Jeffrey's News 

Big Changes at Clear Channel Atlanta, Oldies drought begins

Monday was a whirlwind day at Clear Channel Atlanta. Here are the changes CC made:

- Oldies station Cool 105.7 (WLCL) is dead. Viva 105.3 (WWVA-FM) moves up to 105.7. Viva will simulcast on both 103.5 and 10.57 for a week, when a new format will launch on 105.3.

- Randy and Spiff, the morning show from Cool, went to lite rock station 94.9 Lite FM (WLTM), replacing Gene and Julie, who left the station after less than a year. Gene and Julie are now at lite rock KVIL-FM in Dallas, TX.

- The Regular Guys return to 96 Rock (WKLS) almost a year after they were fired from the station due to a stunt gone awry. In a move that killed Clear Channel's zero-tolerance policy on indecency, they were hired back at CC, this time to host a talk show on 640 WGST. They started their talk show on April 4, but it was a failure from the start. They started the morning by playing the stunt that got them fired, an adult actress talking about suggestive matters played backwards.

- Bill Cuningham, talk show host on WLW 700 Cincinatti, will use advanced Clear Channel technology to host a live talk show for WGST, from Cincinatti. He replaces the Regular Guys in the 9AM to Noon time slot. Tom Hughes will host "AM Atlanta" from 5AM-9AM.

The only station not affected by any change is the low-powered alternative rock 96.7 the Buzz (WBZY), which is rumored to move to 105.3. Jerry Del Core, VP/GM for Clear Channel Atlanta has not announced the new format for 105.3 just yet.

On a side note, Big John Wetherbee, former Cool PD and Meterologist for Lite FM and WGCL-TV CBS 46, pulled down the Cool 105.7 sign from the wall of the Clear Channel Atlanta lobby to have as a souvenir, reports Rodney Ho of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Wetherbee told him that he recieved over 500 E-Mails, and that he was "Gratified and sad" about the loss of oldies in Atlanta

The oldies drought begins in Atlanta

Cool 105.7 dies, Viva to move up, Oldies drought in Atlanta possibly permanent

Listeners of oldies music in Atlanta will unfortunantly be without an oldies station yet again, but this time, it looks like oldies will be gone from Atlanta radio for good.

Today, Jerry Del Core, GM for Clear Channel Atlanta, announced that Cool 105.7 (WLCL) will switch formats effective Sunday night at Midnight. The new format will be Spanish-languauge Viva (WWVA-FM), which will move up the dial from it's current dial posititon of 105.3. Viva will simulcast on both frequencies for a week to allow listeners to make a smooth transition, then a new format will apear on 105.3. The new format for 105.3 has not yet been announced.

Two years ago, an oldies drought occured for less than a week on January 31, 2003 when Fox 97 (WFOX), owned by Cox Radio, killed the station due to lack of ad revenue. WFOX became urban Jamz that Monday (February 3rd). Clear Channel immediately picked up the oldies format on then classic hits station Mix 105.7 (WMXV), which began playing all-Beatles music before the flip that following Monday (February 10th).

Randy and Spiff, Cool's morning show, will begin on sister AC 94.9 Lite FM (WLTM) this coming Monday (May 2nd). Lite FM will also pick up all station events, including the Legends Concert Series. No word if JJ Jackson or Chris Morgan will move to Lite.

Unfortunantly, there may not ever be another oldies station serving the entire metro Atlanta area. People in the Northwest Metro can tune to Sunny 100 (WNSY 100.1 Canton) for oldies, and people in the Northeast Metro can tune to Majic 102.9 (WMJE Gainesville) for oldies as well, but neither stations signal reaches Downtown Atlanta or south metro. For people hoping that WFOX will return to oldies, it is highly unlikely. Rumors of up to six stations in Atlanta (including Cool) could be involved in a cascade of format or ownership changes this year and next, but it looks unlikely that oldies would even be on the radar screen.

Randy and Spiff to leave Cool 105.7 for 94.9 Lite FM

Randy and Spiff, longtime Atlanta oldies radio show hosts, are leaving the oldies format behind...but not Atlanta. Randy and Spiff will be heading to AC/soft rock station 94.9 Lite FM (WLTM) starting on May 2nd. Both Lite FM and their current home, Cool 105.7 (WLCL) are owned by Clear Channel.

It is beleived that the oldies format is getting ready to head to demise (Rumors are abound that Cool is about ready to change formats), and that this would give Randy and Spiff an opprotunity to continue with their morning show on a format that will be around for a while.

Randy and Spiff started together at WBCY 107.9FM (Original WBT-FM, now WLNK) in Charlotte, NC. When the format at WBCY was killed off, they headed to Atlanta and a newly formed oldies station, Fox 97 (WFOX 97.1), where they did their morning show from 1989-2003, when Cox Radio pulled the plug on Fox.. (WFOX is now urban Jamz). They arrived at Cool in May of 2003, once their contract with Cox expired.

It is expected that their will be no change in the nature of the show, which features the Shower Stall Singers, Sydell and Sons funeral home, Ed the Mechanic, and the occasionl Fulton County Library Line among other features.

While a two-man morning show is generally highly unusual for AC, Atlanta's other AC, Cox Radio's B98.5FM (WSB-FM) also has a two-man morning show, Kelly and Alpha. Kelly and Alpha started at B98.5FM in August 1998.

It will be interesting to see the ratings of both 94.9 Lite FM and B98.5FM. Kelly and Alpha are more subdued in their humor, while Randy and Spiff are very wacky.

JJ Jackson, current afternoon host at Cool 105.7, will take over mornings (it is unknown at this time if this is interim, or even if Cool will be around much longer). No afternoon host has been named yet.

I wish Randy and Spiff the best of luck in this new endevor.

B98.5FM celebrates 20 years

B98.5FM (WSB-FM) is celebrating 20 years this year, and to start off the celebrating, longtime Atlanta DJ Kelly McCoy is celebrating his 20th anniversary with the station. (He started January 5, 1985). Mr. McCoy started out at WRFC 960AM in Athens, before coming to Atlanta and WQXI 790AM in 1978.

The station started out in 1948 on 104.5 FM with the original WSB-FM calls, owned by Cox (the station has never changed ownership in its 57 year history). In 1952, when Cox acquired the Atlanta Constitution and its media properties, WSB-FM moved its permanent home of 98.5 FM (it was then WCON-FM), the same time WSB-TV moved from Channel 8 to Channel 2 (then WCON-TV). Over the 60's and 70's the station was playing lush easy listening music (known to some people as Beautiful Music, or some people call it Muzak). WSB-FM even experimented with classical music due to the demise of FM classical music in Atlanta (WGKA-AM 1190 was the only commerical classical music outlet in Atlanta until 1997).

But in 1980, WSB-FM ushered in the new era of FM radio, by switching its format to Adult Contemporary (known to some as soft rock), and calling the station "WSB-FM Atlanta's 99". While the format was a success, something come up in the mid-1980's. A fellow AC station, Warm 99 (Then WWRM, now rock station WNNX 99X), also containing the 99, was confusing people. Some people were telling radio ratings service Arbitron that they were listening to "99", no mention of WWRM or WSB-FM. As a result, both stations were penalized. So WSB-FM adopted a new name for the station, and thus B98.5FM was born (The "B" was dervied from the WSB callsign).

Congratulations to B98.5FM, as well as to Kelly McCoy.

More stations switch to all-Christmas music

First, it was 94.9 Lite FM (WLTM), then 104.7 the Fish (WFSH), now B98.5FM (WSB-FM) has joined the all-Christmas music craze. On Friday morning at 6:00 AM, the station switched to an all-Christmas format. This is the first year for B98.5FM, which in the past had only played all-Christmas music only on Thanksgiving day weekend, and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In between,they only played two Christmas songs an hour, and their regular playlist the rest of the time.
In Atlanta, the all-Christmas music craze began with then Peach 94.9 (then WPCH). It was such a success, it became an annual event on the station, even after they switched to Lite FM. In 2002, contemporary Christian station 104.7 the Fish started playing all-Christmas music, with little infulence in the ratings there. Over 400 stations nationwide in 2003 switched to all-Christmas, and that number is expected to grow dramatically this year.

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