The Tampa Tribune du lieu suivant : Tampa, Florida • 48

2 PASCO THE TAMPA TRIBUNE-TIMES SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1998 radio Couple find niche i I I I I I I 'I' 1 mwmmlmmirT TTr- i i 1 mi Lightning, the Orlando Magic, University of Florida football and basketball, University of South Florida football and Saint Leo College basketball. "They're a hybrid that's not around much anymore, so they have my respect," said Pat Roberts, president of the Tallahassee-based Florida Association of Broadcasters. "Because it's a major struggle, most of those have died out." Yet if things fall into place, it can be a formula for success, he added. "It's very much like the Golf Channel on cable networks it's a small piece of the pie, but if a loyal slice." There were times in the past, the couple said, when they didn't think they could hang on, but now Lori Collins tends to agree with Roberts. "You can't try to be more than you are," she said.

"We have to specifically target a niche and serve the community." But part of that service, they said, includes being active in the community, such as when Lori spoke out against a county plan to cut down many of the old oak trees around the old Pasco County Courthouse. And it means participating in local events like Sparklebration, Dade City's Fourth of July celebration, or Monster Mash, its Halloween event They also have joined groups such as the chamber of commerce and the Rotary Club. But while they believe the difficult times may be behind them given costs are manageable and the market niche is secure they think their toughest challenge is showing the business potential for east Pasco. They maintain it's more than just a haven for seasonal retirees. The number of year-round residents will continue to grow as Tampa sprawls north and east, Jeff Collins said.

Staff writer Bill Thompson covers east Pasco and can be reached at wtliompsoiitamfatrib.eom or (813) 788-5542. 4 From Page 1 er full-time employee is Rod Reh-rig, the operations manager. When they took over 44-year-old WDCF and before they added WZHR the station employed nine people and played country music. "We rode the country wave until it fizzled out," says Lori Collins. Realizing they couldn't compete against Tampa's big FM country stations, in mid-1996 they incorporated all-Spanish programming, which previously they had played for two or three hours a day.

That experiment, which was partly undertaken on the advice of industry analysts, was a mistake that failed for cultural differences and because it didn't make money, Lori Collins said. It also triggered their decision, which was neither popular nor easy, to cut the staff to three. It also meant long hours and little free time, but it had to be done, Jeff Collins said. "I was sorry I had to do that, but the bills of the station came before the bills of their home." But while WDCF went through that upheaval, WZHR continued the same basic programming it had for the past 36 years: a mix of information with music big band, swing, easy listening geared toward older listeners. In May 1997, they dumped WDCF's Spanish programming for all sports.

But then, as Prime Sports, the network they sub-spribed to, began to cut back on its shows, they had to find something else, Lori Collins says. And that led to the current WDCF format news talk throughout the day and sports with an einphasis on local high school sports at night. i Their nationally syndicated news programming comes via satellite from the United Broadcasting Network. The sports they carry include affiliations with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Tampa Bay ANDY JONESTribune photo Jeff Collins Is the owner of radio stations WDCF and WZHR, which operate out of the same building in Dade City. Radio stations tailor news to Dade City City, receive updated information through the Emergency Alert System, the state-of-the-art broadcast network that replaced the EBS.

The EAS is a major improvement because it's faster and allows station executives to tailor the information to their specific area, Collins said. But it also means he has been busy during Georges' run at Florida. He read the updates spit out of the $2,300 machine and used them for on-air broadcasts and to update the WDCF telephone weather information line. He vowed to remain at his post until Georges' fierce winds subside. "As long as the tower doesn't fall over or the power goes out, I'll be here until the sun comes out again." Staff writer Bill Thompson covers east Pasco and can be reached at wttiompsontampatrib.com or (813) 788-5542.

sion, radio and the Internet charted, clocked and communicated the storm's progress through the Caribbean toward Florida using a dazzling and colorful array of maps, graphs and satellite imagery. Collins believes, however, that something tends to get lost in the transmission of that massive amount of data: a local aspect While bigger media organizations provide the overall picture, time constraints and the need to inform the entire Tampa Bay area lead to their skimming the surface, he says. He thinks that gives his two stations an advantage in emergencies. "People feel comfortable with us. We can give them information, such as evacuation routes or shelter locations, that's familiar and close." i Collins' stations, which are housed in the same small building rin WDCF Drive in Dade DADE CITY The city's AM stations offer a familiar voice to aid east Pasco in an emergency.

By BILL THOMPSON of The Tampa Tribune The often annoying tone that signifies a test of the Emergency Broadcast System has shrunk in length and volume but definitely not in its importance. And one local radio executive thinks people need to heed those beeps. "I know that tone can irritate people, but it can save their lives," said Jeff Collins, co-owner with his wife, Lori of Dade City's two AM radio stations, WDCF, 1350 and WZHR, 1400. As the Tampa Bay area battened down for the approach of Hurricane Georges, information overload seemed imminent Major media outlets newspapers, televi Editorials and letters to the editor will resume on this page Tuesday. drop Sib A II tin drop V.

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