DJ Posting Place Spotlight Of The Week of June 19th, 2021

In the DJ Posting Place Spotlight Of The Week of June 19th, 2021 it’s Disc Jockey Announcer Alan McCall who became interested in radio as a pre-teen after winning a contest on then WMEN 1330 in Tallahassee Florida. Having been born legally blind, Alan wasn’t much into sports activities. Observing the disc jockey at radio station WMEN he was intrigued, and developed a strong desire to pursue radio as a possible career opportunity.

Like with most things in life in the beginning it was a bit bumpy for young Alan, he was rejected by every radio station in the Tallahassee Florida area not once but twice, this did not deter him he kept pushing forward, of course he was disappointed, but undeterred this was his challenge in life. He focused on two stations – Country Dynamite WTNT 1270 and lite AC/variety WTAL 1450.  WTNT let him come in after hours, but WTAL ultimately offered Alan a part time overnight gig. His first day of the night shift on air was October 12, 1979. What an exciting time for this newly minted broadcaster.

Alan began as a board op on the Larry King talk show but soon was also hosting an evening music shift as well, later serving as assistant music director at WTAL. New owners took over in the fall of 1980, and his job ended on October 12, 1980 – exactly one year later from the time he started, Alan attended Florida State University in 1979, to pursue a degree in communication,but put that on hold due to the hours he was working at WTAL, he decided to return to FSU to receive his BS in Communication in 1984.

In 1983 Alan happened to bump into a friend who was leaving WCVC  (the former WMEN 1330 for a TV news anchor position, he then began as a sub, then a weekender for WCVC.   He eventually went full time at WCVC where he was employed 13 years (though not consecutive) with that station. WCVC was the only Christian formatted station in the market until 1997 the year he became WCVC station manager.

In 2001 Alan launched an Internet streaming station on Live365 streaming service which was all very new and fresh at the time. The stream started out with Christian music until a decision was made by Alan to change the format to country in 2003.  Alan is proud of the fact that he was the first individual in Tallahassee to stream a music broadcasting program on the internet.  Remember  this was 2001, so Alan is truly a pioneer in Internet radio.

In 2004, with an impending sale and format change,  Alan retired from WCVC he continued to operate the internet stream still with country music until the original Live365 shut down, taking Alan’s stream with it.  But Alan’s attitude is a positive one, Life goes on,  and we must move forward.

Meantime, an opportunity to build a new low power FM (LPFM) in Tallahassee came up, and with help from family, friends, and radio colleagues, WDXD-LP 101.9 signed on in the summer of 2015 with a classic and traditional country music format. WDXD is the most enjoyable radio Alan has ever done, since low power frequency modulation (LPFM) license holders can only operate one station, this is probably as far as Alan will pursue terrestrial radio at this time. He is happy and says he is pretty content with the status quo but would love for a translator owner to rebroadcast his signal.

Alan is keeping the faith and he wants everyone to know radio broadcasting at times can be extremely difficult, but don’t give up on your dreams or aspirations – pursue them with vigor.

Alan McCall
Delta Star Radio of Florida Inc.
WDXD-LP 101.9
2625 Doll Place
Tallahassee, FL 32311
(850) 877-4641
Toll free 1-844-HEY-WDXD (439-9393)
Alan’s cell (850) 443-8224
www.wdxd.org
www.twitter.com/radioboyalan
WDXD 101.9 Radio “Hometown Country”

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