Star 94 drops Scott Lindy, program director, after four-plus years

The station is in management transition. Entercom, a mid-sized media company based in Bala Cynwyd, PA, is in the midst of purchasing Star 94 from Lincoln Financial. An official replacement for Lindy won't happen until the deal official closes. For now, Lincoln's SVP of programming John Dimick will cover for him.

For much of the 1990s into the 2000s, Star 94 was a stellar top 10 performer in town in both ratings and revenue. But in recent years, its star has dimmed significantly.

Lindy came to Star in 2010 with a strong reputation as a programmer. He arrived in Atlanta in 2008 as program director at 94.9/The Bull, an upstart country station which was losing badly to Kicks 101.5. He helped lift the Bull's numbers and made the station competitive before leaving under murky circumstances in September, 2010.

A month later, Star picked him up. He embraced the station's Hot AC roots and ratings rebounded for a time.

But in 2012, two developments set the station back. Morning co host Ray Mariner left, no explanation ever given. Then Clear Channel (now IHeartMedia) in August created Power 96.1, a fourth pop station in town.

Star took the brunt of the competition while B98.5 and Q100 held up surprisingly well. B98.5, while Lindy was at Star, modernized its sound and feel while building on its reputation as the at-work station. Q100 has been able to feast off its powerhouse morning show the Bert Show.

The fact Star is a stand-alone station (given that sister AM station 790/The Zone hardly counts) against conglomerates with multiple stations didn't make it any easier to sell.

Lindy certainly tried to keep things going. In the fall of 2012, he gave Cindy Simmons a new morning co-host Jimmy Alexander. He dropped night jock Tim Orff and lost afternoon host Chase Daniels in 2013, bringing in Marino for afternoons and Donny Michaels for nights. He created 90s weekends. He superserved the suburban mom core. For a time, he even banned rap music of any kind (even Black Eyed Peas) as a differentiator but that lasted only a few months.

Ratings didn't pick up. Last year, Lindy dropped Alexander after two years, then Simmons in January after 12 years at the station.

Knowing how important it is to have a strong morning show to drive the rest of the day, he brought in two Charlotte morning hosts Drex and Cassiday with a Philly man Tingle.  They started two months ago so it's way too early to judge if this will work.

Star in February came in 12th place with 3.2 share compared to a 6.2 for B98.5 (3rd), a 5.5 for Power (4th) and a 5.1 for Q100 (6th). In mornings, Star brought in a 2.2 share (18th) vs. 3.8 for Power's Scotty K & Riley  (10th), a 5.5 for B98.5's Melissa & Jeff (8th) and a 6.5 for the Bert Show on Q100 (3rd).

Prior to Atlanta, Lindy worked at stations in Richmond and Baltimore as well as satellite service Sirius/XM. He said he is talking to stations both inside and outside of Atlanta. If he chooses to stay in Atlanta, he'd have to adhere to a six-month non-compete clause.