Posted Friday, December 22, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk
I am literally stepping out the door on vacation and I saw news that I had already intimated in an item earlier this week about the departure of Ed Lover's morning show on Boom 102.9:
Tom Joyner will return to Atlanta on January 16 on the new Classix 102.9, an old school format of R&B music from the 1970s and 1980s, which debuted Friday.
The veteran morning host was dropped earlier this month by Kiss 104.1 after more than 20 years.
Joyner has announced a plan to retire in two years.
He will be joined by the D.L. Hughley's syndicated afternoon show, which has never aired in Atlanta before, from 3 to 7 p.m. Hughley's show starts January 3. Joyner begins January 16.
Radio One, which owns 102.9, also has a majority stake in Reach Media, which operates both Joyner and Hughley's shows. So the company had a major incentive to bring Joyner into the market, even if it meant killing its classic hip-hop format after three years.
The 102.9 signal isn’t nearly as powerful as Kiss’ signal so some Joyner fans outside the Perimeter will have issues accessing him on the FM dial.
This leaves one classic hip-hop format left in town: Cumulus’ OG 97.9, which has a stronger signal than 102.9 and has brought in stronger ratings.
Steve Hegwood recently dropped this format at 87.7 for a mix of newer R&B music that is similar to that of Radio One’s Majic and Cox’s Kiss . He changed the name from Old School to Mix.
