTONA BEACH, FL during Spring Break to compete with 70 other
college winners in the National Championships.
Win the use of a 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo for one year.
CAMPUS PRIZES
1st Place - Trip to Daytona Beach, FL
2nd Place - Dodge Daytona Racing Jacket
3rd Place - Dodge Daytona Racing Jacket
All winners also receive a free magazine subscription to
Motor Trend, Car Craft, Car and Driver, or Hot Rod
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES
1st Place - $5,000 scholarship and the use of a Dodge
Daytona Turbo for one year
2nd Place - $3,000 scholarship and the use of a Dodge
Daytona Turbo for one year
3rd Place - $2,000 scholarship and the use of a Dodge
Daytona Turbo for one year
Sponsor: Marketing Society &TAMU Sports Car Club
Datfis: Sat. Jan.28 & Sun. Jan.29
Timas: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Official rules available at the competition site No purchase necessary.
Supported by:
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FREE SOFT DRINKS WILL BE SERVED AT THE EVENT COURTESY OF