paradise radio

By all means it should be looked into. The money is not his for personal use, he should have put it with St Croix Foundation.

It was given to the STX Foundation as soon as he found out his non-profit status had not been approved.

That's good news.

It has saddened me that the radio talk show is off of the air. I know a lot of people slandered him so that his topics could not be expressed. For a lot of people public knowledge of the inner working of the govt' here is dangerous to their agenda.
Its tool bad he had to spend so much money defending himself in court for trumped up charges of overthrowing the govt.
I was able to keep on top of current island political events with out the censored news we get off of t.v. and newspaper.
I was not one of the people who called in, I was not one of the business's that supported his station. Now I know and I wish I had.
Good by Mr Morgan , Good Luck, I will miss you.

his facebook page allows you to follow what he's doing, because he is now in california with the program again.

"Saturday morning in southern California and I was up at 5am. We're still putting a lot of time in on our new studio here. We'll have photos and our website up soon. Meantime, you can check daily for updates at (888) 577-3324"

http://www.facebook.com/rwmorgan#!/rwmorgan?v=wall

the program starts april 1 on galaxy star radio.

Thank You A. Davis for the info, I will definitely try to listen to his new show. By coincidence I will be in SoCal in April, so maybe I will get the chance to listen to it live.
I think just the fact that people are still inquiring about his whereabout is a testament to the quality and the upbeat nature of the show. Everytime I try to listen to "Topp Talk" I fall asleep after 10 minutes.

Good news (except for you haters out there)

Roger W. Morgan commented on his status:
"Galaxy Star Radio will be on the Internet 24/7. Free Speech Worldwide will be on Galaxy Star Radio for 4 hours a day, 8am until 12 noon, Pacific Time. Hour two will be a "re-start" to accommodate stations in markets observing daylight saving time. (When I say, "re-start", it will be formatted so that stations who join us beginnng with the second hour will sound as though they have joined the opening hour of the show.) Free Speech Worldwide will be on the air Monday through Friday of each week."

Some folks have tried to portray his eviction as emblematic of his character. I would like to point out that it is the RARE employer who will choose to make payroll rather than pay the rent when times get tight.

Some folks have tried to portray his eviction as emblematic of his character. I would like to point out that it is the RARE employer who will choose to make payroll rather than pay the rent when times get tight.

A good point, if it is true.
Morgan wouldn't be the first radiohost dumped in a salary move. His isn't the first business on island to fail in this recession. And certainly during these times, his original investors may have needed the money.

What's disturbing is that now MOST of the major radio stations in the USVI are owned by one family.

But what's even more disturbing than that are the unoriginal playlists and overplay of songs we are being subjected to. I've actually started listening to Mario sometimes (that's how bad it has gotten).

Wow...friendly territory!! It's good to be among friends!!! Yes, I'm in Southern California, just outside of Los Angeles. I'd like to set the record straight about several issues.

First, we lost Paradise Radio due to a difficult economy. Consistently, over the past 3 or 4 years, the station had been chosen by readers of the Daily News as "Best in the VI". Our program, "Free Speech", also was frequently named "best". I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish, but it isn't easy to build a single station in an environment where our competition owned several stations while we owned only one.. They can operate several quite efficiently by utilizing employees to serve each of the stations...IE, one receptionist can answer phones for all 4 while a single station requires the same receptionist for just one station. Likewise, on air people can double up and provide voices for several stations. Frankly, I wish we could have afforded to buy more stations, but that just wasn't meant to be.

I'm also not the best business manager. I've been in broadcasting more years than I care to acknowledge. But my expertise is in building the format and creating a good station...not so much in the business end of things. I wish it weren't that way, but those are the facts. I tried to wear too many hats. We always thought that the value of Paradise Radio would increase, allowing us to live comfortably in the Virgin Islands well past retirement. That, also, was not meant to be. Expenses were going up faster than revenues were increasing and it became painfully apparent that we simply wouldn't be able to hang on.

We had our challenges, including the effort by 5 senators to have the FCC deny our broadcast license. That was never a mystery to me; they didn't like what I was allowing people to talk about. The cost of defending myself against their charges that I was trying to "overthrow the government" of the VI, coupled with their suggestions that I and my listeners were members of the Ku Klux Klan, became mighty expensive. The FCC cleared me of all charges brought by the senators, but their efforts resulted in legal bills exceeding $110,000.00. We just didn't have that kind of money. (As a result of the investigations, the FCC did determine that the previous owners of the station had failed to provide an "on site" representative during the transition, an infraction for which we all admitted that we were "guilty" and for which I paid both my own and the previous owner's fines...totalling several thousand dollars.) A few friends helped out, but we were in a deep financial hole from which escape didn't seem possible. My advisers told me that it was time to acknowledge that my continued ownership of Paradise Radio would most certainly result in a debt that I would never be able to repay in my lifetime.

Walking away from a station to which I had devoted my heart and soul for more than 5 years, wasn't easy. I admit that Kangja and I shed some tears and went through some embarrassment that I wish we could have avoided. Earlier posts on this site were right in suggesting that we paid employees rather than some of the other expenses that built up. We were occasionally late with payments to those employees, but we never failed to pay them. Not all of them love us, but we love them.

During the time we operated the station, we backed a number of fund-raising efforts. At one point, donations became so significant that I decided we should open a "foundation" to remove any doubt as to how those donations were being used. Instead of removing doubt, the effort ultimately produced a considerable amount of controversy. Our application for 501 C-3 status lacked a couple of elements and that resulted in our failure to secure the status of "non-profit, charitable foundation". It didn't, however, prevent us from giving every penny donated to the causes that donors supported. It did, on the other hand, offer our detractors lots of opportunities to suggest that we were pocketing the money and spending it for personal projects, one of which was the purchase of a small station in Virginia. (Again, a BAD business decision on my part...I hoped the purchase of that station would help add some much-needed revenue that might help us recover from our losses with Paradise Radio.) I purchased the station for $140,000.00 in mostly borrowed money. I'm still paying back those loans. I have also lost that station in the pending sale of Paradise Radio.

And...there was the issue of our being "evicted" from our home. It happened!! When I learned that we had to sell our stations and knew that I would be without an income, I contacted our landlord who lived in New York and suggested that, in return for two month's rent, I would leave behind over $20,000.00 in upgrades we made to the home. Those included a complete Mitsubishi air conditioning system, a complete hurricane shutter system, a solar hot water system, flood control system, window coverings and more. His answer to my suggestion was an eviction notice. It caught us by surprise, but I knew he was within his rights in asking for our eviction. In the end, the court ruled in favor of the eviction, but said we could remove the upgrades. We chose to leave them behind and to leave the home with an increased value of more than $20,000.00 more than what it was worth when we moved in. A very aggressive attorney for the homeowner, told the court that we would most certainly "destroy" the landlord's home. We didn't destroy it and left it in absolutely pristine condition...a fact acknowledged by a team of inspectors who we invited to tour the home just prior to our departure.

In a story not entirely unlike the "Beverly Hillbillies", we have moved to Los Angeles where, with the help of fellow broadcasters I've known for years, we've started "Galaxy Star Radio". It's an on line, 24/7 "radio station" that broadcasts a "world format" on the Internet with an option for radio stations worldwide to pick up our programming and rebroadcast it on the air anywhere in the world, including "Free Speech" www.galaxystarradio.com (Yes, a Virgin Islands radio station COULD pick up the program for a modest fee if they chose to do so - we wish they would!) Family friends have supported us with a home and the temporary resources to re-build our lives and our broadcasting efforts. Like Paradise Radio, we will survive or fail based upon advertising revenues. We hope that business interests on St. Croix and throughout the VI will support us with modest advertising schedules at modest investments. We feel confident that the station will have an impressive number of listeners based upon messages that we get from friends on "facebook" and other social networks. We believe we'll be able to re-connect with a huge audience in the VI. And, yes, we'll go right back to fighting for the rights of those who want to express themselves in a free and open forum dedicated to offering a platform for ALL opinions.

OK...that's it. I didn't intend to write a book, but seeing the encouraging posts on this site convinced me that there are those who really want to know what's happening with the Morgans. Kangja sends her love and I can tell you from my heart that we miss the Virgin Islands. We are enjoying life in California and adjusting to very few chickens on the streets here. Otherwise, we're healthy, happy, and eager to stay in contact with our friends and listeners. God bless you all and thanks for caring enough to ask.

Roger W. Morgan

Thank you Roger !!! Any more rock throwers out there ? speak up !!

Good Luck on your new adventure, I will certainly listen to it via the web. SoCal is a great place to live (except for the traffic and smog), so I am sure you will like it there.

Thanks for the post Roger.
You've answered a lot of questions and confirmed some things about the VI which aren't so pretty. (Though I don't understand why you would invest in someone else's property without an agreement).

I have to wonder if there were some in your listening audience or wider community here that could have helped, had they known the extent of the problems. Some of the crackpots that called in or listened to your show were probably ridiculously rich. *-)

I want to be very clear about this. I'm not complaining. I'm a "big boy" and I've been in this business for years. I should have learned valuable lessons by now that I've simply failed to learn. I was proud to take on the Senators who challenged my right to broadcast there and, with the help of those of you who still have a desire to keep the fight for justice and freedom of speech going, I'm ready to hit the airwaves once again on www.galaxystarradio.com I'm ready to hit the battlefield once more and shutting me down will be a bit more difficult now that I'm in Los Angeles. Get ready to join you in the battle beginning April 1. Please be ready to start the conversation!! Thank you for your continued support.

Roger, a very well writen post. i had heard that you were in SoCal and hoped that you love it there. I hope your future endeavers are full of all things good. You had a tough fight with the senators, thats for sure.
I am wondering about your wife's coffee business. I guess she is not doing that anymore? or did she move operation of it out to California.
Well good luck in all you do. BTW, it was not very nice that your eviction was the only one ever mentioned in the paper.
Remember, there are no mistakes, only life lessons. Keep up the good work.

Roger, will your show be available on podcast or some some of tape delay for us East Coast listeners who work during the day?

Each edition of the program will be archived for easy retrieval. We'll keep a complete file of the shows so those who want to "listen on demand" can listen at a convenient time. We desperately need the support of Virgin Islands advertisers. All indications are that we'll have a big audience, so messages will be heard and seen by lots of people.