| September 2, 2008
Tim Barron is back on the air at Oldies 92.1! Read the Lansing State
Journal article below, or click
here
Back on air, radio DJ out of Delhi race
Barron takes on morning show on WQTX (92.1 FM)
By Mike Hughes • mhughes@lsj.com • August 29,
2008 • From Lansing State Journal
Tim Barron will be back on the air Tuesday.
That means Frederick Sparrow is out of the race for
the Delhi Township board. The two are, after all, the same person.
Barron - that's been his professional name for
decades - has been one of the best-known people in local radio, with a
deep baritone voice.
On Tuesday, he'll take over the morning show (6 a.m.
to 9 a.m. weekdays) on WQTX (92.1 FM). "We're going to have
everything 100 percent under my control," he said.
He'll be able to choose the music (classic rock), the
sidekicks and how much talking to do, he said.
Barron was out of the business for four-plus months.
During that time, he filed for the Delhi board under his legal name,
Frederick Sparrow.
That ends now, he said.
"If I stayed in the race, I'd have to give equal
time every time I talked on the air."
Barron had some of his biggest success at what is now
WMMQ (94.9 FM). With Deb Hart, he was sometimes No. 1 in the Arbitron
ratings.
He was dropped by Citadel Broadcasting in August 2005
over money issues. After a seven-month layoff, he became morning man for
WHZZ (101.7 FM), which uses the "Mike-FM" format of a huge
playlist.
Barron stayed for two years, before leaving in April.
"I knew I could not stay in that crazy environment anymore,"
he said.
At the time, he said he was going to take the summer
off and then see. "I took a leap of faith that something would
happen," he says now.
Something did. WQTX has had a syndicated oldies
format, but Barron said he'll modify that to classic rock in the
morning. He'll have a newsman, a producer and calls from weatherman Jake
Dunn.
He'll also continue his Barron Enterprises ad agency,
which he said provides more income than the radio jobs.
His return represents a move back to local (not
nationally syndicated) shows. One problem, he acknowledged, is going
against WMMQ, with Rich Michaels and Hart. "I built up a pretty
good show there, and they're still using it." |
