Elvis Duran's syndicated morning show out of New York will have its final day on Atlanta's top 40 station Power 96.1 Tuesday morning, the syndicator confirmed to me today.
Duran, 49, himself made the announcement Monday morning.
I have not heard back from Power's new program director Dan Hunt, who recently joined Clear Channel Atlanta. ( Rick Vaughn, his predecessor, was let go at the end of 2013.) Power could replace Duran's show with another syndicated show or introduce a brand new local show. I have no idea what they are going to do come Wednesday, though in the interim, they could simply play music.
UPDATE Tuesday, Feb. 11, 11:30 a.m.: There is another idea someone posed to me after I posted this. The fact Clear Channel Atlanta is saying nothing may be a precursor to a... format change? The station has certainly underperformed given how much money the company pumped into the station the first year out of the gate. But what would they change it to? Plus, the new PD has a top 40 background.
UPDATE: Tuesday, Feb. 11, 11:52 a.m. Just checked the Radio Insight radio board where radio geeks preside and someone saw an Urbaninsite story saying the Breakfast Club out of New York (R&B/hip hop station Power 105.1) is coming to Atlanta. That show - led by DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlemagne Tha God - last year joined Premiere's morning syndication and the weekday version is heard in several markets,including Richmond, Norfolk, Montgomery and Houston. Premiere is owned by Clear Channel, which also owns Elvis Duran and Power 96.1. If this comes to pass, does this mean Power is going the old Wild route and lean more hip hop? The station in recent months sounds more pop from its original incarnation.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 8:24 a.m.: The station is currently touting "more music" in the mornings.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Feb. 12: noon: Premiere Networks confirmed that the Breakfast Club is NOT going to join Power. So the "more music" appears to be the near-term answer.
Currently, Power competes most directly against Star 94, B98.5 and Q100, all of whom pulled in better ratings last year on average in the mornings among 25 to 54 year olds. Among 18 to 34 year olds, Power was third among four pop stations, beating Star by a small margin, according to Nielsen Audio.
Fans of the show, which has a large, boisterous cast, can still listen 24/7 on the iHeartRadio app or on this site.
Duran first came to Atlanta's FM dial in January, 2010 as part of dance-oriented Groove 105.7 , which became the more rhythmic/hip-hop sounding Wild 105.7 in late 2010. He was moved to the new top 40 station Power 96.1 in September, 2012.
But his ratings have lagged behind those of his pop rivals, even on the stronger Power signal And station billboards and TV ads focused on the music, not on Duran's show.
Nationally, his show is heard on 70 radio stations, from Alabama to Montana. It's the most popular top 40 show in America, drawing an average of 5.5 million listeners a week.
His home base in New York has been Z100 since 1989.
Before then, Duran worked for a brief time as an evening host at Atlanta's Z93 when it was a top 40 station in the late 1980s.
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