Jason Bailey has been dropped as a morning host on Rock 100.5 after seven years.
His co-host “Southside Steve” Rickman remains. Afternoon host and program director Axel Lowe is subbing in this week with Rickman.
Bailey made the announcement this week on Facebook.
“And so is (radio) life....I just breathed my final breath at Rock 100.5 / Atlanta. It was a good run with a lot of ups and downs. No doubt it was definitely time for me to move on from this part of my life/career,” he wrote. “With that said. I wish nothing but the best to the show, station and management in their future endeavors. God, I’ve always wanted to say that!! Time for a mental recharge before I move on.”
Market manager Sean Shannon declined to comment.
On his Black Cloud podcast Wednesday with his former producer Nate Hanson, who recently left the morning show, Bailey said he was fired and did not quit.
He said it was ‘fine and it was refreshing. They gave me the bullet that was already in the gun pointing at my head. I was miserable. It was nobody’s fault but my own.”
Explaining why he was let go, he said didn’t gel well with management anymore and complained that he “wasn’t surrounded by creative people. There was no oomph for the show.”
Bailey noted that the show went through a period two or three years ago when ratings went sky high. But he felt the station did nothing to leverage that bump.
“There was no incentive,” he said. “There was no exploitation of the success of the show. It was just going nowhere. That bothered me. I worked too [expletive] hard. All the [expletive] bits were my idea. All the planning was mine. It was just worthless. It was pointless. It was all for nothing. I wasn’t appreciated.”
He said if he had been more a team player, more “complacent,” he might have stuck around longer. But he said he challenged authority and that wore them down.
“I’m not mad at anybody, Bailey added. “I hope they’re not mad at me. The people that suffer the most is the audience... I did everything I can. I guess I didn’t do enough. For that, I apologize. I know your morning driving listening habits for those who supported me and the show will change drastically. You’ll have to get used to it.”
Bailey said that radio firings like this provide “no closure for the audience” because the station staff on air has no choice but to act like he had never existed. He said at least he has the podcast to provide his side of the story.
He joined the rock station in December 2014 after a short stint at 92.9/The Game. Before that, he worked in radio in Florida.
His departure happens just two months after another Rock 100.5 morning show mainstay Brandi Britain was cut soon after she was caught shoplifting.
Ratings for the show are far off the mark from the peak Bailey mentioned.
In September’s monthly ratings, the Bailey and Southside morning show ranked no. 13 with a 2.4 share, better than the station’s .17 share overall (20th place)
In the 25-54 demo, the show ranked 13th with a 2.5 share, down from 7th with a 4 share in July.
