This is a current picture of the WFLZ control board today. It is the same board that The Power Pig used once they moved to the Gandy Blvd location. The board was recently refurbished during a studio rebuild.

Left monitor: Internet access/audio, station information
  Middle two monitors: Prophet Systems/Next Gen which plays all on-air audio (songs/sweepers) etc
Right monitor: VOX PRO digital editing station, mostly used for editing phone calls.

It started out being real easy. A simple business proposal:

Z93 told Q105 to just simply pay them $1 million dollars and they would not change their format to Top 40. The gang at the Q kicked back & didn't pay them any attention, even though The Tampa Tribune, the St. Petersburg Times, & the now-defunct Clearwater Sun daily newspapers, plus local TV news, were ALL over the story. So Z93 stepped it up a few  notches....gave em a deadline to meet & started a clock ticking in the background of most everything they did on air.
For fun one day, they even flipped to "93 Jamz" for just an hour, then back to oldies. The tease & psych games were in full force... now pressure was on at the Q.

On the left below are some tremendous audio bites of then-Z93 night guy Jon "Rock N Roll" Anthony. He had been the #1 night show in Tampa Bay at Q105 not long before this. A disagreement over who was going to pay a simple $25 parking ticket that Jon received (in a Q van while on Q station business) cost them way more than their #1 night show..... take a listen to these cuts from Jon's Z93 night show during the ransom period. He didn't hold back at all. (Nah, he wasn't bitter......) (WEBMASTER NOTE: One thing you will hear a lot are Z93 liners going into Top 40 songs, then a couple seconds later snickering and laughing as Z93 rolled into another oldie instead. This was one of the ways they continually teased Q105 (and everyone else) into thinking it was THAT MOMENT they were flipping format.   

On the right, four great cuts from the then-Z93 Morning Show Jack and The Doc & then-afternoon jock Mark 'The Shark' Larsen, also during the ransom period: 

PIGRANSOM #1 (1:59)
Starts with a couple Power Pig sweepers, the original Mason Dixon Lie Detector promo w/Jeff Laurence. Finally, a Jon Anthony message for B.C. over at The Q.
PIGRANSOM #2  (2:28)
Ransom is at $2 million by 5pm the next day. Z93 tests their EBS (Emergency BOOGIE System).
PIGRANSOM #3 (1:56)
Ransom is at $2 million, Jon takes a listeners request and dedication for Mason.
PIGRANSOM #4 (1:46)
Milli Vanilli starts to play but noooot yet, another oldie. Mason hurries and calls Jon, tries to negotiate. No deals. Jon's got somethin ELSE over Mason's head.
PIGRANSOM #5  (2:23)
Jon Anthony let's it ALL fly at Mason here: "We're gonna kick your ass Mason! Remember Jon Anthony told ya so!" Cleveland Wheeler still being held hostage by Z.
PIGRANSOM #6  (1:50)
"Let's quit playin' games already, let's go Top 40!" Jon and the Z93 guys we're lovin this...tease after tease...
PIGRANSOM #7  (2:07)
Z93 airs a special "ABC Radio News" interview with Mason.

Thanks to Marky Mark, owner/morning man of Belgium's dance leader RGR FM for these cuts. None of us had EVER heard them & they totally define what the PIG was like then.

RANSOM - Part One (4:54)
 Dr. Don & Jack Harris in the morning and Mark Larsen in the afternoon now demanding $2 million.
RANSOM - Part Two  (2:19)
Q105 doesn't make the 5pm deadline. Q calls begging for one more day. Mark Larsen gives em one more extension.
RANSOM - Part Three  (3:50)
Fast forward a few days to Monday, Sept.25th.  Ransom now at $4 million & on the previous Friday, listeners got a small taste of what was coming when Z93 became 93 Jamz for an hour. Jack & Dr. Don are trying to reach Q105 owner Gary Edens by phone to give him one final chance to pay up. Funniest part to hear is WHO actually tipped us off to what hotel Mr. Edens was staying in.
RANSOM - Part Four (3:29)
(aka-The Birth of a 100,000 watt baby Power Pig)
 Jack & Dr. Don give Q105 owner Gary Edens his last shot to pay up. Gary tries scaring them by mentioning that he is "friends with" & had just recently had lunch with one of their BIG bosses. Unfazed, Jack & Doc, with the help of Gary himself, live on the phone still, launch one of the biggest Top 40 radio wars, if not THE biggest, in history.
Famous last words: COME ON GUYS, LOOKIN FORWARD TO IT, LET'S GO, HAVE A HAPPY DAY!" - Gary Edens

Thanks to Dom Theodore aka Domino for these cuts

...::: The Power Pig Mentally "Mind Fucks" Q105 :::...

That, point blank, is the best and only way to describe what started happening.
The promos and parodies never stopped coming. Pointing out Q's flaws was the Power Pig's favorite and EASIEST pastime. Flaws like loooong commercial breaks, DJ's that seemed to never stop talking & playing music from the 60's & 70's, all things that Top 40 stations just couldn't do anymore. It seemed like every day, The Power Pig had the competition by their gonads. Q105 just ignored the Pig, listeners were leaving Q105 and fast. The Pig would poke harder & harder. Ratings weren't Q's only problem. Most people (even Mason) agree that if Q105 would have kept doing what they were doing,
they would have survived as a popular adult radio station. But the decisions they ended up making, made you seasick.

For months after firing their top DJ's and management, NO ONE was even steering the ship there. There were NO DJ's for over three months in some shifts. When the new DJ's started, the Q decided to battle the Power Pig by playing the same music, even calling it "A Better Mix of Music". The Pig started in on the new Q staff with new promos & almost couldn't keep up with the revolving Q door. Some promos, as you'll hear below, even turned into a reoccurring theme or series there was just so much material. Listeners saw the "new" Q as just a bad copycat of The Pig. The Pig never blinked a second as the Q went through many different DJ and line-up changes, program directors, morning shows, tons and tons of research,
plus meaningless slogan changes. They had been:
 "Tampa Bay's Radio Station" "A Better Mix of Music" "Rededicating The Q to You" "Tampa Bay's Hit Music Station" "Tampa Bay's Brightest Music" (what the hell is BRIGHT music?) ...until they finally became "W-Garth" and started playing country music in 1993. (Yes, all they played was Garth Brooks for a while). Even as a country station, the slogan changed nearly half dozen more times: "Q105, Hot Country Hits" "Q105, Fresh Country Hits", "104.7 The Bee" "New Country Q105"

Right around the same time, Mason Dixon had the last laugh on the Q, he had re-created" what Q105 would have been
like in the mid 90's on a new station, Mix 96....and ok, we'll say it, he did pretty well with it.

Some of these cuts were not included before because the character "Low Rent Mayonnaise" is (if you don't know by now)
a parody of Clear Channel Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Lowry Mays. Clear Channel, just a small company then, was owner of Q105 at the time these were all produced & aired. However, when this tribute site began, it was a part of my staff bio on 933FLZ.com, now also a Clear Channel owned station. In short, "Low Rent" (Lowry) was the big boss of the company I worked for... and after you hear some of these, you'll see why we held back.

"We now find the Power Pig Hidden microphone..."
(Yup, a multi-part series ! If I remember right, this series went on over a year.)

VOICEOVER GUY: Brian James
MasonSaysCantBeatEmLieBoutEm (:38)
Even up an ass? (:30)
LowRent seems to have something stuck somewhere .
LowRent's son visits station (:29)
LowRent turns someone's office into a playroom for his son
LowRent & his son in Q control (:48)
They talk to Ronnie ChooChoo...does he get a promotion?
inside Q105 owner's office #1 (:38)
"Well endowed" late night DJSara Barx is tested to see just what she might do to keep her job at the Q.
inside Q105 owners office #2 (:40)
Alicia K-Mart finishes her "duties" while Choo Choo is given the car waxing duties on Low Rent's Cadillac in the parking lot.
inside Q105 owners office #3 (:41)
LowRent needs a buffoon for his new country morning show. Who does he call and invite back? Mason? Cleveland?
inside Q105 owners office #4 (:35)
research results are in: Q Morning Show sucks, Q Music sucks...

At Q's weekly research focus groups #1 (:43) The Word Association game....
At Q's weekly research focus groups #2 (:27) something is in one of the seats
At Q's weekly research focus groups #3 (:42) Is reality starting to set in???
inside Q105 Staff Meeting (:38)
Havin A Party! Woohoo! Ratings up 0.2!!
inside a 1992 Q105 Staff Meeting
w/Program Director "Gay Taylor"-(:41)
rent month to month, hope for weekend jobs w/Mason
inside a 1990 Q105 staff meeting w/Operations Mngr Mason Dixon-(:44)
We're gonna trick listeners & say "You Can Hear The Difference"
a secret conversation at Q105 (:44)
Payola Pt 1-The Q105 Program Director had a TV interview going, stops it to take a call, but the TV cameras never stopped & had what amounted to a payola (pay for play) type deal (illegal) on tape. And yup, TV used it.
inside Program Director Gay Taylor's office (:58)
Payola Pt. 2-The phone conversation you hear is mocking the one the TV cameras caught on tape.

  Moments with "Low Rent"... 

A Moment with Low Rent #1...on farm animals.
(WEBMASTER NOTE: This one takes a little explaining. At the end, this promo says "Hey Low Rent, Speaking of farm animals...efiwruoyswoh". E-mails from tons of people asking me to explain this one. Well, flip that jumbled mix of letters around and it says "How's Your Wife?" That's not the funny part. The rest of the story... at the time, the Q105 employees were all (but would never admit it) listening to the Power Pig promos all the time, sometimes getting better info on the Inside of Q105 than even they were getting INSIDE OF Q105. When they heard this one, they were not only baffled by the last part, but HAD to figure out what it was saying. In order to do that in 1990, they had to record the Power Pig until the promo played again, then go into a production room, record it on reel to reel, the play the reel tape BACKWARDS in order to actually hear "How's Your Wife?". Hysterical...well, for the Power Pig.)
A Moment with Low Rent #2... alone with Q105 midday jock Alicia K(FC).
A Moment with Low Rent #3...alone with Q105 Program Director Gay Taylor... and kneepads???

VOICEOVER GUY: Brian James

The Power Pig vs. Q105 - Jan 1990 - Daypart by Daypart Comparison

Power Pig vs Q105-Jan 1990-Part 1 (29:47)
         Q Morning Zoo vs Three Little Pigs, Bobby Rich vs Dave Mann, Jon RnR Anthony vs Mason Dixon Part One

Power Pig vs Q105-Jan 1990-Part 2 (25:35)
         Mason Dixon Part Two (he DID talk a WHOLE lot) JoJo Walker (for Brian Christopher) vs Tim & Tom

The Power Pig simulcasting on Q105 - Was that in the works?

The question about these sweepers is "Was this the final and ultimate Power Pig Mental Mindfuck" they had planned? Evidently it must have been a good possibility since these sweepers had been produced and ready to go. A simulcast never happened so these sweepers never even got to hit the air. So what's story? Well everyone I've talked to about them so far were only able to tell me what they "heard" or  "what was rumored" so here's what I've learned:

Once Clear Channel had purchased Q105 from Edens Broadcasting for a price considered to be a steal, Jacor/Power Pig then made attempts to buy Q105 from Clear Channel. I'm assuming there must have been some talks back and forth before Clear Channel refused the offers since these sweepers were prepared. No deal transpired however several have said that when Clear Channel changed the format to country, Jacor/Power Pig acquired the "intellectual property" of the CHR format of Q105. And that's all we know so far but if you can add to this story, please e-mail us at ThePowerPig@aol.com.

Power Pig simulcast on Q105 sweepers Part 1 (1:41)
Power Pig simulcast on Q105 sweepers Part 2 (2:02)

VOICEOVER GUY: Brian James

Jon "RockNRoll" Anthony
Power 93's first night jock - (1989-3:45)
Not long before this, Jon had just left his #1 night show at the Q for Z93's night slot. Jon stayed on board for the change from oldies to The Pig and very quickly became #1 once again and was moved up to afternoons when Mark Larsen moved to WFLA. (has a couple audio glitches)
MostMusic&Fun-CrankUpThePower (:37)
w/Jon "Rock N Roll" Anthony drops at the end there

Tim and Tom
Tim & Tom's first target: Q105 night guy "B.C." Brian Christopher. Their job was made easy when the first big axe fell. B.C. found himself unemployed. But the Tim & Tom show had an opening they let him try out for... janitor and bitch boy for their show.
Power 93-Tim&Tom w/BC Parts 1&2 (2:51)
Power93-Tim&Tom w/BC Part 3 (1:56)
Power93-Tim&Tom w/BC Pt4 (2:24) BC's lie detector test
Power93-Tim&Tom w/BC Part5 (:56) BC's practice break
Power93-Tim&Tom w/BC Part 6 (:52) BC's challenge
Power 93-Tim&Tom-Pledge of Good Conduct (:52)
You just have to listen to this one....and yes, the information was real (Voiceover guy: Brian James)

Tim & Tom celebrated their show's second anniversary by digging up the good, the bad and the disgusting of what they had done. They had been promoted to afternoons at this point.

Power93-Tim&Tom-explain the Screw The Q Shirts (1:15)
The shirts, the promo, the lawsuit, the controversy...AUDIO NOT BEST QUALITY. CAME FROM BAD CASSETTE
Power93-Tim&Tom-2ndanniversary-salesholes (:57)
who the hell let sales people in the studio?? AUDIO NOT BEST QUALITY. CAME FROM BAD CASSETTE
Power93-Tim&Tom-Parody "DontWorryJustBurp" (3:22)
(sung to tune of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy"; T&T personally and proudly introduce this one)

Power93-Tim&Tom-Fakespot-Gayboy (:45) (voiced by Brian James)
Power93-Tim&Tom-Fakespot-Central Sperm Bank (:30) (voiced by Brian James)
Power93-Tim&Tom-Thank Tampa Bay (:26) (very, sniff, heartfelt thanks to their listeners)
Power93-Tim&Tom-Are We Wired Or What (:09)

Power93-Tim&Tom-Aircheck from August 1990 (8:23)
(This is just a few minutes of the show from approx. 845p to 930p. At 9pm each night,
The Power Pig always played "93 Strong Songs In A Row" commercial free, you'll hear them tease that.
For those of you adding that up, yes, The Pig went commercial free from 9pm each night until mornng drive at 530am !)
(Thanks to Rich Marino from MasterofRadio.com for the hook-up)

Hawk and Marty
THIS IS WHERE HAWK & MARTY STUFF WILL GO WHEN WE GET SOME

Bubba The Love Sponge
PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge  (11:21)
(This is long but has classic stuff on it like the "I Kissed My Mom" parody produced by Flounder & excellent redneck calls.)

PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge-redneckmom (2:03)
PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge-LongIslandbitch (1:39)
PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge-NoPantiesThursdaysong (3:00)
PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge-TrashMouth (2:10)
(The above four cuts taken from Bubba's 1994 release "Droppin Bass" which was a compilation of rap songs
performed by Bubba and "Best of" bits from his Power Pig night show.)

PowerPig-BubbaTheLoveSponge-June 1994 (21:58)

Scott Shannon co-hosts "The Three Little Pigs" show?? (20:27)
Yes, THE Scott Shannon, creator and co-host of the original Q Morning Zoo decided that after his consultant services were no longer needed at Q105, he would pay a visit to his new buddies Dr Don and Marc Chase as well as old buddy Jack Harris at The Power Pig. Don't miss the "This is your life Scott Shannon" bit the Three Pigs put together !
Three Little Pigs In The Morning news (1:12)
More from 1990. Yes, that's Jack Harris in the beginning, followed by market vet & still 93.3's morning news man today - Martin Giles! And yup, Power Pig traffic w/Gary McHenry, also still with 93.3FLZ doing traffic for the MJ Morning Show.
Parody-MasonPompous/RudeCrude
(Has Power Pig morning show jingle in it sung to tune of "Get Up Get Busy" by Technotronic)
Hawk Harrison tells a joke..kinda (:45)
(I'm pretty sure this took place on the morning shows "Joke of The Day" feature.)

COMING ALL THROUGHOUT 2005, 65 PROMOS COVERING 46 DIFFERENT OUTRAGEOUS POWER PIG PROMOTIONS. HERE'S THE FIRST FEW:

January 2005-With all the Boob Controversy from Janet on the Super Bowl a year ago to NOW's bitching
about the Breast Christmas Ever contest we though this would be a great start.
Bigger Boobs (:29) BoobJob Controversy (:47) A New You In '92 (:34)

February 2005-Lip Synching... recently we've seen it happening all over TV with Ashlee Simpson & Eminem on SNL and more. But of course they weren't the first. The Power Pig took quite the advantage of the biggest Lip Sync "scandal" most can recall.
Milli Vanilli #1 (:38) Milli Vanilli #2 (:46)
March 2005-
Power 9.3 Second Challenge #1(:31) Power 9.3 Second Challenge #2(:39)