By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Tuesday, July 5, 2016
NewsRadio 106.7 has officially hired Shannon Burke to take over for departed Michael Graham for the 9 a.m. to noon slot. He has been manning the slot the past couple of weeks.
According to program director Greg Tantum in a press release:
"Many of the best hosts in the business participated in NewsRadio 106.7's Casting Call. In the end, Shannon Burke emerged as an overwhelming audience favorite. His show creatively combines intelligent talk with humor, entertainment and a connection with the Atlanta lifestyle."
Burke's Linkedin page shows that the Dallas native started in talk radio in 1995 in Austin but has spent most of his career in Florida, working briefly for Bubba the Love Sponge in Orlando. He has never worked in Atlanta but I guess Florida is close to Georgia so he has a "connection with the Atlanta lifestyle," whatever that means.
Burke said in a press release: "I'm thrilled to be a part of the Cumulus family and I can't wait to get to know the great city of Atlanta!”
His last radio gig was at 102.5/The Bone in Tampa/St. Petersburg.
For the past two years, he has also been doing his own on-line only show.
Among the folks who tried out during the casting call in June: war veteran and Tea Party activist Bryan Suits , Lou Pate , former "American Idol" runner up Bo Bice , former WAOK talk host Shelley Wynter and Joy Keishian.
"The guy's good. I don't mind losing to that guy!" Wynter said. He said Burke is much more conservative than he is. Moderation, he said, is not popular on commercial talk radio nowadays.
Bice joked, "Here today, gone TODAY!" Then he added, in a text, "I'm glad Shannon Burke got the job. He did an excellent job the 2 or 3 times I caught his show. Congrats to Shannon for landing the gig and to 106.7 for finding themselves a talent that Atlanta can sink their teeth into."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Graham, who was at the station for two years, left in a blaze of infamy in May, creating a departing mock ad making fun of fellow afternoon host Kim "The Kimmer" Peterson. The joke ad, implied the Kimmer was a racist drug addict who took part in bestiality. This salvo caused the Kimmer to blow up on air and call Graham a "disgrace" among many other choice insults.
Graham now works as creative director at MediaDC, the publishing company that owns The Weekly Standard, the Washington Examiner and Red Alert Politics.
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