Filling In On The “Big Ape”

By Shawn in : News, Radio // Apr 2 2010

JACKSONVILLE, FL — There are some epic Top 40 stations in America. Of course there’s Z100 and KIIS-FM, but being in the top Arbitron markets makes you “epic” by default.

However, to anyone whose been within an earshot of the “First Coast“, they all know the legendary “ape yell“…branding at it’s finest.

I was given the incredible opportunity to visit Jacksonville, FL to see my good friend and 95.1 WAPE Program Director Tim Clarke (epic in his own right), and fill-in on middays for the vacationing Tessa Hall.

For those who fear that a new era of “voicetracking” and syndicated shows are the future of the industry, this station is a breath of fresh air. A large roster of live and local talent. Not an out-of-market voice to be heard.

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I had. The station is imaged and programmed tight. The promotions were amazing. All the tools are there for the station to win, and they do.

Not to mention, it was a perfect situation for me to geek out. Learned a new automation system while I was there (Maestro). Got to reclaim my favorite breaks of the hour that I have missed for about 2 years now (the “Top Hour Donut” and “Weather” breaks). Gave away some prizes. Even showed Mark Kaye, co-host of “The Big Ape Morning Mess” how to live video-stream the show, which they now do.

During the weekend I was there, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (where the Jacksonville Jaguars play) was hosting an AMA Supercross event. WAPE was there (along with the rest of the cluster’s stations) and I got to see the station in action.

People were coming up to the massive, inflatable “Big Ape Boombox” in droves. I’ve been at my fair share of these events. Question #1 is most commonly “what are you giving away”? And why not…we’re a radio station. That’s what we do. But here it was “Do you have any Big Ape t-shirts” or “Do you have any bumper stickers”? People seemed more excited by the station than anything else…

…except maybe for the hair spray paint. No joke, must have had upwards to 1,000 people, from 3 to 63, ask to get their hair designed. So many people, that by the end of the day the stock-pile of dozens of colors ran down to Pink. Like my work?

Finally, one day Tim Clarke and now KDND night guy Orphan Andrew (good for him) went to eat at a Mexican place in the newly revitalized Downtown Jacksonville. As soon as we sat down, we were immediately ease-dropping on a conversation the table behind us were having. A guy was telling his two friends about a bit the morning show had down a couple days prior (“To Catch A Cheater”) for what must have been at least 10-15 minutes.

The “Big Ape” absolutely owns this market. Radio is not dead. Not by a long shot.

If you want to check out a composite of my week of shifts at the station, feel free!

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About the Author

Shawn has written 15 articles for ShawnTempesta.com.

Shawn is an Emmy award-nominated television & radio personality in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can watch Shawn on "The Morning Blend" weekday mornings at 9am on ABC 13 (KTNV-TV / Las Vegas), and weekends on Mix 94.1 (KMXB-FM / Las Vegas).