The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 84

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS' NOW thru MAR. 28 'Coach' Marc Daniels signs up for additional game at WQTM club. But they aren't the market's biggest sports radio draw. "It's not a huge baseball town," Daniels said. "This station certainly gets its most attention when something significant goes on with the Orlando Magic or with college and pro football." None of which would qualify as trivial pursuits.

CONCERTS wind. Wondering why you couldn't find Daytona Beach rock station 93.1 FM (WKRO) on the dial this past weekend? Blame it on El Nino. The KRO suffered technical difficulties related to $5,000 worth of tornado damage. The station had to reduce power several times this past weekend to make repairs, which meant the signal didn't reach parts of Orlando. "It depends on where you were," operations manager Taft Moore said.

"We had interruption in signal strength over the course of Friday through Sunday, but we've got it pretty much ironed out now." The Coach is getting a new title at sports radio 540 AM (WQTM). Marc Daniels, who ranks among Central Florida's most knowledgeable and entertaining sports talkers, is now the program director at 540 the Team. Known to listeners as the Coach, Daniels takes over from Dick Sheetz, who had been program director at both 540 and rock station 101.1 FM (WJRR). Sheetz now will devote his attention to WJRR, the Team's sister station owned by Clear Channel Communications of Orlando. Daniels, a presence in the market for RADIO JIM ABBOTT with your Studio Pass or $75 Celebrity Annual Pass! THE MARDI GRAS HOTLINE: 5500 mm i nearly a decade, does not plan any overnight changes at the Team, which has made sizable rating gains in its relatively small market niche.

"Sports radio is a unique format," Daniels said. "It doesn't appeal to the masses like a music station, but there is a dedicated and loyal audience." Specifically men and since spring, the Team has doubled its audience among males 25-54. Daniels will keep his show in the 3 to 7 p.m. afternoon slot. Lamentably, there are no plans, to revive the weekly Friday trivia contests that were dropped in the fall.

Daniels said creating the popular feature became too time-consuming. "Maybe it could come back in a different form," Daniels speculated. "But I'm the father of two little kids and coming up with 140 trivia questions every week kind of wears on you." Next month, WQTM will be gin its sunimer baseball schedule, with a slate of 115 Atlanta Braves games on tap. Negotiations are under way to broadcast both Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil Rays games on sister station 740 AM (WWNZ). Daniels expects the Braves to continue their reign as Central Florida's most popular baseball A familiar voice returns.

Randy Travis, who paved the way for country's neo-tradition- alist revival in WAVES the 1980s, has been doing more acting than singing in recent years. But Travis is back on country radio this week with a -new single being characterized as a comeback. "Out of My Bones" is a contemporary sounding ballad, flavored with fiddle and pedal steel guitar and the singer's resonant baritone. It's the first single released by DreamWorksNashville, the new record label owned by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Nationally, the song entered Radio Records country chart at No.

24, the highest chart debut of any song in Travis' career. It also was the most added song on country radio this past week. "It's probably as good as anything he's ever done," said Shadow Stevens, music director at K92 FM 92.3 FM (WWKA). "They captured the traditional sound of Randy Travis but made it sound like 1998." Travis last Top 10 hit on country chart with "The Box'' in 1995. That's where "Out of My Bones" is headed, said Kevin McCabe, director of music charts.

"This is clearly an event for country radio," McCabe said. "It looks like a sure-fire hit." The answer is blowing in the SSS0 Now hear this. Catch a recap of the week's biggest news stories on 90.7 Notebook, a new series that launches at 4:30 p.m. Saturday on public radio station 90.7 FM (WMFE). News director Pat Duggins hosts the show, which includes audio clips from The Arts Connection and WMFE-Channel 24's The Lawmakers Local poprock band Blue Meridian has been added to the bill for the "Big Benefit" concert sponsored by 105.1 FM (WOMX) Saturday at Church Street Station's Cheyenne Saloon and Orchid Garden Ballroom.

Also performing from 1 to 6 p.m. will be Big Shirley, Average Joe and Plush. Admission is free with disaster relief donations being accepted for the American Red Cross. There's a new source of local information for Eustis residents on the aptly titled Hometown News, which airs at 9:30 a.m. Thursdays on 1240 AM (WKJ.Q).

It's hosted by WKIQ's Larry King (not the CNN guy) and Roger Ballas, editor of The Mount Dora Topic, The Eustis News and The Taverns Citizen. Jim Abbott welcomes your questions and comments. Phone: (407) 420-6213. Mail: The Orlando Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Orlando, 32082.

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