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Don McCoy’s broadcasting career began in 1961 when he created and produced a weekly radio program for Polytechnic High School in Riverside, California. Don worked part time on KACE, KDUO and KCKC as a disc jockey after school and on weekends while attending High School and Riverside Community College. He was awarded "Best Oral Interpreter" in 1963 and received the "Best Actor" award in the Southern California Junior College Conference in 1964. Don also served as Entertainment Chairman and Student Body President in 1964 at Riverside City College. He went on to graduate in 1966 with a degree in telecommunications from the University of Southern California. While attending USC Don was chosen to host a weekly radio program broadcast on KUSC and was selected to write, produce and host "USC PERSPECTIVE", a weekly radio program broadcast on KFI, Los Angeles.
It was at KMEN that Don met his first partner to be, Fred Lindholm. In 1972 they were told about an AM/FM radio station for sale in Panama City, Florida.....A chance to be an owner!! Don’s father and mother mortgaged their home and gave Don the $18,000 needed for his down payment. Don and Fred drove across the country to begin a new life and form The Janus Broadcasting Company. The seller held the paper on the remaining $200,000 to be paid back over the next 15 years at 7% simple interest....the monthly payments of $1,266.66 began! At that time, billings on the two stations amounted to only $80,000 per year. Don and Fred quickly brought their Southern California radio expertise to bear on the contemporary formatted WGNE-AM and took the station to the #1 position in the market. Billings jumped the first year from $80,000 to $220,000. On June 26, 1975, Don married his wife Elke. Just 5 years later, Don and Fred donated WGNE-AM to Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida, making it the first Community College in the Nation to have both an AM and an FM radio station. They then announced the purchase of WDLP-AM which they paired with WGNE-FM and by 1984 the billings had topped $963,000.00. Not bad for a market of less than 100,000 people. On October 1, 1984 Don and Fred sold The Janus Broadcasting Company for $3,070,000.00.
In 1997 Don purchased KWRP-FM in San Jacinto, California and was successful in moving the station into Riverside/San Bernardino, the 27th market. In 1999 Don purchased the construction permit and put KTMK-FM on the air in Temecula, California. The station was sold to Clear Channel for $4,500,000.00 the following year. In 2003, the call letters for KWRP-FM were changed to KWIE-FM and the station became "WILD 96.1 - Non-Stop Hip-Hop and R&B". Legendary Los Angeles station KDAY was also purchased and switched to 93.5 FM. This represented the largest market entry to date for Don McCoy and uncharted territory for his newly formed Styles Media Group. Since that time, KDAY-FM's signal has grown tremendously via synchrocast on 93.5 FM in Ontario, CA and WILD 96 has captured the second largest cume audience in the market with more than 212,000 listeners! In 2006, Don's ever-changing empire underwent new growth as the Styles Media Group became the Magic Broadcasting Company. The radio station formerly known as "Thunder 103.9" (Dothan, AL) became "My 103.9". KDAY (Los Angeles, CA) saw the arrival of the new Steve Harvey Morning Show and brought him back to Los Angeles, and Wild 96.1 (Riverside/San Bernardino, CA) became "Wild 96.1 - Hip-Hop y Mas". |
Don was born in Riverside, California on September 4,1944. He attended Longfellow, Mira Loma, Mission Bell, St. Catherine's, grade school and Notre Dame High School,and Polytechnic High In Riverside.
When Don was seven years old he began hanging out at the Magic House Of Charles in the Mission Inn Hotel. His mentor Charlie taught him the art of Magic which he still practices today. Don is a Life Member of the Magic Castle located in Hollywood, California.
Upon graduation from USC, Don worked as a disc jockey on KFXM in the Riverside/San Bernardino market where his afternoon drive time program earned the highest ratings ever achieved at KFXM. Don was the highest rated DJ in the Inland Empire. He MC'd shows at the Swing Auditorium on the Orange Show grounds in San Bernardino for Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Moody Blues, Iron Butterfly, Country Joe and the Fish. He produced The Fifth Dimension with Eric Burden and War at the San Diego Sports Arena in 1969.
Don used his theatrical and creative skills to begin writing advertising copy and soon discovered that he could make much more money in radio advertising sales than he could as a radio announcer. He holds the record for new sales created during the first month of employment by a new salesman at KFXM. In 1969 Don joined KMEN in the Riverside/San Bernardino market as General Sales Manager.
Don and Doug Grimm, a friend from the television business, purchased WJYR-FM in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 1985. In 1987 they purchased WREZ AM & FM in Montgomery, Alabama and WDEN AM & FM in Macon, Georgia and formed THE U.S. BROADCASTING COMPANY. In 1990 they acquired KTOM AM & FM in Monterey/Salinas, California and in 1997 The Piedmont and the Ocmulgee stations in Macon, Georgia were added. THE U.S. BROADCASTING COMPANY was sold in 2001 for a combined price of approximately $116,000,000.00.