NYC Radio: Angie Martinez Hitting 'Restart' At WWPR

Angie Martinez

Angie Martinez says she didn’t jump from Hot 97 to Power 105 on some passing whim.

She told David Hinckley at the NY Daily News, “I was really hitting a restart button.”

Martinez, who held down afternoon drive on WQHT 97.1 FM for almost two decades before starting last Thursday on the 2-6 p.m. shift at CCM+E's WWPR 105.1 FM Power 105..

Her switch sent shock waves through the radio community, a response she says shocked her in turn.

“I was overwhelmed,” she says. “I had no idea. My housekeeper called to ask if I was all right, because on her way home she heard people talking about me on the streetcorner.

The reason actually was simple: Martinez is one of the defining voices of New York radio. Evidence: On her first day at Power 105, Jay Z called in.

Happy as she was to talk with him, her restart involves a different kind of call.

“I want this show to sound different,” she says, “and one thing is to be more listener-interactive. I used to do that, but the show had gotten away from it.”

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