This was originally posted Sunday, April 23, 2017 by Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
E.T. Cali, who left Hot 107.9 late last year as part of the night-time show The Durtty Boyz, is now at new rival station 92.3/96.7 The Beat.
He began doing afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m. last week under the show name Locked Into the Galaxi. The Beat (WRDG-FM) debuted last November.
For now, E.T.'s show will be solo though DJ's will provide him plenty of mixes and he'll have interns to help him out.
E.T. in December told me he had split from Radio One, which owns Hot, because they were not willing to give him a syndicated show.
IHeartRadio, which owns the Beat, has already placed him on a station in Albany via syndication. E.T. said he will soon be on in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, S.C., Macon and Augusta.
He and his on-air partner J-Nicks had planned at first to move together as the Durtty Boyz. But citing poor attorney advice, J-Nicks had signed a new contract with Hot and is there at least another year, E.T. said. (More details here.)
“I’m trying to make sure he comes over,” E.T. said, who plans to go by the name “ET Cali” on his new show. “He’s my brother, my partner.”
Hot has kept using the Durtty Boyz name even without E.T. E.T. said he owns the trademark and went to court over the issue but as time has gone along, he said he is willing to let the name go if a proper financial settlement is agreed upon by the two parties..
"I've created a whole new show," he said. "I don't mind re-creating segments."
For instance, E.T. has re-named a rap battle segment "Coming to the Stage" instead of "Battlegrounds."
The station now has two local jocks on board. DJ Scream has been on for awhile at night. And the syndicated Breakfast Club show is airing in the morning.
Charlamagne the God, a Breakfast Club morning host, was in Atlanta this past Saturday to promote his new book "Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It." I moderated one of his two book signings at the Barnes & Noble in Midtown.
Ever the promoter, Charlamagne had the audience hold up his book while we took pictures:
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
E.T. was under a non-compete clause for six months after leaving Hot, which kept him off the airwaves during that time. He said he spent his time off air DJing parties at clubs, high school and colleges as well as producing radio shows behind the scenes.
Although there are five other hip-hop stations in town, he said the Beat can still carve out a niche. He feels from a fashion standpoint, the California look has come to Atlanta with their Vans shoes and tattoos. "Not so much the sound but the dress code," E.T. said. "We can tap into that wave. You can find different markets being ignored by the other stations."
As for doing afternoons instead of nights, E.T. said he doesn't approach the show any differently. "It's as ratchet as it ever was," he said. And he'll be able to go to listening parties and evening events he couldn't otherwise.
He also plans to bring in a female, bi-sexual DJ to give his show a different sound.
So far, the Beat's ratings have been modest compared to the other five stations, drawing a 0.3 rating in the most recent Nielsen Media ratings covering March. In comparison, V-103 was on top with a 6.3 followed by Hot 107.9 at 4.5, Streetz 94.5 at 1.5, OG 97.1 at 1.1 and Boom 102.9 at 0.9. Collectively, the six hip-hop stations pulled in a 15.2 rating.
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