Sarkes Tarzian Busy In Two Cities
• Following an extensive interplanetary search, Sarkes Tarzian’s heritage Triple A 92.3 WTTS/Indianapolis is excited to announce the acquisition of market veteran Crystal McKenzie as its new afternoon drive personality and Program Assistant, effective Sept. 26.
McKenzie (left) is a 25-year media pro who brings with her lengthy in-market experience, including prior stints at Classic Rock WFBQ, Top 40 WZPL, and the late WKLU. She’s also held high profile on-air positions in Orlando, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Washington DC. She was also the MD and afternoon host of XM’s ’80s Channel when the service launched in Sept. 2001.
WTTS President/GM (and former PD) Brad Holtz said, “I have long admired Crystal’s style and approach. We’re delighted to welcome her to WTTS and can’t wait for our listeners to make her a part of their afternoons.” WTTS PD Lenny Diana commented, “To have a person like Crystal to join WTTS with her level of experience and music knowledge has become a rarity in today’s radio world. We are happy to have her become a face and voice of WTTS.”
McKenzie remarked, “Music is my favorite subject. That makes me a perfect fit for WTTS. My second favorite subject is my hometown of Indy. Radio has taken me to ten different cities, and I have learned to appreciate Hoosier Hospitality. Thank you Lenny Diana and Brad Holtz for believing in me… What a tremendous opportunity!”
• Meanwhile… about two hours north, in tropical Ft. Wayne… Sarkes Tarzian has doubled the broadcast footprint of Alternative WGBJ (ALT 99.5) by hooking it up to a translator at 102.3, thus necessitating the need to create this fancy new ALT 99.5 & 102.5 logo.
“When we launched the Alternative format in Fort Wayne in 2015, we were exclusively on the 99.5 frequency,” said Market President/GM Lee Tobin. “In 2019, we acquired the 102.3 frequency and simulcast ALT on both signals for about six months. After we split the frequencies, we had a lot of response to put ALT on both frequencies again, and we’re finally doing that today.”
The aforementioned Lenny Diana, who programs WTTS and ALT/Ft. Wayne, commented, “This means that artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foo Fighters, blink-182, Cage The Elephant, and the next generation of Alternative music stars can now be heard on Fort Wayne radio even better than before.”
ALT 99.5/102.5 is also available on WAJI-HD2, Amazon Echo devices, Google, the ALT Fort Wayne app, the TuneIn app, and streaming at altfortwayne.com.
