Rush Radio on FM next week

WSJS, 94.5 FM make extensive adjustments

By: Tim Clodfelter | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: December 26, 2009

Big changes are coming to two local radio stations next week, when 94.5 FM becomes "Rush Radio" and WSJS 600 AM changes its schedule to make up for the loss of The Rush Limbaugh Show after more than 20 years.

The changes come after Clear Channel Communications, the company that produces Limbaugh's show, did not renew its contract with WSJS and instead moved the show to 94.5 FM, which is owned by Clear Channel.

As a result, 94.5 FM is changing from a Spanish-language station to a conservative news talk format. The station will carry Limbaugh from noon to 3 p.m. The Glenn Beck Show will air from 9 a.m. to noon.

This week, Rush Radio announced a local morning host who is a familiar voice in the Triad.

Bill Flynn will join the station starting Jan. 4. Flynn has been a morning host on sister station WMAG 99.5 FM for 26 years. Rod Davis will take Flynn's place on WMAG alongside Lora Songster starting on Jan. 4.

Flynn will continue to appear on WMAG in the afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m., said Tim Satterfield, the director of operations for Clear Channel/Greensboro.

The station will air a marathon of Rush Limbaugh repeats from Jan. 1 through Jan. 3.

Then, on Jan. 4, the station will begin its new lineup.

WSJS will move The Dave Ramsey Show to Limbaugh's old time slot on the station, noon to 3 p.m., starting on Thursday. Ramsey's show has been part of the station's morning lineup since February. The show is a consumer-advice program with a concentration on how people can get out of debt.

Tom Hamilton, the general manager of WSJS, said he knows that the station will lose some listeners when Limbaugh's show leaves, but he hopes that some people will turn their loyalty to Ramsey.

"If you like Rush, you're going to follow Rush," Hamilton said. "But Dave appeals to so many who need this type of information, conversation and counseling."

Comedian Dennis Miller will take over the 10 a.m. slot on WSJS with a syndicated talk show about entertainment, politics and sports.

WSJS also announced this week that it is making J.R. Snider the channel's permanent morning host from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays.

Snider stepped in as interim host when the previous morning host, Brian Freeman, transferred from WSJS to WPTF 680 AM, a sister station in the Raleigh market.

tclodfelter@wsjournal.com

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