Mark Arum’s split shift duties are over.
He is ceding his longtime early morning traffic duties on Channel 2 Action News and WSB radio to focus exclusively on his three-hour afternoon talk show on WSB radio, heard on 95.5 and 750AM as well as online. Longtime WSB-TV entertainment reporter and host Heather Catlin will take over Arum’s traffic duties starting Friday, Aug. 20, at 4:30 a.m.
Catlin has been a regular contributor on Channel 2 Action News This Morning focused on lighter news. For the past 12 years, Catlin has also hosted “Hot Topics,” a syndicated weekend entertainment show, and co-hosted “Bulldogs Game Day,” a weekly sports special produced in partnership with the University of Georgia. Catlin will maintain her previous duties.
“Everybody knows her,” said Suzanne Nadell, the news director, in an interview with the AJC. “Our viewers are comfortable with her.”
>>RELATED: My 2017 profile on Arum and his split shift
Arum, who is the youngest-ever Georgia Radio Hall of Fame recipient, has been doing the infamous split shift for about 19 of his 24 years at WSB.
When he had a night talk show, he would sleep from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and take a brief power nap at 1:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. But when WSB moved his radio show to 4 p.m., that disrupted that delicate balance.
Arum, a few months into the new schedule, asked to leave his beloved morning slot. “The schedule was draining,” he said ― even for him. “I truly loved doing morning traffic on WSB-TV. That 3 a.m. alarm was killer though. The split shift made it even worse.”
His interplay with morning host Fred Blankenship became a draw over the years. Their pun-filled banter to acknowledge rap legends such as Notorious B.I.G. became a viral sensation. “I am going to miss Fred terribly!” Arum said. “But now with the new schedule we can hang out more often socially.”
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