Beasley’s Post-Irma Update
Beasley Media Group find itself in the unfortunately unique position of a) having its corporate headquarters located in hard-hit Naples, FL and b) owns radio stations in the Hurricane Irma-ravaged markets of Ft. Myers, Boca Raton and Tampa Bay.
Late yesterday we received this post-Hurricane Irma update from Heidi Raphael, VP of Corporate Communications for Beasley Media Group — earlier in the day Ms. Raphael reported that all of the company’s stations in Ft. Myers were off the air due to flooding issues. By late yesterday afternoon, however, the news had improved considerably — only WXKB (B103.9) and WWCN (99.3 ESPN) remained off the air, while WJBX-AM, WRXK (96KRock), WJPT (Sunny 106.3), WRXK-HD2 (Playa 98.1) were back up and running. “The studio building has some minor damage, but is in good condition otherwise,” said Raphael, adding, “Our engineering team will be installing a new transmitter in Fort Myers starting this morning.”
Corporate Office: “The building did not have any flooding issues,” she reports. “Downed trees and branches are currently being removed. We are working to restore operations. Power for the office is being run via a generator. Mike Cooney and Corporate Network Manager Director Ron Randall are currently doing final testing on our systems. Our hope is to be operational soon and accessible for our staff by the end of the week. The Beasley Media Group Corporate team is working remotely in the interim.”
Boca Raton: “All power at the studios is down,” Raphael reports. “No programming is getting from the site. WSBR and WHSR transmitters are on the air without programming. The good news is that that site appears to be functional. WWNN is off the air completely. Condition of the site is not known at this time.”
Tampa Bay: WLLD (WiLD 94.5) was off the air early Monday, but by late afternoon, all Tampa stations were back up. “Studios are in normal condition and running on regular electric services,” Raphael said. It was all hands on deck at Classic Hits WRBQ (Q105)/Tampa, where almost the entire airstaff pulled off a marathon broadcast, taking listener calls and relaying live and local info on Irma, including road closures, stores and gas stations that were open, bridge closings, how to notify outages to power companies, etc. Pictured, (l-r): midday host Paula Street, afternoon personality Flash Morgan, morning co-host/Traffic Reporter Bobby Rich, and morning legend Mason Dixon.
