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Michael Spears
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Michael Spears’ broadcast career included positions in management and on the air in major markets like Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Early gigs in his native Texas included KAND in Corsicana in 1965 and KDOK in Tyler in 1966. In 1967, while still in his teens and attending SMU, he worked nights for Gordon McLendon at the legendary KLIF under his real name, Hal Martin.
In 1978, he decided to try his hand at station ownership and, with partners Bill Bungeroth and Paul Bilzerian, purchased Pinellas Park’s AM-570 WFSO from Dan and Elwynn Johnson. However, the change in music format and call letters to 24-hour news/talk WPLP wasn’t enough to make it a successful venture and, a few years later, the station went into Chapter 11.
The three-time Billboard "Station Of The Year" and two-time "Program Director Of The Year" (one of them in Black radio) award winner was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2004 and, for several years, operated his own production company, Beam, Inc.
On Oct 25, 2005, Spears passed away at the age of 58 after a five-year battle with cancer.
Station History
1978 - 1983 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (Management)
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