Name: Tyrone Bynum
Age: 62
Occupation: shady lawyer and radio station owner
Last Seen: Ada, Michigan
Bee-otched For: running his radio station into the ground and giving it a suitable place to be run
A wise man once said, "Every city in America has two shopping malls: the mall the white people go to, and the mall the white people used to go to."
And yes, that wise man was Chris Rock.
Well, Grand Rapids has three enclosed malls. Woodland - built in 1968 - is still going strong with JCPenney, Macy's and Von Maur as its anchors, plus a recently revamped 14-screen cinema and a new bowling alley just announced for the property. The mall's only dead spot is the Von Maur wing, which opened a few years ago, but its growth was hindered by the pandemic.
And then, there's Rivertown Crossings. Opened in 1999, the mall had a tough battle with Woodland for years. However, the double-decker mall lost both Sears and Younkers to bankruptcy, and its owner, Brookfield has financial problems and has spun several of its properties to Kohan, a company notorious for mismanagement of their properties.
Last, and definitely the least is good 'ol Rogers Plaza, still holding on after 62 years.
The mall was built around Rogers Department Store across the street, now an office building. In its heyday, Rogers Plaza was your typical 1960s mall with Montgomery Ward, Grant's, Kresge's, and both an A&P and Kroger. However, because of competition from other malls like the aforementioned Woodland in the 80s, Rogers started to suffer. Of course, losing Ward's did not help the mall one bit.
Today, Rogers still has a good deal of stores. However, most of them have no access to the mall's interior, always a troubling sign for any mall. Its anchors include mostly budget-based retailers like Ross Dress For Less and Ollie's Bargain Outlet and local thrift store B2. However, most of the mall is useless with the exception of the essential Post Office and Secretary of State and a few businesses at their main entrance: Maya Mexican Grill, China Buffet, and the Designer's Dugout barbershop. Another barbershop, King's Room recently vacated the mall after being there for over 50 years.
Now, there's a new tenant at Rogers Plaza which is perfect to mix with Just Jesus Jerseys, Lifeline Community Church, and a wig shop on the west end of the mall: 102.5 The Ride.
Yep! The adult R&B station that's owned by the douchebag known as Tyrone Bynum now has its studio at Rogers Plaza on the east end of the mall. Originally, the station's studio was in the old Goodrich Radio complex on 44th by the Beltline. Then, it allegedly moved to a space by Bynum's law offices in downtown Grand Rapids.
Granted, it's cool when a radio station allows its listeners to see inside their studio. It's quite magical. But, when you're dealing with an asshole who has long used his skin color to get what he wants, you end up dealing with the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
We've talked about Tyrone's bullshit many times before. In the 2000s, he ran WMFN 640 into the ground so hard that they packed up and moved to Chicago. A few years later, he did the same to WPRR 1680, formerly Public Reality Radio, which carried a progressive talk format. In 2016, Bynum bullied station program director and Southpaws host Darren Gibson out of his job. According to Gibson, Bynum was a professional when it came to gaslighting him. Gibson criticized the Democratic Party for how they treated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. However, Bynum, a 'vote blue no matter who' Democrat, had a closed-door meeting with several bigwigs with the Kent County Democratic Party in regard to Gibson using his show to promote someone other than the party's choice for the 2016 presidential election, which was Hillary Clinton.
After Gibson's dismissal, Bynum started programming WPRR. In its final days as Public Reality Radio, the station was one of the Grand Rapids area's lowest-rated radio stations. In 2020, station owner Bob Goodrich filed for bankruptcy because of poor business decisions regarding both WPRR - his last radio station after owning several in the 80s and 90s such as WSNX - and his movie theater chain, which his father founded in 1930. Goodrich donated WPRR to Bynum, who flipped the station to its current format.
Under FCC rules, WPRR 1680 and 102.5 - a 155-watt translator whose transmitter is located in Alpine Township - must simulcast 24/7. However, 1680 has been airing separate programming, mainly an automated mish-mash of mostly old-school R&B music. The station has been acting like a pirate, airing no station IDs or commercials. On the other hand, 102.5 is airing normal programming. Recently, the station dumped Steve Harvey's morning show for Ricky Smiley's; both in turn were dumped by rival urban station Magic 104.9, owned by Townsquare. Magic now carries Dallas-based DeDe in the Morning (which is syndicated through Compass Media Networks, which also syndicates sister WGRD's Free Beer and Hot Wings).
So, why don't the two stations simulcast? Well, who knows? But, since the words "Tyrone Bynum" and "piss-poor management" go hand-in-hand, it's no shocker. The station's website is even down and their Facebook page has disappeared.
With the shit he's been pulling for years, I hope Tyrone will soon be fined by the FCC. BIG TIME. He's not fit as a broadcaster or a human being. Since he now broadcasts from a place that's seen better days, it doesn't shock me. He's now close to a field where a once-popular movie theater sat and several motels known for being magnets for prostitution. Recently, I was there on a Saturday night and there was hardly anyone in the halls. Kinda reminds me about how many people listen to Tyrone's shit.
BTW, Magic 104.9 is in 10th place in the current radio ratings in Grand Rapids with a 2.9 share. They have 2.9 times more listeners than 102.5.
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