Neil Rogers
Encyclopedia
Neil Rogers was an American
talk radio
personality. Until his retirement on June 22, 2009, "The Neil Rogers Show" aired weekdays from 10am-2pm on 560 WQAM. It was consistently the top rated show in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale media market and had been since his Miami debut in 1976. Although he was not syndicated nationally or even regionally, Talkers magazine, the trade publication of talk radio, ranked Rogers at Number 15 on its 2006 list of the 100 most important personalities in the business. Rogers died at the age of 68 at the Vitas Hospice at Florida Medical Center in Broward County, Florida
.
. Growing up there, he amused himself by announcing his own play-by-play while watching baseball
on television
. His first job in radio was as a music disc jockey
at a small station, WCGR
, in Canandaigua, New York
. He studied broadcasting at Michigan State University
, but left shortly before he would have graduated to pursue his radio career.
Over the next decade, Rogers worked at several stations in several states, including New York
, Michigan
, and Florida
, where he ended up at WJNO
AM in West Palm Beach
. Rogers subsequently lost his job in West Palm Beach and was headed to Yuma, Arizona
when he called his mother from the road and learned that Miami-Ft. Lauderdale's WKAT
(AM 1360) had offered him a job without application or audition. Rogers turned his car around and headed for Miami, debuting on WKAT on March 1, 1976. By the end of 1976, he was one of the top-rated radio personalities in the market.
Nine months later, when singer Anita Bryant
began a crusade to repeal Dade County
's ordinance banning discrimination against homosexuals, Rogers responded by announcing on the air that he was homosexual. Although Bryant's campaign to repeal the ordinance was successful, Rogers' admission did nothing to hurt his radio career; indeed, his ratings steadily increased with every Arbitron
period.
When his contract with WKAT expired in 1979, Rogers remained in Miami but moved down the AM dial to 790, WNWS. By that time Rogers was unrivaled as the highest-rated talk-show host in Miami, dominating both the 18-24 and 25-54 demographics (the most coveted age ranges in the business). His style — unabashed liberal, steadfast conspiracy theorist, scatological, and funny but acutely mean when dealing with callers (especially elderly callers), a schtick that may best be described as caustically comic — was firmly established, making Rogers something of an icon in the market.
Rogers moved again in 1982, to Miami's WINZ
. When he moved to mid-days on WINZ, his "Hallandale Vice" routine set the market and WINZ on fire. After years of agitating for an earlier time slot, WINZ's owner, Guy Gannett Publishing, moved him to mornings on co-owned WZTA (Zeta-4) in 1988. Although ratings in the morning were immediate, Roger's long simmering battle with station management boiled over, culminating with him moving to WIOD in the fall of 1989. From WIOD he was briefly simulcast in the Tampa Bay
market on WSUN. His last relocation was to 560 WQAM in 1997. Regardless of his station, he was consistently the top rated personality in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market, prompting one Miami radio executive to call him "the most consistent performer among men 25-54 that this market has ever seen."
He also has a devoted audience in Europe and around the world who listen via the Internet.
He has been targeted from time to time by local activists who find him offensive; one, Jack Thompson
, a former Miami attorney, unsuccessfully sued Rogers and his employers to remove him from the air. In 1989, the Hallandale City Commission voted to censure Neil Rogers for "offensive comments" that he had made about the elderly. Rogers had survived all such attacks, and indeed, many of them have increased his popularity.
It was announced on April 14, 2008 that Rogers agreed to a new 5-year contract on WQAM, which would have kept "Uncle Neil", as he was called by his fans, firmly on the air until 2013.
On the May 13, 2009 show it was announced but not confirmed that Rogers' longtime show producer and fill in host Jorge Rodriguez was being fired by WQAM in a cost-cutting measure. Rogers' contract includes the ability for him to choose his producer and no resolution was found by the end of the program even after Rogers called his agent on the air. Rodriguez's future with the show has been the topic of interest in the South Florida media including the Sun-Sentinel
newspaper. Rodriguez's firing was confirmed by Rogers at the start of the May 14, 2009 program.
Rodriguez' firing drew great response from Neil's fans. Rodriguez later began his own show on SoFloRadio.com
Rodriguez was replaced by WQAM Deputy Program Director Lee "Flee" Feldman. Feldman stated that he is working on the Neil Rogers show without any increase in his salary.
It was announced on June 22, 2009 that Rogers and Beasley Broadcast Miami reached an agreement where Neil Rogers will no longer be featured on air at WQAM, but would consult for the station under a new agreement. Neil Rogers had retired from on-air radio.
Rogers, at age 68, had been suffering from several health ailments in the last months of his life. His friend and attorney Norman Kent says the radio host suffered a stroke and heart attack in October and his condition had been declining since Thanksgiving. He died on December 24, 2010 at the age of 68.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
personality. Until his retirement on June 22, 2009, "The Neil Rogers Show" aired weekdays from 10am-2pm on 560 WQAM. It was consistently the top rated show in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale media market and had been since his Miami debut in 1976. Although he was not syndicated nationally or even regionally, Talkers magazine, the trade publication of talk radio, ranked Rogers at Number 15 on its 2006 list of the 100 most important personalities in the business. Rogers died at the age of 68 at the Vitas Hospice at Florida Medical Center in Broward County, Florida
Broward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
.
Career
Rogers was born Nelson Roger Behelfer in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. Growing up there, he amused himself by announcing his own play-by-play while watching baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. His first job in radio was as a music disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
at a small station, WCGR
WCGR
WCGR is a radio station broadcasting a country music format, simulcasting WFLK 101.7 FM Geneva, New York.Licensed to Canandaigua, New York, USA, the station is currently owned by Canandaigua Broadcasting, Inc...
, in Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (city), New York
Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...
. He studied broadcasting at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, but left shortly before he would have graduated to pursue his radio career.
Over the next decade, Rogers worked at several stations in several states, including New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where he ended up at WJNO
WJNO
WJNO is a News/Talk radio station in the West Palm Beach market.Its location links WJNO to two nationally syndicated radio programs. WJNO is a de facto flagship station for The Rush Limbaugh Show; Limbaugh hosts the show from his home studio, located in the area...
AM in West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
. Rogers subsequently lost his job in West Palm Beach and was headed to Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
when he called his mother from the road and learned that Miami-Ft. Lauderdale's WKAT
WKAT
WKAT 1360 is a Spanish talk radio station based in the South Florida area of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.The previous format was conservative talk radio with a lineup that resembled other outlets owned by Salem Communications: Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Savage, and William...
(AM 1360) had offered him a job without application or audition. Rogers turned his car around and headed for Miami, debuting on WKAT on March 1, 1976. By the end of 1976, he was one of the top-rated radio personalities in the market.
Nine months later, when singer Anita Bryant
Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant is an American singer, former Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and gay rights opponent. She scored four Top 40 hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses", which reached #5...
began a crusade to repeal Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
's ordinance banning discrimination against homosexuals, Rogers responded by announcing on the air that he was homosexual. Although Bryant's campaign to repeal the ordinance was successful, Rogers' admission did nothing to hurt his radio career; indeed, his ratings steadily increased with every Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
period.
When his contract with WKAT expired in 1979, Rogers remained in Miami but moved down the AM dial to 790, WNWS. By that time Rogers was unrivaled as the highest-rated talk-show host in Miami, dominating both the 18-24 and 25-54 demographics (the most coveted age ranges in the business). His style — unabashed liberal, steadfast conspiracy theorist, scatological, and funny but acutely mean when dealing with callers (especially elderly callers), a schtick that may best be described as caustically comic — was firmly established, making Rogers something of an icon in the market.
Rogers moved again in 1982, to Miami's WINZ
WINZ (AM)
WINZ, AM 940 The Sports Animal is a sports talk radio station that serves Miami-Fort Lauderdale. The stations airs primarily syndicated programming. It daytime signal reaches as far north as Ft. Pierce and as far west as Ft. Myers and Naples and as far south as The Bahamas. The station has managed...
. When he moved to mid-days on WINZ, his "Hallandale Vice" routine set the market and WINZ on fire. After years of agitating for an earlier time slot, WINZ's owner, Guy Gannett Publishing, moved him to mornings on co-owned WZTA (Zeta-4) in 1988. Although ratings in the morning were immediate, Roger's long simmering battle with station management boiled over, culminating with him moving to WIOD in the fall of 1989. From WIOD he was briefly simulcast in the Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
market on WSUN. His last relocation was to 560 WQAM in 1997. Regardless of his station, he was consistently the top rated personality in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market, prompting one Miami radio executive to call him "the most consistent performer among men 25-54 that this market has ever seen."
He also has a devoted audience in Europe and around the world who listen via the Internet.
He has been targeted from time to time by local activists who find him offensive; one, Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson (attorney)
John Bruce "Jack" Thompson is an American activist and disbarred attorney, based in Coral Gables, Florida. Thompson is known for his role as an anti-video-game activist, particularly against violence and sex in video games....
, a former Miami attorney, unsuccessfully sued Rogers and his employers to remove him from the air. In 1989, the Hallandale City Commission voted to censure Neil Rogers for "offensive comments" that he had made about the elderly. Rogers had survived all such attacks, and indeed, many of them have increased his popularity.
It was announced on April 14, 2008 that Rogers agreed to a new 5-year contract on WQAM, which would have kept "Uncle Neil", as he was called by his fans, firmly on the air until 2013.
On the May 13, 2009 show it was announced but not confirmed that Rogers' longtime show producer and fill in host Jorge Rodriguez was being fired by WQAM in a cost-cutting measure. Rogers' contract includes the ability for him to choose his producer and no resolution was found by the end of the program even after Rogers called his agent on the air. Rodriguez's future with the show has been the topic of interest in the South Florida media including the Sun-Sentinel
Sun-Sentinel
The Sun Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., and all of Broward County, but circulates throughout all of South Florida.-Overview:...
newspaper. Rodriguez's firing was confirmed by Rogers at the start of the May 14, 2009 program.
Rodriguez' firing drew great response from Neil's fans. Rodriguez later began his own show on SoFloRadio.com
Rodriguez was replaced by WQAM Deputy Program Director Lee "Flee" Feldman. Feldman stated that he is working on the Neil Rogers show without any increase in his salary.
It was announced on June 22, 2009 that Rogers and Beasley Broadcast Miami reached an agreement where Neil Rogers will no longer be featured on air at WQAM, but would consult for the station under a new agreement. Neil Rogers had retired from on-air radio.
Rogers, at age 68, had been suffering from several health ailments in the last months of his life. His friend and attorney Norman Kent says the radio host suffered a stroke and heart attack in October and his condition had been declining since Thanksgiving. He died on December 24, 2010 at the age of 68.
External links
- The Neil Rogers Show
- Hollywood City Commission Criticizes WINZ 'Shock Jock' Neil Rogers -- 1987 article from South Florida Radio History web site
- SoFloRadio
- SoFloRadio streamer
- SoFloTelevision
- Neil Rogers Tribute - Audio and video clips of Neil and more!