Tom Taylor is reporting that Rusty Humphries has accepted a job in Atlanta, working evenings for WGST (owned by Clear Channel). WGST-AM goes to 1000 watts after the sun goes down, which still covers most of the Atlanta Metro area. WSB is kicking WGST’s ass in the ratings since Cox Broacasting added WSBB-FM as a simulcast of its heritage WSB-AM station.
Rusty Humphries does 9PM-Midnight (ET) on Talk Radio Network (TRN). Much of the recent focus of his network show has been on the Obama Birther issue, Did Bill Ayers write the Barack Obama “autobiography”?, schmoozing with “health and fitness expert” Suzanne Somers, and similar topics. The Friday show is usually at least partly taped, and the Saturday Night show is no longer live. His show is currently #23 in the popularity ratings here.
At least for now, Rusty will be doing 6 hours a day – 3 hours live in Atlanta (but probably not done in Atlanta), and 3 hours of TRN network programming. Lars Larson has a similar arrangement where he does a regional show in the Pacific Northwest for 3 hours before doing a 3 hour national show. Syndicated Todd Schnitt does a local morning show under a different name in Florida. Mike Smerconish does 2 separate 3 hour syndicated shows – so there is precedent for this.
WGST is also “losing” Michael Smerconish in the mornings – I can’t think of a radio person that would be a worse match for the culture of Atlanta than the smarmy pseudo-Republican Yankee carpetbagger lawyer from Philadelphia. They will be airing a local show in its place using an import from California named Rob Johnson. He had been working at KMPH in Modesto, California (The Patriot) up until a few months ago.
Atlanta is the #7 radio market and has unusual demographics. Atlanta has a very large affluent black middle and upper class – while the city is 61% black (and 31% of the overall metropolitan area), it generally lacks the racial entitlement mentality that stokes racial hatred in many Northern cities.
I hope Rob likes grits.
Wow.
OK, let’s recap:
*Dr. Laura, TRN’s big acquisition, leaves at the end of the year.
*Michael Savage just had his flagship station foreclosed upon and has resorted to soliciting donations to keep his show on the air.
*The Washington Times pulled out of producing their morning show.
*Rusty Humphries just got a local gig… which is now a safety net if he decides to leave.
*Phil Hendrie just got knocked down a notch when Citadel entered the overnight market with Doug McIntyre.
*Laura Ingraham’s losing ground to Glenn Beck big-time.
If I’m Roy Masters and Sons, I can’t possibly be happy with the direction TRN is headed.
Another one to add to the list… I think I read this on a radio message board, but haven’t confirmed it… (perhaps I heard someone talking about it)…
Dr Michio Kaku who does Science Fantastic for TRN is apparently now only doing 1 hour a week of new content, and recycling old programs – something about needing to focus his time/energy on another project. A few months ago, he set up a “Science Hotline” where people can leave questions – that gives the sense of the program being live when it is produced offline and fed as a recorded show.
Curiously, he still has the time and energy to do his show for Pacifica Radio (WBAI). For people who aren’t aware just how big a “lib” Dr Kaku is, give it a listen. You’ll swear it isn’t the same person.