Towers in the Sand:
The History of Florida Broadcasting
The definitive story of the people, the radio and television stations, and the events that built an industry
and a state.
Broadcasting touches almost every person in the United States every day. But like the air we breathe, we seldom give it a second thought. Towers in the Sand is the only comprehensive history of Florida’s broadcasting industry 1922-2016, the people who brought those stations to life, and the events that saw the state grow from boom to bust and back again to now the nation’s third most populous. Over a decade in the making and fully referenced and indexed, Towers in the Sand tells stories from over eighty Florida broadcasting pioneers and current leaders from the Keys to the Panhandle. A celebration of broadcasting’s proudest moments through hard-hitting journalism and editorials, lifesaving moments through decades of hurricanes, and lighthearted moments with favorite personalities and promotions, Towers in the Sand also laments the loss of a national treasure as most stations were transformed from local community partners to lines on corporate balance sheets.
As broadcasting sits at the precipice of a very uncertain future, the author hopes through this work to engage thought, conversation, and action to ensure its continued relevance in society.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. “A voice in the wilderness” – page 1
2. The Origins of Broadcasting – page 9
3. 1922: Radio Comes to Florida – page 17
4. 1923–1925 – page 29
5. 1926–1927 – page 41
6. “And to think it all began in the middle of a cow pasture” – page 63
7. The Great Depression and the 1930s – page 79
8. The War Years, 1940–1945 – page 115
9. 1946–1949 – 139
10. Television Comes to Florida – page 179
11. 1950–1954 – page 197
12. “We’ve got a barn, we could have a show!” – page 235
13. 1955–1956 – page 247
14. The Weathermen – page 279
15. 1957–1959 – page 287
16. Channel 10 in Miami—Bribes, Booze, and Bloodshed – page 311
17. 1960–1964 – page 319
18. When Radio Was “FUN, FUN, FUN” – page 341
19. 1965–1966 – page 359
20. “Can’t you just shoot the touchdowns?” – page 371
21. 1967–1969 – page 381
22. Cuban Radio in Miami – page 401
23. 1970–1974 – page 407
24. The Saga of Orlando’s Channel 9—The Longest-Running License Battle in FCC History – page 437
25. 1975–1979 – page 457
26. The Eighties – page 481
27. The Big Switch – page 521
28. The Nineties – page 533
29. The Twenty-first Century – page 589
30. Florida Broadcasting’s Next 100 Years – page 633
Epilogue – page 657
Appendix – page 659
Index – page 689
Stations Index – page 707
What Colee has managed to do is bring call letters to life, sprinkling funny anecdotes about crazy characters and gimmicks . . . with major stories and catastrophic events that shaped Florida, particularly hurricanes.
The Palm Beach Post
. . . the history and people of broadcasting, and the impact radio and TV stations have had on the state’s culture and politics, is bigger than the industry itself.
Broadcasting & Cable
In addition to producing a sound history, the author has recounted it with a storytellers touch . . . I was drawn both to the flow of events and the many characters who brought Florida broadcasting into being . . . Towers in the Sand is a delightful and very readable book.
The St. Augustine Record
Legends & Lore of Fort Lauderdale’s New River
In the author’s words: “This book began as a quest to prove or disprove a story that’s circulated through my family for decades and is still told today in some history books. According to the legend, members of my family were murdered on the banks of New River in today’s Fort Lauderdale in the first half of the 19th century. The perpetrators were said to be Seminole Indians outraged by the family’s homestead on their hunting grounds.
“As I began my research, I realized there was a much bigger story to be told. I questioned why New River was so named. Was it really ‘new,’ created by the massive dredging to drain the Everglades? What I found was a legend said to be from Indians long past about the river bursting from the ground with ‘thundering noises and the earth trembling beneath’ their feet. They called this water Himmarshee, meaning The New Water, which was changed by White settlers to New River.
“But like most good books, the real story is the human story: the Native Peoples whose treatment at the hands of conquistadors, ancient and new, is only now beginning to be acknowledged, and the ambitious and brave early White settlers – dating back to the late 1700s – who squatted on the land and scraped out a living.
“No matter where you live or your interest in history, I think you will enjoy this story of the American experience, written in an easy-to-read style.
“And about that massacre of my family members? You’ll have to read the book.”
Donn R. Colee Jr.