Jason Bailey, former morning host at Rock 100.5, has found a new job as afternoon host at a rock station in Sacramento, California.
“The opportunity is amazing!” he said in a text.
Bailey, ousted in 2021 after seven years at the station, had been doing podcasts in the interim. His former station Rock 100.5 this past December changed formats, resurrecting the original 99X in its stead.
At “98 Rock” (KRXQ-FM), Bailey will host “The Bailey Show” with NickyD and producer Josh Nelson. He said he has already moved to California.
“I really like Atlanta and the people,” Bailey said. “I’m going to miss the relationships I’ve built with a lot of people there.”
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B98.5 has hired a new midday host Abby Jessen, who will also serve as assistant director of branding and programming.
She started this past Monday.
Jessen replaces Charly Morgan, who had been midday host at B98.5 since 2017. Morgan has started as morning host at pop station Magic 102.1 in Athens.
Jessen previously worked at Cox Media Group’s Tulsa stations as director of branding and programming and afternoon drive time on Mix 96.5. She is an Atlanta native and graduated from the University of Georgia, where she launched her career in radio as a news and traffic anchor at a station in Athens. Jessen will continue to host nights on 106.1 WNGC in Athens.
“I grew up listening to B98.5, so it is truly a dream to be back home working for a station I have always loved!” said Jessen in a press release.
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Compass Media Networks has taken over syndication of Erick Erickson’s radio show, heard in Atlanta on 95.5/750 WSB radio from noon to 3 p.m.
Erickson had been self-syndicating his show, which is also heard on stations in Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida. He has been with WSB since 2011, mostly in late afternoons and moved to the early afternoon spot following the death of Rush Limbaugh in 2021.
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Credit: BOUNCE TV
Credit: BOUNCE TV
Atlanta-based Bounce TV said its new sitcom “Act Your Age” that debuted this past Saturday drew 2.14 million viewers, one of the biggest show launches in the network’s 12-year history.
The comedy, which stars Kym Whitley, Tisha Campbell and Yvette Nicole Brown as 50-something friends who decide to live together, also aired the first two episodes on sister station ION.
The next five episodes will air on Bounce weekly this spring while the other nine already taped for season one will run over the summer.
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Credit: Film
Credit: Film
Atlanta-based FilmHedge, a new company which provides short-term credit and financing solutions for TV and film productions, recently raised $5 million in equity financing.
FilmHedge, run by Jon Gosier, will provide up to $10 million for a TV show or movie until the production company officially sells the project to a distributor like a Netflix or Hulu. The company targets smaller to mid-sized productions with budgets of less than $50 million.
“We only finance productions that already have buyers,” Gosier said. “That is the collateral we use. We don’t speculate at all.” The loans typically last six months to a year.
Last year, FilmHedge allocated more than $100 million to more than 20 productions, including scripted series, docuseries, and feature films and said it generated a profit of $13 million in nine months for its investors.
Due to confidentiality agreements, FilmHedge won’t reveal specific films and TV shows it has financed, but they have been shown in theaters, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, Gosier said.
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