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Longtime Tampa DJ 'Marvelous Marvin' Let Go By WRBQ

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2008

Updated: 10/23/2008 12:50 pm

TAMPA - Longtime Tampa radio disc jockey "Marvelous Marvin" Boone has been let go by WRBQ, 104.7 FM, the victim of budget cuts.

Boone says he was told Wednesday morning by station management that his services no longer were needed at the CBS-owned station.

"It's not so surprising. The company has been slashing staffs across the country because of the economy," he said in a telephone interview today.

Boone, 52, has worked in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market for more than 30 years. He has been at WRBQ for eight years and was host of a popular midday oldies show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. He has been replaced by WRBQ DJ Rico Blanco.

"The sad part was that I didn't get to say goodbye to the listeners," he says. "But a lot of people have found out and have been calling. They're taking it worse than I did."

He says he has been fired before and that's the nature of the radio business. "I am a man of faith, so I think God will look out for me."

Station manager Ed Krampf was not available for comment this morning.

Boone wasn't the only employee terminated.

Reportedly, there were more than 20 positions cut at the CBS-owned stations in the Tampa market. Those include WRBQ, WLLD-FM, WQYK-AM, WQYK-FM, WYUU-FM, and WSJT-FM where most of the on-air personalities were let go (Alicia Kaye, George Nix and Al Santana).

Morning radio personality and WRBQ program director Mason Dixon says letting Boone go was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do. "Several of us here, myself included, offered to take salary cuts to save Marvin's job," Dixon said. "But this was a corporate decision to cut costs; it has nothing to do with Marvin's work."

Boone's father, Marvin Boone Sr., was a radio personality in Cleveland. Boone came to the Tampa area in 1977 after graduating from the Ohio School of Broadcasting. He started at WGUL, 860 AM, in New Port Richey, where he played big-band music and first connected with listeners on a Saturday night request show. He also freelances as a DJ at parties and weddings.

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