Originally posted Tuesday, May 14, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Talk 106.7 has an official end date: May 31.
There was some talk last week that the station’s death might come a few weeks later but the new owners Education Media Foundation have finalized any technical issues and will be ready to switch to its nationally syndicated K-Love Christian pop format on 106.7 June 1.
The talk show hosts - which include Shelley Wynter, Shannon Burke, Mike Brooks and Kim "The Kimmer" Peterson - were informed today so they now have two more weeks to continue live auditions for whatever their next gigs might be. (Brooks is already helping out the newly createdCourt TV.)
Atlanta-based Cumulus Media sold several stations nationwide to Educational Media earlier this year for cash, including the legendary New York pop station WPLJ-FM, which is also ending its run on May 31.
Talk 106.7 is less than 18 months old with that particular name. For a time, it was NewsTalk 106.7 and when it launched in 2012, it was All News 106.7. Over time, the station gradually morphed all news to what all talk.
With listeners aware the station was going away soon, Talk 106.7 ratings slipped to a 0.9 share, the worst in its short history.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
The timing of K-Love’s arrival is interesting because its chief rival Fish 104.7 just had its best non-Christmas month ever in the Atlanta ratings.
Fish came in No. 1 with a 7.0 share in April, breaking News 95.5 and AM 750’s streak of No. 1 showings over the past two-plus years. (Again, I excluded the last four weeks of the year, when Fish’s Christmas format and vacation schedules tend to skew the results.)
"It gives me a little street cred," said Mike Blakemore, the program director. He said the joke is that when he has an especially good month, his bosses tell him, "Hey! You're smart again!"
V-103 remained at No. 3, edging out Majic 107.5/97.5, which beat V-103 for the first time ever in February, then repeated it in March. V-103 was tops among 25 to 54 year olds and 18 to 34 year olds. Steve Harvey on Majic was the No. 1 morning show overall and among 25 to 54 year olds.
Also, Jeff and Jenn’s final full ratings month of April was not great. The show ranked 14th with a 3 share overall. Among 25 to 54 year olds and 18 to 34 year olds, the show ranked 13th.
In comparison, Q100’s the Bert Show ranked 8th overall with a 4.6 share. With 25 to 54 year olds, Bert ranked fourth with a 6.6 and among 18 to 34 year olds, Bert was top in the market with a 8.7.
In the sports radio competition, 680/93.7 The Fan beat 92.9/The Game among 25-54 years olds in the morning, mid-day and afternoon slots.
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On Monday night, doing a lengthy Instagram Story, Jeff Dauler - who lost his job with Star 94.1 after three years lats Thursday - showed off all the stuff the station delivered to his house from his Star office.
Notably, there was a blown-up copy of him winning an AJC 2017 favorite Atlanta radio personality poll.
"How far I've fallen," he mused, looking at it. He also noted that the No. 2 ranked person Ryan Cameron was no longer at V-103(now at Majic), the No. 3 person Shannon Burke is about to lose his gig because Talk 106.7 is disappearing and the No. 4 person Jason Pullman lost his job in January on 94.9/The Bull. Who was fifth? Bert Weiss.
He also showed dozens of knick knacks including a pair of shoes autographed by Will Smith, a photo of his parents, a photo of him and his wife Callie at Fenway Park, a shot of him performing at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville, a rubber chicken and photos he purchased from a homeless guy. He looked at a photo of him with Jenn without comment.
He picked up his RE27 microphone and his voice softened: “This girl has been on many adventures with me. Hi buddy!”
On Tuesday night, he did something more whimsical. He took questions and answered them with songs.
“How are you doing?” one supporter asked. He played Pearl Jam’s “Alive.”
“Did you see this coming?” another asked. He played a song with a chorus, “I’ll say yes.”
When someone asked if he and Jenn had been friends before this all happened, he played a clip of the “Toy Story” song “You’ve Got a Friend In Me.”
But someone asked what he thought of Jenn’s “inspirational vitamin” Monday in which seemed to tell Jeff that he shouldn’t be blaming others and look at himself in the mirror. He played a snippet of Magic!’s “Rude.”
And when a fan asked if he and Jenn were still friends and speaking, the answer was a musical “No.”
And while he did see this coming, he didn’t expect it to happen last Thursday. So when someone asked, he played Bruce Springsteen’s “Surprise, Surprise.”
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