Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Posted Thursday, January 4, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Radio name changes are in the air. In just the past month, we've seen Radio 105.7 become Alt 105.7. Then Old School 87.7 turned into Mix 87.7.
Now the Fan 2 has become The Sports X AM1230/106.3.
Owner David Dickey is building a second sports talk station with original local hosts, piece by piece.
He said that he changed the name to sound younger, hipper, with an edge and "X" already has an image in town for that feel thanks to 99X.
The station recently added former 92.9/The Game host Mark Zinno to the line up in the afternoons. This week, long-time sports host and producer "Hometeam" Brandon Leak was paired up with Joe Hamilton, a former Georgia Tech quarterback.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Dickey, who has known Hamilton for 20 years, is excited by the chemistry of the pairing. Their show started on Monday and airs 9 a.m. to noon.
"Radio has afforded me an awesome opportunity to meet so many good people and to now interact with the public on a daily basis is a dream come true," wrote Leak to me via Twitter. "Many years of hard work are paying off, with more to come."
He is psyched to work with Hamilton, "a new friend and ... one of the of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of Atlanta football. We look forward to making and leaving a legacy in sports radio and Atlanta sports. We look forward to having a fun show that will serve, entertain and inform the city and the Atlanta community for years to come."
Chuck Oliver also hosts a solo syndicated show heard on 41 stations in the Southeast that airs from noon to 2 p.m. He is a long-time afternoon host with Matt Chernoff on the Fan as well.
Dickey said the Sports X's target audience is 20 to 40 compared to 35 to 55 for his primary station 680/93.7 The Fan. He is aware not a lot of folks in that demo listen to AM and the AM/FM signals are fairly limited anyway. He expects over time more fans will choose to simply stream the station.
You can listen to the station on TuneIn here.
Dickey had tried Larry Wachs and a revamped Regular Guys for a few months last year but felt it didn't fit the station.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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