Atlanta radio adds Brian Moote, loses Jeremy ‘Otis’ Maher
Two Atlanta radio hosts who worked together for two years have seen their employment fortunes flip in the past month.
In October, Jeremy “Otis” Maher lost his job at iHeartRadio’s top 40 station Power 105.3 and country station 94.9/The Bull as part of the latest round of national layoffs at the largest radio company in the country.
In the meantime, Maher’s former co-worker, former “Bert Show” on-air personality Brian Moote, got some good news: On Monday, he’ll start as an afternoon host on Star 94, Audacy’s Top 40 station.
Maher and Moote worked from 2022 to 2024 at The Bull as morning show hosts with Kimmie Caruba. But it was nixed last year when iHeart decided to use the nationally syndicated “Bobby Bones Show” out of Nashville, Tennessee, instead.
iHeart’s three most prominent English language music stations in Atlanta ― 96.1/The Beat, Power 105.3 and 94.9/The Bull ― all use syndicated morning shows not based in Atlanta. The company in recent years has emphasized cost savings and name recognition over building local personalities, even in a top 10 media market like Atlanta.
For Maher, this layoff is a bit of deja vu.
He arrived at The Bull as an afternoon host in 2017 but was cut during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was hired back in late 2021 and hosted the morning show at The Bull until 2024. While his co-hosts Moote and Caruba were let go, he stayed on, running a night show on The Bull while juggling an afternoon show on Power.
“The hardest part is you know you put in 100% effort, you really put your heart and soul into something you love,” Maher said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But the industry is narrowing and changing.”
Maher is not giving up on radio: “I still know I have fight in me. I know I have what it takes.”
Although the Illinois native could potentially find a radio job outside of Atlanta, he loves his life in Buford off Lake Lanier with his wife and three kids and would prefer to stay local.
“I’m very driven by God’s path,” Maher said. “I know each time something of this nature has happened, something greater has followed.”
Maher has also been the in-game Atlanta Braves announcer the past three seasons, but he said he hasn’t finalized with the team whether he’s coming back in 2026.
“That job has been incredibly fulfilling,” he said. “I loved every moment on the field doing the All-Star game this year. It was just next-level.”
Moote, a former special education teacher, came to Atlanta in 2016 from Seattle to join the recently retired syndicated “Bert Show,” effectively replacing Jeff Dauler.
He spent two years on the show but left to co-host his own morning show in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, that show only lasted 18 months. He moved to Dallas, Texas, to man a country morning show in 2020 that lasted two years. He then joined The Bull.
Since The Bull let him go, Moote has taken part in the Bored Teachers Comedy Tour across the country as a stand-up comic. He has also continued to work in the education field as a public policy consultant at the state Legislature.
But Moote said he wanted to get back into radio, and he jumped at the chance when Star offered him the job.
Unlike iHeart and its top 40 station Power, Audacy is investing in local talent on its pop station Star.
After dropping its brand manager and most of its on-air staff earlier this year, Star has revamped by hiring Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott as the new morning show hosts after local Christian pop station Fish 104.7 closed under new ownership earlier this year.
Emily Bolden, Star‘s new brand manager, said hiring Moote is another piece of the puzzle, lauding his “unique combination and perfect balance of intellect and humor.”
Married with a young son, Moote said management has promised him the ability to “bring a creative morning show style of content to the afternoons.”
“The Bert Show’s” recent departure leaves a “massive creative void” in the market, he noted. But Moote did learn from working with Bert Weiss that he can have fun but also use radio to help the community.
Moote expects his friend Maher to land on his feet.
“Otis is such a smart guy,” Moote said. “And he has a real understanding of how every part of radio works. He’ll be doing something in this market soon. He’s too good not to.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
