Old School 99.3 taken down for technical issues but will return
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Classic hip-hop Old School 99.3 has been off its regular FM home since Saturday due to technical problems but owner Steve Hegwood hopes to have it back up again soon.
He isn't sure when the engineers will be able to fix the transmitter. "This too shall pass," he said.
There was interference issues with the country station WCON-FM/99.3 out of Cornelia, which is in Northeast Georgia about 80 miles from downtown Atlanta and can be heard well into Gwinnett County. The Federal Communications Commission ordered 99.3 to be taken down until they resolve the issue.
Old School can still be heard online and on the HD-3 channel on 94.9/WUBL-FM if you have HD access.
The hot format, focused mostly on hip-hop songs from the late 1980s through the mid-2000s, has been around for about seven months. All three stations debuted within a week of each other in November, two on the same day.
Old School's two rivals have generated higher ratings. Radio One's Boom 102.9 has been pulling in 0.6 to 0.8 shares in recent months. Cumulus' OG 97.9, the most popular of the trio, peaked at a 1.5 share in May before slipping back to 1.3 in June. Old School 99.3 has hovered around a 0.4 share.
The station airs a husband-wife morning show hosted by Toni and Griff, who used to be on V-103 and Hot.
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.
