Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > July > 24 > Entry
7/24: Kristen Gates gets Jamie Massey’s gig at 94.9/The Bull, Billy Bush joins Q100, XM/Sirius merger close to approval
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No surprise here: Kristen Gates, formerly the co-host with Cadillac Jack at Kicks 101.5, has nabbed the co-hosting gig with Cledus T. Judd at 94.9/The Bull. She replaces Jamie Massey, who has left the Bull to move to Phoenix to be with her boyfriend.
The timing worked great for Gates. She was ousted from Kicks along with more than a dozen others when Citadel dumped a huge amount of talent to save money at both Kicks and Eagle (now True Oldies) on Feb. 29. She recently joined the Bull on a part-time basis but Massey’s departure was Gates’ gain. She was the most obvious replacement for Massey and the Bull grabbed her.
Gates has already started. I’m at a convention in Chicago right now and am not working every second of the day but I’ll try to reach Gates and update this blog entry with her comments.
-Billy Bush, co-host of “Access Hollywood” on TV, is jumping into radio syndication with a late-night show that will be heard on Q100 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. This doesn’t affect Q100’s regular lineup since the station has been using part-time help during that time period, but it gives the station access to a man known for connections to Hollywood.
Since this is one of the first major markets for Bush’s syndication, he will provide special local content (or at least an acknowledgment he’s on Q100) for the station. I don’t think that means he’ll be giving shout outs to folks in Gwinnett County but Bush is an amiable fellow. Q100 will still play a lot of music since there are fewer ads at that hour anyway but he’ll do some celebrity dirt-type news and insert some snippets of interviews he does with A list talent.
Rob Roberts, the Q100 operations manager, said the show will start in a couple of weeks.
-The XM/Sirius merger is close to approval by the Federal Communications Commission, according to the New York Times last Wednesday night..
Deborah Taylor Tate, a Republican member of the F.C.C., appeared ready on Wednesday to vote in favor of the deal, which would break a deadlock along party lines among the other four commissioners. She would join Kevin J. Martin, the chairman, in supporting the merger, with certain conditions. Mr. Martin, a Republican, had publicly said that he was in favor of it.
Do you think this is a good idea in the end? Will it help save the two companies?
Comments
By Joey Mills
July 24, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
As an XM subscriber, I think the merger is horrible. I don’t want to pay for Howard Stern’s overblown salary.
By Michelle
July 24, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
YEAH for Kristin!!!!!! I just wish she were still with Cadillac!!!
By Greg
July 24, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this
I just hope that it saves XM and Sirius from extinction. I love my satellite radio! If you haven’t tried it, do yourself a favor and take the plunge. I prefer XM, but I’m sure Sirius is good, too. You’ll never want to go back to the advertising and moronic jock-ridden dreck that is commercial radio.
By Bud
July 25, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
$attellite radio is already dead. The cheapskates won’t put the money down, and the big spenders are already playing their mp3’s off of their iPhone 3G’s.
IF the merger goes through and IF they can hang on long enough to the end of Stern’s contract and resign him for 1/10th of his current salary, then $att Radio MIGHT survive.
By XMFAN
July 30, 2008 4:33 PM | Link to this
I love my XM, change is good… i think this a good step…
By Vince
August 4, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this
The merger is bad news…for terrestrial radio. That’s why the NAB spent millions of dollars stalling it and trying to get it stopped.
People said cable and satellite television would never take off either. You can’t get stuff on terrestrial radio that you get on satellite. It’s a completely different world. Commercial-free music is a beautiful thing, along with sports you can continue to listen to, no matter how many states you drive across.
And what is this “$atellite” nonsense? Are you kidding? Because you can replace an ‘s’ with a dollar sign, that’s clever? Do you refer to satellite television the same way? By way of comparison, the cheapest plan you can get on any cell service other than “pay as you go” is at least twice the amount of monthly Sirius XM service. And I use my satellite radio a heckuva lot more than I use my cell phone. People once said cell phones weren’t a “necessity” either, but you try and find someone these days who doesn’t have one.
By Richard
August 25, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this
The Billy Bush Show on Q100 is terrible. This is boring syndicated crap and a good excuse to tune over Star 94 or any other station to at least hear someone local and live.
By Richard
August 25, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this
The Billy Bush Show on Q100 is terrible. This is boring syndicated crap and a good excuse to tune over Star 94 or any other station to at least hear someone local and live.