This was posted Wednesday, July 12, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Drex Rener , formerly of Star 94.1, officially joined the B98.5 morning show today with Tad Lemire and producer Kara Wilson .
Drex was originally going to join the show in mid May, but Star 94.1 opted to enforce his six-month non-compete clause in his former contract with Star. This meant the host could not be on air until July 10 since his contract ended with Star Jan. 10.
The game plan, Drex said, is to ease himself into the show. Tad is the leader of the crew, he said. "He's the foundation of the show," Drex said. "He will throw passes to myself and Kara. We'll react and ask questions and try to share our funny stories." Although he has been the lead guy on previous morning shows, "I'm okay being on the other side,” Drex said. “It's a little bit less work. I can relax a little more."
He was part of Star 94.1's morning show with Cassiday Proctor and Steve Tingle for just over a year in 2015 into early 2016. Then Jeff Dauler and Jenn Hobby took over and they were placed for a few months in the afternoons. Drex and his team were officially taken off Star 94.1's airwaves in July but were paid for another six months. (Cassiday is now on a morning show in St. Louis. Tingle has found a home on a radio show in Chicago.)
Drex replaces Melissa Carter , who was taken off air in March after informing the pop station she had no plans to negotiate a new contract. Melissa, who was a morning host at B98.5 for three and a half years, has been doing off-air production work for Cox's radio group the past four-plus months and will do so for a couple more weeks until her contract is up.
He noted that his wife has roots in Atlanta and wanted to stay here so he didn't aggressively seek options outside of town. He is grateful B98.5 took him on, enabling him to stay local.
The morning show runs from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The promotional photo for the team on the Facebook page features Kara front and center. Her name, though, is not included in the show name, which is officially "Tad and Drex in the Mornings."
This is B98.5's fifth morning show incarnation since Alpha Trivette and Kelly Stevens left in 2008 after a decade-long stint. The other combinations were Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke (2008-2010), Vikki Locke and Kelly Stevens (2010-2013), Melissa Carter and Jeff Elliott (2013-2015) and Melissa Carter and Tad Lemire (2015-2016).
B98.5 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both part of Cox Media Group.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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