Leslie Fram departs ‘Morning X’ show at 99X after three years
Three years after rejoining the rebooted 99X alternative rock station, Leslie Fram has left “The Morning X” show.
Steve Barnes will continue to co-host the show with Christopher “Crash” Clark, who came back to “The Morning X” last year as a traffic reporter after a long run with the original incarnation in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Barnes and Clark made the announcement on air earlier this week.
Fram did not return a text seeking comment and has not posted the news about her departure on social media.
Brian Philips, who created the original 99X in 1992 and resurrected it in late 2022, and Steve Craig, program director, afternoon host and part of the original 99X, also did not respond to texts.
Fram, now 69, was an integral part of the original incarnation of “The Morning X” with Barnes and Jimmy Baron, which ran from 1993 to 2004. For a time, the show was considered the buzziest rock morning show in Atlanta and pulled in strong ratings among Gen Xers.
She was also 99X’s program director for much of its original run, and stayed with the station until upper management killed it in 2008. For 14 years, it became a more traditional rock station dubbed Rock 100.5.
In late 2022, Atlanta-based Cumulus Media resurrected 99X and brought back former station talent including Craig, Will Pendarvis, Jill Melancon, Matt Jones, Clark, Barnes and Fram.
Cumulus recently filed for bankruptcy protection to erase a significant amount of debt.
It also stopped paying for Nielsen ratings after filing an antitrust lawsuit against the company, so it’s unclear how the 99X morning show is doing now.
After leaving 99X the first time, Fram ran an alternative rock station in New York City for three years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2011 to become senior vice president of music strategy and talent for CMT. There, she strongly championed female country artists.
When Barnes asked Fram to join “The Morning X” again in 2023, she accepted the job, though she stayed in Nashville, where she owns a ranch. She worked at both CMT and 99X until she was laid off by CMT in 2024.
Barnes was unable to convince Baron to rejoin the trio in 2023 because he was doing too well as a Realtor. He still occasionally makes cameo appearances on “The Morning X” and can be heard during the 6 a.m. hour when the station runs “best of” segments from the original run.
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.
