WTIX-FM is an
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music.
Since 2 ...
outlet serving the
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
area. The station is owned by Michael A. "Michael In The Morning" Costello (under the name Fleur de Lis Broadcasting) and operates at 94.3
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
with an ERP of 100
kW. Its city of license is
Galliano, Louisiana
Galliano is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on the Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of 2020, its population was 7,100. It is part of the Houma– Bayou Cane– Thibodaux m ...
. Its studios are in
Metairie and its transmitter is located near
Port Sulphur, Louisiana
Port Sulphur is a Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the co ...
.
History
Costello was program director at WRNO-FM from 1976 to 1991 and also hosted the morning show as "Michael In The Morning" (M&M). Additionally, he hosted the Sunday night edition of ''The Rock 'N'Roll Hall Of Fame''. He then acquired the former KLEB-FM from the Harold Callais family which was a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
outlet in 1995 and flipped it to its current oldies format. The station is modeled after the original Top 40 AM station
WTIX, which was a very successful
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
outlet in New Orleans from the 1950s through the 1970s. He increased the transmitted power and moved the antenna from its original location to its present location in 1998 to better serve the New Orleans metro area. Mike Costello also handles GM, PD, and also hosts the morning show. Many of the jingles used on WTIX-FM are the originals used by WTIX/690 in the 1960s and 1970s. WTIX-FM also adapts a time-honored feature from the old WTIX: the "Chime Time", wherein a
chime rang whenever jocks gave the time on the air. (Coincidentally, "Chime Time" was also the staple of
Musicradio WABC in its heyday.)
WTIX-FM's format, Oldies, is patterned after half of WTIX's late-1980s hybrid Talk/Oldies format (before the latter switched to All-Talk in 1988). Three of the WTIX-FM disc jockeys, "Hot" Rod Glenn, Bobby Reno, and Terry Knight, also had very minor and short-term ties to
the original WTIX. Terry Knight left the station several years ago.
Sgt. T-Ben's daily segment, "The News You Need Now!," which debuted in June 2004, is a tongue-in-cheek mock news report concerning local politicians, national celebrities and various topical news stories, concluding with his signature catchphrase, "Nobody cares!" And "JD The DJ," J. Douglas, veteran DJ at such stations as
WPTR in
Albany,
KIRL in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, and
WIXO-FM,
WNOE and
WRNO-FM
WRNO-FM (99.5 MHz) – branded ''News Talk 99.5 WRNO'' – is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It airs a news/talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Howard Avenue in Downtown New O ...
in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, hosts the "Rock and Roll Flight to Midnight".
''WTIX-FM 17 Choice Oldies'', an album originally released on
LP by
The Mighty 690 in 1967, had been reissued on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
in 2005. Another CD, ''WTIX At The Beach'', a compilation of summertime-themed oldies, was released in 2008, and there is a new disc, ''WTIX Back To The Beach'', released in July 2011.
Its current slogan is "
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
'
Oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music.
Since 2 ...
Station, TIX-FM."
Jocks
* Michael Costello (a.k.a. "Michael In The Morning" or simply "M&M" for short)
* Ben Walsh (a.k.a. "Sgt. T-Ben Boudreaux," with "The News You Need Now!")
* "Hot" Rod Glenn (also a DJ on the original WTIX)
* "Your Pal" Al Nassar (also a DJ on the original WTIX)
* J. Douglas (a.k.a. "JD The DJ"; once a DJ of
WRNO-FM
WRNO-FM (99.5 MHz) – branded ''News Talk 99.5 WRNO'' – is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It airs a news/talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Howard Avenue in Downtown New O ...
, WNOE, and WIXO)
Former jocks
* "TK" Terry Knight (also a DJ on the original WTIX.)
*Bruce Charles
* Bobby Reno (also a DJ on the original WTIX. Reno died October 10, 2016, at age 72
)
* "King" Bob Walker (also a DJ on the original WTIX.)
References
External links
WTIX official website
*
JD the DJ - J. Douglas' official siteBenny The Jokeman - Home Page - Sgt. T-Ben Boudreaux's official site
{{coord, 29.563, N, 89.830, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
Radio stations in New Orleans
Oldies radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1966
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
1966 establishments in Louisiana