If you've listened to the radio in any city for any length of time, you know that sudden format and personnel changes are common. Once in a while, however, a broadcasting company shows its humanity. When WMLL 104.1 FM, "The Mall," switched from an '80s/'90s format to lounge music and became WRDA, a.k.a. "Red at 104.1," in January 2004, I figured the station would hire all new announcers. Logically, you wouldn't expect DJs who back announced Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science" to start introducing Frank Sinatra's "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart." Surprisingly, however, the station retained the announcers from the previous format and gave them a chance to switch from Talk Talk to Tony Bennett. Considering how vastly different those formats are, it impressed me that the station chose to bet on the people it already had while forging ahead with a very atypical FM format.
Now and then, you'll find humanity when you least expect it.
