By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, September 17, 2015
92.9/The Game morning host Marc James is out after 16 months but the circumstances of his departure are kind of murky.
Three sources said they heard he was gone and though program director Terry Foxx has not gotten back to me, I decided to post this because James has been wiped off the website. That's usually a good sign someone is gone. James' Twitter no longer references the Game.
Why was he cut? There is a story floating around that James sought autographs from Mets players at a recent Braves game, the type of fan-like behavior sports talk show hosts and sports reporters tend to avoid. I am not sure how true this is but heard it from two very different sources.
Randy Cross remains. He has been the one steady presence in mornings since the sports talk station launched in 2012.
The first morning show in October, 2012 featured Cross, Rick Kamla and CJ Simpson. Simpson left a few months later, replaced by Kristen Ledlow. Kamla was moved to mid-days in July, 2013 when Jason Bailey arrived.
Bailey only lasted about a year and later joined Rock 100.5. Ledlow left in March, 2014. In May, 2014, the Game hired James, who came from a Baltimore sports station, to take over for Kordell Stewart in the afternoons. But a few weeks later, the Game dumped Bailey and placed James in the mornings. The station hired Mike Bell to team with Carl Dukes in the afternoons.
I hear Kamla might return to mornings to work with Cross. That would leave an opening in mid-days where Jamie Dukes has been a constant presence since day one.
The Game saw a huge jump in ratings late last year during the football season, peaking in January with a 3 share. But its numbers have fallen to back to a 1.3 in June before rebounding to a 1.7 in August. It was tied with some other sports station, a station that does not subscribe to Nielsen Audio so I am technically allowed to reveal their numbers.
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