Originally posted Thursday, January 3, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Welcome to 2019 and the first Atlanta radio personalities who are out: Wanda Smith and Miss Sophia from V-103.
They were part of the Frank Ski's original morning show and the revamped one that returned nearly a year ago.
Smith has been a mainstay at V-103 for more than two decades with just a single year off in 2013. A comedienne by trade, she has provided Ski with wisecracks and ebullience. She was also part of Ryan Cameron's show for most of his morning run until he chose to leave V-103 last January, opening the door for Ski's full-time return.
Miss Sophia (real name: Joe Taylor) was the first drag queen to ever have a regular slot on a morning radio show in Atlanta. She was on the show for more than four years providing entertainment news from 2005 to 2010. She came back last year to do the same thing.
RELATED: My 2005 profile of Miss Sophia soon after she joined V-103
The new/old V-103 morning show generated strong ratings for most of 2018, finishing in the top 3 in most key demos. There was a dip as the Christmas holidays approached.
V-103 management does not typically discuss why it makes these types of personnel moves and general manager Rick Caffey did not return a message seeking comment.
The station is now owned by Entercom, which scooped up V-103’s predecessor owner CBS Radio in November, 2017. I heard Entercom isn’t quite as generous with salaries as CBS was. It also doesn’t support remote broadcasts, which used to be a standard feature on V-103.
UPDATE: Ski, 54, has been matched up with a Los Angeles singer Jade Novah and New York sports radio personality JR Jackson. They start January 22. More info about them here.
Smith in the fall got upset when she and comic Katt Williams began roasting each other and she felt like Ski didn't cut it off before it got out of hand. She also wasn't happy that he had posted the roast portion on YouTube, which went viral.
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