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This is one of my most memorable consulting jobs. It was in
the ‘80’s as recall it. I got a phone call from Herb Dolgoff.
Herb was a friend for many years. He was originally the
attorney to Storz Broadcasting. He then became general
manager of the Storz station in Miami which at that time was
WQAM. From there he became the owner of WCMQ, a Spanish
language station in Miami (He also owned with his son a
station in Tallahassee).
Our friendship was pretty deep. Indeed, I remember one day
when I was GM of WQXI in Atlanta that Herb called to see if
I could find some tickets to the sold out Beatles concert. I
believe he was still working in Miami, and indicated that he
and his family would drive to Atlanta for the concert. I was
able to find the tickets, and they did attend the concert.
He thanked me for years for the tickets….but believe me it
was my pleasure to do what I could for Herb.
A decade and a half later Herb called me at my consulting
office in Atlanta. He asked, “Have you ever consulted
Spanish language stations?” I said, “Yes, in Puerto Rico”.
He asked me to fly to Miami to talk to him about a
consulting job. I did, and met with Herb at his Coral Way
office. He said, “I would like to update our formatics.
Bring us up to date. I think we can achieve more ratings by
doing that”. He then introduced me to his very bright
program director, Betty Pino. Betty walked me through the
current formatics, and music rotation policy. My guess was
they were playing too many records, and perhaps some that
should not be played; however, since I was not a Spanish
music expert I recommended to Herb that he allocate funds
for a music test along with a listener questionnaire. He
said, “Let’s do it”. Betty Pino was the star of the music
tests. When she was introduced and moved to the microphone I
thought the music test participants were going to give her a
standing ovation. She was a star then, and still is today in
the Miami market.
It took a week or so to produce the music test results, and
also study the comments from the audience. From the research
Betty, Herb and I worked out a format scheme that really
worked. Over a years time the ratings went up considerably.
As I recall it CMQ was number one in some demo/day parts
including 25-54 adults. It was unheard of in Miami rating
history for a Spanish programmed station to have such large
numbers. I looked for the ratings recently to jog my memory,
but could not find them. Also, if memory serves me
correctly, the station was a class A at that time, and had
signal problems….which means the format scheme was REALLY a
good one. I know because I WAS THERE.
Herb and his wife came to a Presidential election party (we
had a party every four years for our clients) at the Sonesta
Hotel in Miami. I’ve forgotten who was running for
President, but I do recall that Herb and I talked about the
CMQ success, and some of the best of times in the radio
business. Later my wife, Pat, and I also visited in their
beautiful condo overlooking the Atlantic.
I think the election party was the last time I saw Herb. He
left us due to a heart condition as I recall. I am sorry he
is still not around. I really enjoyed his brilliance and
quick mind.
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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