Posted on 12/24/2010 1:52:14 PM PST by raccoonradio
His friend and attorney Norman Kent announces that Rogers died this morning (12/24) at the Vitas Hospice in Broward County. Rogers was the subject of a recent online vigil, after suffering a series of heart-related setbacks and then a kind of dementia. The Miami Herald says the final cause of death was congestive heart failure. Roger, born Nelson Roger Behelfer, not only talked about current events, he specialized in talking about the local media scene, which made his midday talkshow a must-listen for local broadcasters and other media. He first came to the Miami market in 1976 at WKAT (1360) and went in to WNWS, WINZ, "Zeta" WZTA, WIOD and eventually Beasley's WQAM (560). Rogers making a reported $1 million a year until he took a buyout from Beasley in mid-2009. By then, he was the only non-sports program on WQAM.
When his contract with WKAT expired in 1979, Rogers remained in Miami but moved down the AM dial to 790, WNWS. By that time Rogers was unrivaled as the highest-rated talk-show host in Miami, dominating both the 18-24 and 25-54 demographics (the most coveted age ranges in the business). His style—an unabashed liberal, a steadfast conspiracy theorist, scatological, and funny but acutely mean when dealing with callers (especially elderly callers), a schtick that may best be described as caustically comic—was firmly established, making Rogers something of an icon in the market.
(He was under contract till 2013 but died today)
2009: >>The midday personality was frustrated after several hours of calls about his recently-laid-off producer Jorge Rodriguez, and he said something anatomically impossible about general manager Joe Bell. He tells Sun-Sentinel writer Tom Jicha that he hit his own dump button three times in seven seconds. But WQAM (560), which had just moved to new studios, had disconnected it without telling him.
2003: On air hoax that Katherine Harris had died. Drudge report at the time:
>>LOCAL MIAMI TALKRADIO HOST NEIL ROGERS [WQAM 570-AM] FUELED AN ONLINE LAMPOON TUESDAY THAT CONGRESSWOMAN KATHERINE HARRIS DIED IN A PLANE CRASH YESTERDAY WHILE IN CLANDESTINE RENDEZVOUS WITH FLORIDA GOVERNOR JEB IN CANADA. ‘KATHERINE HARRIS IS DEAD!’ REPORTED MIAMI LEGEND ROGERS, ‘I’VE GOT THE NEWS STORY RIGHT HERE, IT’S ON THE INTERNET. A PLANE CRASH!’... DEVELOPING...
He was an admitted fag (his words, not mine) and loved to travel to Amsterdam and other places to meet with young “men”.
Maybe he died of aids complications.
He was sort of funny. He used to do the play by play for the UM baseball team way back when. The U didn’t like him after he started referring to the football team as the Hurricoons.
Very liberal, but very politically incorrect. He would say ANYTHING on the air.
Oh well, RIP Neil
Rogers had read a report online saying Harris had died—yet people pointed out she was appearing live on C-SPAN at that very moment. He didn’t apologize as far as I know
>>Internet Site Posts False Report of Congresswoman’s Death
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - As was the case with author Mark Twain, reports of the death of Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) have been “greatly exaggerated.”
Billing himself as an “independent investigative journalist,” Internet writer Tom Flocco published the false claim that Harris was killed in a plane crash Monday morning near Toronto’s Island Airport.
I used to listen to him a lot - he was a bright man and had a great show.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/fl-neil-rogers-obit-20101224,0,1015311.story
>>Neil Rogers, the best known radio personality in South Florida for more than three decades, died at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Born Nelson Roger Behelfer in Rochester, N.Y., he was 68.
Rogers, who had been living in Toronto, suffered two heart attacks and a stroke, at least his second, since July. On Nov. 7 he returned to South Florida, where he maintained a home in Plantation Acres, to continue treatments and to be near friends.View a photo gallery.
From his first days on the air in the mid 1970s, Rogers courted controversy. Born Jewish, he said he was an atheist in a heavily Jewish region. He mocked all organized religion and infuriated Catholics with his attacks on the pope. He derided senior citizens as people who steal Sweet ‘N Low packages from restaurants and called South Florida “an outdoor funeral home.” During the Mariel immigration, Rogers was outspokenly against the waves of refugees sent to South Florida.
(snip)
Rogers’ halo effect boosted the ratings of anyone who followed him, from Phil Hendrie to Stan Major to Rick & Suds to Kane, whose audiences were never bigger than when they followed Rogers.
The low point of his career came in 1992, when he was arrested at a Miami Beach adult theater. The police alleged he was seen masturbating, but the charges were dropped.
Rogers’ wrangling with his bosses led him to move from station to station despite being the most popular personality at each of them. As soon as his star rose, he left WKAT for WNWS and helped make it the leading talk station in the market. From there he jumped to WINZ, which eventually moved him to its sister FM Zeta. WIOD was next, then WQAM, where he spent the final 12 years of his career.
Whether it was in morning drive on Zeta, in midday at WIOD and WQAM, or in evenings at WINZ, whether he was talking serious political and cultural issues or doing absurd stream-of-consciousness riffs and playing comedy bits, he was always No. 1.
“His audience has never been duplicated,” Goldberg said, “and it never will be.”
Wow, the old man is gone.
He was a turd, but a funny turd.
Rest in peace, but he probably won’t.
“Uncle Neil” was The Master of the Double entendre!
I met Neil at the race track in 1980 along with Steve Kane and Hank Goldberg and even though We were polar opposites in our political and moral views .. we stayed good friends until I moved away from Florida.
What struck me the most about Neil was How different he was “off air”!
He was painfully shy and very introverted in life ‘but’ .. could rip you apart on air .. Almost as if he were two very different people.
I still believe that he was at his best when he had Glenn Hill (”The Bird”) as a side-kick but one thing is for sure .. “Uncle Neil .. You will be missed”!
BTW: Probably the one’s who will miss Neil the most are the Corvette dealers! 8)
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