The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 110

18 Orlando Sentinel DECEMBER 22-282000' Radio BBDffipPS-If 0W.liB)EDSfip permanent slot when 540 goes to a talk format in February. Speaking of the new 540 talk station (which fruitcake at passing motorists from a highway overpass. Magic has been playing Christmas songs It took a few weeks, but I ft nally conducted my holiday ex periment this past weekend. A deceptively more entertainers who have recorded holiday songs than you would imagine. I wouldn't be surprised now if I heard Marilyn Manson doing "Silent Night." Maybe he already did and I just missed it.

7 O- moves 540 sports talk to 740 in February), here's a partial program schedule: Dr. Laura Schlessinger from 9 a.m. to noon, followed without rest since Thanksgiving in a gesture that has been well-received by business offices eager to set the holiday mood. No word on how employees are surviving, although I heard from one worker simple exercise, it offered illuminating insight into child psychology, behavioral motivation and control issues: Who knew you could learn so much by making your kids listen to Christmas music? ly My kids control the radio dial more than I would like to admit. Suffering from withdrawal from Top 40 and modern rock, they keep DRUDGE A song by Bing Crosby, my dad's favorite singer, brought back images that I hadn't considered in years.

I smiled about Crosby's duet with David Bowie on a long-ago TV special, a song that prompted a generation-gap debate between a long-suffering father and a son who thought he knew everything. Maybe my two equally confident youngsters will take a similar memory from their dad's holiday experiment. Big mouths on the sideline The voices of the new XFL Orlando Rage will fit the rowdy image you might expect from a league associated with World Wrestling Federation honcho Vince McMahon. Real Radio 104.1 FM (WTKS) will be the flagship station for the Rage, which will begin its slate of Saturday night games in February. The Rage Jim ABBOTT RADIO WAVES MANSON at a DeLand insurance company who said her colleagues are plotting to disconnect the intercom system.

Ho! Ho! Ho! I have been listening to Magic more or less nonstop since Saturday, and it's not that bad. Here are a few observations: There are many, many asking when I will get a job where I'm not required to listen to such things. Even though it started as an experiment, I liked this music more than I expected. For every overwrought Christina Aguilera song, there was another that sparked some long-forgotten memory. All I wanted to do was see whether the nonstop yuletide tunes on Magic 107.7 FM (WMGF) would: A) Get me into the holiday spirit that had been hustled and bustled out of my system in the mall, or B) Turn me into a lunatic anti-Santa who might lob stale by Rush Lim-baugh from noon to 3 p.m.

The new 540 also plans to carry The Matt Drudge Show, recently exiled by ABC Radio. Look for Drudge to air from 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays. University of Central Florida station 89.9 FM (WUCF) will bump an hour's worth of jazz each weekday for National Public Radio's Fresh Air With Terry Gross. The Peabody Award-winning cultural arts show will air from 6 to 7 p.m.

weekdays, startingJan. 1 Finally, Rollins College station 91.5 FM (WPRK) has taken a big step toward overcoming its meager 1300-watt signal in Central Florida. The station is now streaming live audio on Nibblebox.com, a Web site that specializes in Internet distribution of college stations. Catch the station this weekend, though, because WPRK is off the air for student vacation from Sunday to Jan. 3 On a related note, there's still no news about whether Orlando public radio and Clear Channel Communications are looking for a play-by-play voice and color analyst, but the sideline team is already in place.

Sunday Showcase Every Sunday on the front page. DIRTY JIM grSnd CAqNo7 mm station 90.7 FM (WMFE) will take control of the student-run WPRK "Currently the college has no active plans to Monsters of the Midday irritant Dirty Jim will team with Philips Phite sidekick Jack Bradshaw for "in the face" interviews with players and fans. These are inspired choices, with Dirty Jim destined to become the XFL's version of Howard Cosell, a broadcaster whom viewers love to hate. No word on candidates for the play-by-play job, although it's easy to envision Marc "the Freak" Loyd of 540 AM (WQTM) in that role. Expect an ex-jock in the analyst seat, although Carrot Top might be available if they want to go the Dennis Miller route.

Now hear this There's encouraging news for fans of The Roger Franklin Williams Show on 740 AM (WWNZ). The local political talk show will air from 11 a.m. to noon Saturdays on the WQTM-WWNZ simulcast program schedule in January. That means the show could find a DONNELLY jwfcjw t) peat Hrehafw af CO tsnoi.C. Tr-nnst 122800.

Departing fecia Cs? outsource WPRK to another radio station," said Matt Donnelly, WPRK general manager. "What happens in the future is up in the air." Right where you'd expect it in the radio business. Jim Abbott welcomes your questions and comments. Phone: 407-420-6213. Mail: Orlando Sentinel, 633 N.

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