By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, August 31, 2015
Doug Stewart, on his daily online show today, announced that he and his brother Ryan are reuniting for the first time in three years on radio on Saturday mornings on 640/WGST-AM.
"The 2 Live Stews are coming back in full force!" Doug said. The Stews will air for an hour on Saturdays at 11 a.m, debuting this week. They have committed to 17 weeks.
"Trust me," Doug added. "We'll do a lot with that hour. This is going to fly by. We'll have a lot of fun. It won't be totally scripted. I guess we'll talk some Falcons. We'll talk some Georgia football. You want to holla at your boys and what's going in our lives, the shenanigans of the Stews."
This is a pay-for-play situation where the Stews are responsible for finding sponsors to cover the costs. The Bruce Hagen law firm is the primary sponsor.
Ryan confirmed the news via text to me but deferred all questions to Doug.
He called in to Doug at about 11:30 a.m. this morning. "I decided to un-retire," said Ryan, who has been mostly Mr. Mom with his three children. "I'm working for the dogs and the poodles," he added, referencing their long-time dedicated fans as the 2 Live Stews. "I have missed doing the show... I gotta get out of the house!"
Doug said in a phone interview this afternoon that he's not sure how much Ryan wants to work but for now, once a week is a fair commitment. "We have no doubt this is going to lead to having a lot of options," he said.
You can listen to today's show below. Doug breaks the news at about 2/3 in:
The now defunct 790/The Zone dumped the Stews in September, 2012 after more than a decade. The two brothers were paid through the end of the year and had to adhere to a non-compete through June, 2013.
With the new 92.9/The Game struggling in ratings in 2013, hiring the Stews would have made logical sense. They were once a hugely rated and highly spirited show on the Zone but as I noted in this story last year, management neutered them over time.
But the Game held off and 680/The Fan didn't touch them either. So they remained off the air.
"We've been in radio exile to a degree," Doug said.
Doug started his own Spreaker show last October and draws about 1,000 to 2,000 listeners per show. It airs live weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon but can also be picked up in podcast form. (You can check it out here.)
He said he has been able to make money off the network a few months in. "It's been fantastic," he said, "better than expected."
At the same time, he knows it's a slow build. "People are set in their ways," he said. "We are slowly building an audience. The hardest part is getting the word out. We used to be national and people still come up and say they just discovered it. It's a process. I'm going to keep building it."
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