B98.5 nixes the Steve & Vikki Show
B98.5 has decided to end the Steve and Vikki Show less than two years after a ballyhooed launch in 2008. Steve McCoy is out for sure, confirmed a Cox Radio official close to the situation who declined to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to give out such information.
Tony Kidd, Cox Radio market manager, said he wasn’t ready to discuss the situation just yet.
The pair’s contract is up June 30. B98.5 decided to take them off the air early because the soft-rock station had a deadline to give Steve & Vikki a third year. Management has chosen not to take the option.
Loading ...A friend close to Vikki Locke said she has an offer to stay on, perhaps as a solo morning host, starting July 1. She has not made up her mind but has until next week to say yes or no.
If she doesn’t, B98.5 could bring back Kelly Stevens and Alpha Trivette, the former morning team who helmed the B98.5 morning slot for nearly a decade. The team has not been able to find a radio job since B98.5 let them go in 2008.
Steve & Vikki have been together for more than two decades, most of it at Star 94, where they thrived for many years as the source for soccer moms across metro Atlanta. Star, wanting to veer younger, decided to dismiss them in 2007. B98.5 hired them soon after in 2008. They returned to the air in July, 2008.
Management figured they were a perfect fit for the B98.5 demographic, which is older than that of Star 94.
Steve & Vikki have drawn decent ratings but probably not as good as B98.5 had hoped. Worse yet, the economy took a dive soon after they were hired, hindering B98.5’s ability to offset the higher costs of the morning show compared to the more economical Kelly & Alpha.
Steve & Vikki’s morning numbers lagged far behind B98.5’s mid-day and afternoon time periods, though the station’s emphasis over the years has been to get the “listen while you work” crowd. And since the new people meter measurements have been in place, B98.5 has done extremely well. It even landed at No. 1 during the Christmas holiday season.
As of late evening Thursday night, the Steve & Vikki show remained on the Web site www.b985.com. Ironically, at 11:24 p.m., about 12 hours after McCoy was told the news, WXIA-TV ran an ad featuring Steve & Vikki advertising a free trip to see “American Idol.” The title said that B98.5 is the “new home of Steve and Vikki in the morning.” Yes, they still use “new” after all this time.
The staff has been informed of the situation Thursday. They will go to a more music format for now, led by producer Will Gara. [UPDATE: Steve & Vikki were indeed not on the air Friday morning and Gara was covering. The show aired from 5 to 9 a.m.]
Though B98.5 has emphasized more music, less personality over the years, management saw an opportunity when Steve & Vikki became available. Arguably, since B98.5 is the only pure adult contemporary station in the market, hiring Steve & Vikki was insurance nobody else would hire the pair and take on B98.5 directly. Indeed, nobody has, though 105.7/The Groove and Star 94 are certainly pivoting toward their audience.
There have been management shifts. Two big supporters of Steve & Vikki when they got there are no longer at B98.5: former VP/general manager Dave Meszaros and former market manager Chris Wegmann.
Steve & Vikki more or less replicated their Star 94 show on B98.5. Program directors came and went trying to tweak it to their liking. Clearly, it didn’t work out.
McCoy has not returned a call for comment. In 2007 and 2008, McCoy didn’t talk about his departure from Star 94 until he was hired by B98.5.
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
335 comments Add your comment
Educated
February 25th, 2010
8:03 pm
This sorry article dont even say what the question was they was axed.
sid
February 25th, 2010
8:14 pm
What about the Greaseman?
Billy Baroo
February 25th, 2010
8:22 pm
B98.5 is still on the air?
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
February 25th, 2010
8:36 pm
For God’s sake, do NOT bring back Kelly and Alpha! Is it really so impossible to bring in some fresh talent to the Atlanta market? There must be some young talent out there wanting to break into the biz, give them a chance.
Jim
February 25th, 2010
8:37 pm
Bring back some comfort with Kelly and Alpha – and the nearly impossible question of the day
atlbud
February 25th, 2010
8:37 pm
Will Gara..you are so hot..love you!!
delois
February 25th, 2010
8:41 pm
Steve and Vicki who? I haven’t listened to anything but talk radio for years. The same music all the time on FM. At least you get an OCCASIONAL intelligent conversation on talk radio
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
8:48 pm
Randy — thanks man…. let’s call the producers and put a show on with you and me! I think we could DEFINITELY do better than 95 percent of the radio people out there in Atlanta!
Hey “Good News!”… what the h*** are you talking about? “Bring in some edgier stuff with more music.” Ummmm, if you want EDGIER and to appeal to the early-to-mid 20s market, listen to Barf 94!!! As I explained before (points to above comments), the whole MARKET for B-98.5 is the OLDER demographic, the 30-to-50 year old audience. We don’t necessarily WANT edgier music all the time… we might want some good 80s classics from time to time (and not the “typical” 80s crap on compilation CDs like Hey Mickey, Come On Eileen, Down Under, etc. We want to hear some lesser-known hits or secondary singles).
And I agree with the posters about NOT bringing back Kelly & Alpha… for all those bashing Steve and Vikki, you thought K&A were entertaining? Sorry, they were as interesting and “edgy” as sliced bread.
I agree with Mrs. Norman Maine’s post…. find some NEW, and younger radio talent and give them a shot… don’t pay a multi-million dollar contract, pay a couple of up-and-comers $60-$70 K for the first year and see how they do. If it works, sign ‘em for longer and give ‘em a raise.
Saul Good
February 25th, 2010
8:51 pm
WHO?
I second THAT
February 25th, 2010
8:52 pm
Rick & Bubba!!! PLEASE!
Chas
February 25th, 2010
9:04 pm
Why would anyone listen to regular radio at all? All the personalities are the same: boring and predictable. For less than the price of a tank of gas you can get satellite radio and have the music YOU want to listen to and a wider choice of radio personalities. How many times can terrestrial radio keep recycling itself? It’s the same “Morning Zoo with Chapstick and Bonzo!” junk that’s been around for 30 years. Do we really care that a couple of overpaid coma-inducing dorks pretending to be 20 years younger got fired?
Millermoose
February 25th, 2010
9:07 pm
Jeff; Get a life…..
If you are like me, I do not want to here all that dribble flowing from the mouths of some idiot on the radio and especially not 2 or 3 idiots. Some “GOOD” music, a little traffic info and maybe some relevant news and I am great. How hard is that to figure out ???
DamntheButcher
February 25th, 2010
9:12 pm
Steve and Fat vicki have been around way too long. It use to Pizz me off to listen to them interview some 16 year old pop singer and try to act like they were 20 year olds. I guess Vicki can eat full time and see how much fatter she can get.
Rich
February 25th, 2010
9:23 pm
BRING BACK TOM SULLIVAN!!!
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
9:26 pm
To Millermoose — why you told me to “get a life,” I don’t know… I agree with you… that’s what I SAID, that these stations need to play some good music, with some news and traffic, and just have someone with a lively personality to provide the segues… I never said anyone needed “2 or 3 idiots” running their mouths for 3 straight hours. In my opinion, that described The Regular Guys, Slapstick Greaseman or whatever his name was, the Morning X, Chris Rood, etc.
I agree that most of these stations don’t seem to be able to “get it” and connect to their audiences… all I was saying is that I feel bad for Steve and Vikki because I have listened to them (not religiously) for more than 20 years… they are a big part of my teenage years, and I just hate to see them come to an abrupt end like this.
I’m not a fan of constant radio drivel, bet it Kelly & Alpha, the morning mess, the creepy Bert show, or … as Chas so eloquently put it … “Morning Zoo with Chapstick and Bonzo!”
i still listen to radio
February 25th, 2010
9:28 pm
Rick and Bubba, Rick and Bubba…
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
9:28 pm
And for the record, since I live a good ways outside the perimeter and don’t have regular work hours where I am in the car in the A.M., I have not listened to morning commute radio regularly for many years. And I am a Sirius radio subscriber, which I LOVE …. but if I had a morning drive and worked 8-to-5 hours, I would likely listen at least some times to some morning shows to get the latest Atlanta buzz — traffic, today’s weather, any big events happening today or this weekend, last night’s late sports scores, etc.
C
February 25th, 2010
9:32 pm
Bring back Toucher, Rich and Crash!!
A
February 25th, 2010
9:37 pm
Wait, what’s Dave-FM’s new format going to be?
miller
February 25th, 2010
9:39 pm
Well, you could do something radical like simply play music in the morning! Kelly and Alpha were certainly better than Steve/Vikki but why blow the cash, just play music and cut out the boring chit-chat. Project 961 gets it and most days, although not mornings, 105.7 the Groove gets it.
Rob
February 25th, 2010
9:39 pm
PUT ON STEAK SHAPIRO!!! Now thats entertainment!!!
finally
February 25th, 2010
9:41 pm
Can’t stand Vicki’s whooping laugh, how many times has she “fell off her chair”???? Lame and tired. I have listened to Atlanta Radio since 1970 and it has come a long way but it is much worse than it was when we had less choices. I loved, JJ Jackson, Mark McCain, Willard, Kaedy Keily, Christopher Rude, Larry “Night Train” Lane, Rebecca Stevens, Garry McKee, Craig Ashwood…and many more I can’t remember right now. Never a fan of Steve and Vicki, just too pretentious and scripted for my tastes. Oh well, maybe we’ll get someone new and talented, only time will tell, and NO Tom Sullivan is not the answer.
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
9:45 pm
miller, I’ll take your word about Project 9-sux-1 and whatever 105.7 is… I’ll never listen to those stations again. They blew up an Atlanta tradition in 96 Rock a couple years ago for this crap… all they had to do was work some new music in, but they destroyed the whole thing and now play all this unrecognizable music. I don’t even know what “the groove” is…. 105.7 USED to be WGST, with good news and entertainment and sports programs… “the groove” makes me think they play 1970s acid rock…
Speaking of FM stations and sports… would it KILL the Atlanta market to put a freakin’ sports programming station on the FM dial????? If you live outside downtown Atlanta, good luck in getting any AM stations after dark, save for WSB. I was in Marietta and Kennesaw the other night, couldn’t get the Hawks game on 790… could barely hear 680, but it was 90 percent static. For god’s sake, medium sized cities like Nashville and Birmingham have FM sports stations… can we PLEASE get one in Atlanta?
RK
February 25th, 2010
9:46 pm
Music? Yawn. Pop in a CD or your IPod. Or go listen the new “The River”!
Hey waddle-doodle…hi there ho there…why do people in Atlanta know the Grease? AMF!
Shirley Q Liquor
February 25th, 2010
9:46 pm
Geez – I didn’t know they were back on the air. They sucked years before Star 84 canned them. the idiots that hired them for this station should be fired as well, subjecting Atlanta to another dose of those two boobs! I think there’s an AM station in Albany looking for some help to do the stock yard and farmers forecast reports. With all of their BS they are perfect.
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
9:51 pm
Wow, such venom toward S & V… c’mon people, they are harmless! Sure you may not like their humor, but why all the bitterness? At least they are not crude, offensive and condescending, unlike many of Atlanta’s other radio personalities…
Sure, maybe they are a few years past when they were good, but at least they were committed to Atlanta and did a lot of charity work… and they at least were entertaining at best and non-threatening at worst… I’m just saying that I wish they’d had a final week where they could do a final special show or something…. Steve deserves it for the 30 years of work he’s put into Atlanta radio.
sugarfoot
February 25th, 2010
9:53 pm
Just replicate the WSB AM signal on FM! Nobody actually listens to music on the radio any more! (Where’s Gary McKee when you need him!)
Dragon
February 25th, 2010
9:57 pm
Over the years I’ve had to misfortune to happen by their morning show, and pause to listen to the birdbrains. I believe Stevie boy sounds even stupider than the flat-headed hefty bag female of the pair.
Dragon
February 25th, 2010
10:00 pm
RK wrote:
“Music? Yawn. Pop in a CD or your IPod. Or go listen the new “The River”!”
Don’t you just love those clowns at “the River” STILL calling themselves “new?”
Hilarious!!! I also hate that wispy canned voice they use.
LM Kennedy
February 25th, 2010
10:03 pm
I vote for Kelly and Alpha!!
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
10:05 pm
I love the concept of The River, but their programmers must suck! Here is what I hear EVERY TIME I go by their station: Fleetwood Mac, Boston, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, Kansas, Allman Brothers. Repeat every hour.
With all the great music from the 70s and 80s — a ton of lost tracks, second and third singles, B-side songs — and they play the same crap you see advertised on those “Greatest Hits” infomercials on TV at 3 a.m.? C’mon guys, you can do better than that!
The Turd Burglar
February 25th, 2010
10:14 pm
Please edit the second sentence in the third paragraph. Oh yeah, Steve and Vikie suck.
Stevefan
February 25th, 2010
10:18 pm
The uninvited guest and Will is what killed that program. That was
the worst part of the show.
Matt
February 25th, 2010
10:18 pm
Move Boortz to mornings on WSB-FM. What a concept. I know this’ll cause an uproar. Atlanta is the ONLY top 10 market without and all-talk FM station (not to mention it’s the only top 10 marked without an FM sports station either).
Tim
February 25th, 2010
10:27 pm
Getting S&V off the air may help raise the IQ of the entire metro.
CM Burns
February 25th, 2010
10:34 pm
I’ve always enjoyed the witty banter of Max Howell and Chris Morgan in the morning. Those two tickle my funny bone.
Wild man
February 25th, 2010
10:35 pm
Bring back the ramblin’ raft race–those were some crazy times with tons of booze and weed along the way!!!
myra
February 25th, 2010
10:35 pm
I want Dickie Broadcasting to buy B98.5 and move 680theFan to that spot.
680 is going to carry the Braves this year and after 5:30pm you cant hear them outside of the perimeter.
I gotta hear my Braves.
p.s. the music industry has been dead since the 90’s.
We all grew up and have other stuff to do.
Sports grape
February 25th, 2010
10:37 pm
I’ve got it!!! How about some more cool black guys, spewing ebonics, playing the race card and making up neat names for callers like dog and poodles??? Yeah baby—now we’re talking—that will bring in the urban listeners and make millions for the station!!!
RK
February 25th, 2010
10:38 pm
Thank God Mike O’Meara has podcasts now.
Meta Centrist
February 25th, 2010
10:40 pm
Vicki Locke needs to lose some weight—she was porking out when i saw her last. Lay off the muffins and brownies vicki.
Craig
February 25th, 2010
10:42 pm
Hopefully B98.5 brings back Kelly and Alpha. For a morning show, they were a great balance between talk and music. I prefer more music in the morning and since Steve and Vicki (which is more talk than music), I mostly listen to CD’s while driving to work.
I do love the all 80’s weekend that B98.5 has been doing lately. Hopefully that stays the same.
Larry Wachs
February 25th, 2010
10:49 pm
I was in a bathroom stall today and overheard someone saying that they were going to bring in a show called “The Morning Messicans” with Yogi and Panda. They will do pranks on the 20s like chilli pepper Yogi and make him eat hot pepprers every time he misses a trivia question.
Talk radio fan
February 25th, 2010
10:52 pm
Jeff,
The way your defending S & V, you must be their agent….
Talk radio fan
February 25th, 2010
10:53 pm
Larry, shouldnt you be asleep by now? You have to get up early and deliver another stellar show like this morning with Maria Bamford. Dude, that chick was histerical…
J. Wild
February 25th, 2010
10:57 pm
You lost my entire family when Kelly and Alpha was taken off the air….and that was about 67 members strong….I would love to see them brought back to your station… so I will patiently wait….and hope for the best…..
Jeff
February 25th, 2010
11:00 pm
Actually, talk radio fan, if you read my above posts, I am not at all defending them and certainly not acting as their agent… I am SIMPLY saying that I feel bad that it ended this way… I wish they had mutally parted ways and had one last Atlanta radio broadcast, similar to what they had at Star 94. Just as a native Atlantan, I’m saying that Steve has been a staple of Atlanta radio for 3 decades and I’d hate to see him disappear on some random February Thursday with no chance to say goodbye to the listeners.
I”m just being human, that’s all… not saying they are the best solution. Personally, for 98.5, I thought it would be a good fit… but anytime you have contracts like they have, anything less than dominating the ratings is not good.
I am also just saying that as far as ATL radio morning show options, I like them better than anything else… Kelly and Alpha seemed VERY boring to me, and I always thought S & V were at least lively.
Truth be told, all Atlanta radio stations probably need a big shake up.
Ms ATL
February 25th, 2010
11:05 pm
I love you Steve and Vikki! Good luck to you both…I will miss you!
THE FLASH
February 25th, 2010
11:19 pm
Have you noticed all of the middle-school name-calling of Steve & Vikki has come from GUYS?
Most radio stations would prefer WOMEN in their audiences, which is why only 2-3 stations appeal to the male audience.
I think the combination of Will Gara and some terrible music (which S & V do NOT control) destroyed the show and the potential audience.
Debbie
February 25th, 2010
11:45 pm
When Star 94 axed Steve and Vicki I stopped listening to it. I was ecstatic when 98.5 picked them up. They are the only reason I started listening to 98.5. You can’t split the two of them up. I also enjoy Will’s wit. Where ever you guys end up, I will follow. 98.5 you will be history to me after June 30th.