weekly February 5, 2024, Issue 895
More Than A Feline: WYCT At 20
January was a busy month for Hoxeng Trust WYCT/Pensacola OM Kevin King and PD Brent Lane. As the station marked its 20th anniversary, the duo organized a reunion of past personalities and consultants, plus they attended city council and county commission meetings to accept commendations for the station’s years of public service. “Dave and Mary Hoxeng had the license for years before it signed on,” explains King, who was the station’s first PD. But securing a license and building a station from scratch takes time. WYCT finally hit the air in November 2003, stunting as “Christmas Radio” until Dec. 26, 2003, when “Cat Country” was finally born. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years,” he says. “We knew what we wanted to make out of it, and we still work hard at it every day.” Kevin King The station faced typical growing pains during its first months, but everything changed Sept. 16, 2004, when Pensacola took a direct hit from category three Hurricane Ivan. “It was devastating,” recalls King. “With diesel and the grace of God, we were the only radio or TV station to stay on the air and turned into a total community outlet. That was definitely a turning point.” “The station went from zero listeners on a brand-new frequency to the only place on the dial where you could find out where to get Brent Lane water,” says Lane, who started at WYCT soon after Ivan’s impact. “Our annual Christmas Parade was the first station event I went to. Nobody knew who I was, but a woman walked up to me with tears in her eyes and thanked me for what we did during Ivan. That set my expectations for this radio station.” “It’s not lip service,” adds King. “You can hire people to do jobs, but you can’t hire a heart of service ... someone has to have that. We tell people this is a difficult job. That being said, if you want to really be a broadcaster and feel good about doing service this is a great place to work.” The common thread of service was shown again Dec. 6, 2019. “There was an active shooter on base at Naval Air (continued on page 9)
Furtunate: WPUR/Atlantic City’s Jennifer Smith, Chris Coleman, Joe Kelly and Jahna Michael (l-r) help raise $161,703 during the 25th Annual Cat Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon.
Munsick Spotlights Native Cowboys Despite being the companion to his sophomore album, Ian Munsick’s voice is heard very little in White Buffalo: Voices of the West outside of the music threaded throughout the hour-long documentary. A conscious decision on the part of the Wyoming native who, along with wife/ manager/Exec. Producer Caroline Munsick and Director Cam Mackey, sought to focus on the culture and people who helped shape his sound. Inspired by the sacred symbol of the white buffalo, the trio allowed the stories to dictate the direction of the documentary with a simple strategy: listening.
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