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Jan 31, 2007 3:33 pm US/Eastern
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Radio Veteran 'Footy' Returns To Radio
nys
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
One of South Florida's veteran radio personalities has decided to come out of retirement. John ''Footy'' Kross Jr., who left WHYI-FM 100.7 (Y-100) in May after 32 years, will now host a Saturday talk show on WIOD-AM (610). He starts on Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to noon according to our news partner
The Miami Herald.
''It's going to be all about South Florida,'' Kross explains. ``I have a lot to say," he told the Herald.
59-year-old Kross, 59, inked the deal with Clear Channel, which owns both stations. WIOD is news/talk for adults 25 to 54. Y-100 plays contemporary hits for a target audience of 18 to 49. Kross says he had a noncompete agreement with Y-100 that kept him from going to another station in the market. It ended on Jan. 1. ``I agreed to this Jan. 4.''
He hints that a full-time comeback is in the works. But not morning drive-time. In his three-plus decades at Y-100, Kross rose at 4:55 a.m. to host from 6 to 10 a.m. ''No más mañanas,'' he jokes. ``Never doing mornings again. I sleep late every day.''
The Saturday show is a ''good first step'' for Kross and WIOD, George Toulas, Clear Channel Miami's president and market manager told The Herald. ''He's pretty pumped.'' The station is, too. Billboards -- of a ''footy'' print -- sprouted up on I-95 and the turnpike.
According to The Herald, during his retirement, Kross traveled to Cuba for five days with his friend, Ignacio Mendez, president of Dynasty Apparel Industries, a young men's sportswear manufacturer. ''Very emotional for me,'' says Mendez, 45. It was his first trip since leaving the island with his folks at age 8.
He showed Kross his boyhood home in Havana -- ''hasn't been painted since we left'' -- and introduced him to aunts, uncles and cousins.
((© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this repo)