Brandon, general manager of Central PA’s home of rock ’n’ roll for the past 17 years, has played an integral part in building the station into what it is today and hopes to continue doing so as the station changes hands this year. The story of how he got into the business has no flair but shows that if a goal can be conceived, it can be achieved.

During his eight-year stint at WHUM, Brandon worked his way up through the ranks to sales manager and saw the station change hands three times. After the third time, he figured he should take a good long look at his career path. He considered getting his MBA. As a matter of fact, he was halfway through it when he ran into one of his then clients, Jim O’Leary, at a wedding. O’Leary told Brandon he was thinking about getting into the business of buying radio stations, and he was interested in buying one in Allentown. Having a working knowledge of the industry, Brandon told him that it wasn’t the “right” station and that he should wait. O’Leary came back to him a few months later and said he was looking at an AM station in Harrisburg. Again, Brandon said no. Finally, O’Leary asked Brandon about a station in Mechanicsburg—WQVE (QV 93 for those of us who dare to date ourselves). Mike said it was one worth looking at, so together they visited the station and toured the studios.

By no means, Brandon notes, was this a station in good order. The studios were in a trailer and the offices across the street in a row house. The two buildings didn’t communicate with each other. Having worked in radio for eight years and a background in accounting, Brandon knew the station was in financial trouble. O’Leary, Brandon and five others went in on the venture, and in 1982 they bought the station, allowing Brandon to serve as general manager.

“We bought the station and changed the format,” Brandon recalls. “WQVE was Top 40 and we made it Magic 93, a soft, adult contemporary thing.” The station was making almost no revenue — not even enough to pay the bills. “We lost a lot of money initially,” he says “and it took us a while to evolve the format. Magic 93 changed its call letters to WKCD.”

Two years later in 1984, what was then 104 WTPA was sold. The new owners turned out to be one of the three groups who owned WHUM while Brandon worked there. They told him that 104 and 93.5 WKCD would now be competitors. In a quick turn of events, Brandon bought the WTPA call letters from 104 and decided 93.5’s new format would be rock and roll, removing the competition. The idea was great, but the grand opening wasn’t. Listeners thought the new 93.5 WTPA was too hard. What had become WINK 104 even tried to help WTPA. WINK personalities went on the air to say that FM 104 was changing to the new WINK 104, and if they preferred rock and roll to try the new WTPA at 93.5. WTPA responded in kind by putting their personalities on the air to say that Magic 93 was changing to the new home of rock and roll, and if they liked the Magic format to try the new WINK 104. “As it turned out, both stations did better than they did prior to the change, so it worked out well for both of us,” Brandon states.

Although all came out for the better in the end, what became the home of rock and roll in 1984 is not the same as it is today. Brandon and his co-owners faced numerous challenges over the past 17 years. “We improved the signal, we doubled the power of the station, and we moved the tower,” he notes. “But what I think is unique about WTPA,” he adds, “is that we’ve never lost sight of our mission: We’re a rock ’n’ roll station. We’re not wimp, we’re not funk, and we’re definitely not hip hop. We’ve evolved the format as the audience has grown.” A mission that — even by his own admission — could not have happened without his staff. “What’s been paramount to our success is that I’ve had a great bunch of people supporting me.”