Tampa Radio: Skip Mahaffey, Beasley May Be Talking

Skip Mahaffey

Two interesting items to note concerning the Morning Show on WQYK 99.5 FM in Tampa.

First of all, the Beasley Media station is now officially on the hunt for a new morning host following the recent, unexpected passing of Dave McKay.  The station is looking for someone "to continue Dave McKays's tradition of excellence." The right candidate will have at least two years of proven success as an air talent; an understanding of and experience with PPM methodology; and will be proficient with phone editing, Audio Vault, Word Press, social networking platforms, interviewing, and live broadcasts.

WQYK morning co-host Veronica and producer Kevin remain in their respective positions; the new team member will join them in adding to the morning show broadcast. Interested parties should send materials to Beasley Tampa GM Tee Gentry.

Secondly, Country KPLX 99.5 FM The Wolf  in Dallas is also searching for a new morning cohost to succeed Skip Mahaffey.  He is leaving the station effective September after some 20-months in-house.

Here's where things get interesting..

In 2004, A.L. "Skip" Mahaffey was morning host WQYK-FM (then owned by CBS Radio) when a colleague called to tell him Clear Channel was doing market research. On him.

The company was conducting a random survey, asking if people liked Mahaffey and would follow him to another radio station. Before long, the jock was talking with Clear Channel executives. He told them he had been working for months without a contract.

Eventually, Clear Channel would jettison the classic rock format at Thunder 103.5 to create a new country station, WFUS. The company let Mahaffey bring along his WQYK co-hosts Les McDowell and Braden Gunn and design his own studio at the Gandy Boulevard complex in Tampa.

A noncompete clause in his old contract prevented Mahaffey from going on air for six months, leaving Gunn and McDowell to host the new show without him. It was a tough beginning for a program that never quite caught on.

According to The Tampa Bay Times, the end came swiftly, right after Mahaffey and his crew had finished a show on April 28, 2009. Ushered into a 9 a.m. meeting, he was thinking about interviews scheduled later in the day as Clear Channel's Tampa then-market manager Dan DiLoreto told him he was being fired, along with McDowell, Gunn and Bunting.

"We anticipated the show would be more successful," said DiLoreto, noting the firings were not a cost-reduction measure."

Mahaffey had the bad luck to lose his job as the radio world was going through another seismic change. A new ratings system, PPM,  changed ideas of what worked and didn't; an advertising recession made big companies such as Clear Channel think more about using syndicated shows instead of local talent, and the deluge of layoffs allowed companies to get experienced people in part-time positions for lower costs.

In his time out of work, Mahaffey weighed whether to leave music for a talk radio career and published an emotional book about a tough childhood with an alcoholic dad, Adventures with My Father. He decided to stay in radio.

After a short stay at KVOO-FM in Tulsa, Mahaffey eventually found himself at KPLX in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Market.  Now, WQYK has a need and Mahaffey might be ready to complete the circle.  Stay tuned.