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City & State or ZIP Tonight, this weekend, May 5th...
City & State or ZIP
City & State or ZIP Tonight, this weekend, May 5th...
City & State or ZIP
Radio & TV Talk

Redstate.com’s Erick Erickson, Dave Ramsey join WSB Radio; Michael Savage off

10:16 am January 5, 2011, by Rodney Ho

erickerickson

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson, who operates blog site RedState.com, will host a local weekday show from 9 p.m. to midnight on AM 750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB starting Monday. Erickson, who lives in Macon, regularly appears on CNN to talk about politics.

Financial guru and talk show host Dave Ramsey, who recently was bumped for a local afternoon show on 640/WGST-AM, will also join WSB from midnight to 3 a.m. Ramsey had been offered an evening spot on WGST but opted for WSB’s broader reach.

“He’ll be a great one-two punch with Clark Howard to add to our stable,” said program director Pete Spriggs Wednesday morning.

“Isn’t that cool?” Howard said in an interview today. “He reaches a different audience. His [show] is about people out of control in debt and getting their debt back in control. I cover everything people do with their wallet, not just people in crisis in debt. It’s like going to different specialists.”

Ramsey’s show, which is based out of Nashville, can be heard on 450 stations nationwide with an estimated 4.5 million weekly listeners.You can also listen to him live from 2 to 5 p.m. EST on his website, www.daveramsey.com. He has used his show as a platform for his successful Total Money Makeover seminars, which he most recently held last October at the Gwinnett Arena.

“We’re excited to be part of the WSB family,” said  Suzanne Simms, vice president of Affiliate Relations for Ramsey, in a press release. “Dave has a lot of fans in the Atlanta area and we’re glad to bring them the show on Atlanta’s premier radio station.”

San Francisco-based syndicated host and native New Yorker Michael Savage will no longer be aired on the station, where he has been on from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. He has been with WSB for many years, first in an early evening spot but moved three years ago to a late-night position.

Herman Cain, the former senatorial candidate and ex-CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, will go to a two-hour format from three hours, airing from 7 to 9 p.m. instead of 7 to 10 p.m. Cain joined WSB three years ago and is a regular substitute for Neal Boortz, WSB’s syndicated host from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.

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By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog

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96 comments Add your comment

Bookinweasel

January 5th, 2011
1:45 pm

Dave Ramsey from midnight-3am…I guess it’s for insomniac’s …cuz Ramsey will put anyone to sleep with his program….

Air Wave

January 5th, 2011
1:58 pm

Put more government haters on at all hours, complaining about paying taxes, Nancy Pelosi and helping people! That draws the ratings and makes more money!!

MariofromLawrenceville

January 5th, 2011
2:02 pm

I really disliked Michael Savage. I think he was full of hot air. I don’t like the nasal sounding Sean Hannity either. But I love Neal Boortz, Herman Cain, and Clark Howard. But most of all, I love Dave Ramsey. So glad that he’s riding the wave of being able to be listened to over a larger radio audience. Maybe he can replace Sean Hannity in the afternoons.

GhostofNeilRogers

January 5th, 2011
2:07 pm

Savage is a mentsch! Get tid of that schvants Hannity and replace him with me (re-
Rogers). Remember…it’s just a radio show.

war eagle

January 5th, 2011
2:07 pm

People- The KIMMER has RETIRED. You CANNOT bring back a RETIRED person. What ever Happened to ESPN/PREMIER Radio that had Scott Ferrall/Tom Renshaw and the other sports show hosts. Jim ROME is the way to go.

war eagle

January 5th, 2011
2:10 pm

Dave Ramsey is best served by going to 104 the Fish.
I’d rather listen to Dr. Dimento or Weird Al than Dave Ramsey.

G5

January 5th, 2011
2:15 pm

The only thing WSB has going for it is Clark Howard and unfortunately I can’t listen to him at work. The rest of the programs are a Hot Air Hate Machines. I don’t count Dave Ramsey in that because who listens to the radio at midnight anyway.

Jeff

January 5th, 2011
3:27 pm

Seriously? Midnight-3:00 am?

snottrocket

January 5th, 2011
3:35 pm

will anyone really miss Savage’s piss-n-vinger filled form of verbal masturbation? I think not. Well, maybe the “gay mafia” will, but then again, so will the Easter Bunny.

Sgt Schultz

January 5th, 2011
3:47 pm

Wait a minute! 5 to 6 years ago, people were griping that WGST should dump Kimmer, which that moron Randall Bloomquist did. WGST added a syndicated show and people complained that afternoon drive should be local. WGST adds a local show and dumps the syndicated show, and now some of you are grousing that the syndicated show is gone. Make up your mind or General Burkhalter will send you to the Russian front and that is not a very nice place.

sherilu

January 5th, 2011
4:43 pm

Maybe y’all should jump over to WABE and listen to beautiful music so you can maintain your sanity.

Producer

January 5th, 2011
6:54 pm

I sure hope Savage lands at another ATL station. The guy has the guts to present unvarnished ideas, that more often than not, are dead on. I saw Erickson on CSPAN talking about his book and he was about as entertaining as a bag of hammers. Not alot of “there” there to keep and hold an audience I’m afraid.

jojo

January 5th, 2011
7:03 pm

I guess one good thing came out of this is at least some more orignal content at night on WBS other then re-runs. They could have done better then some Macon Georgia blogger or a Dr. Gene Scott version of Clark Howard, gotta love Atlanta radio

Stevein

January 5th, 2011
7:49 pm

I don’t know what you people are talking about, Ramsey is boring and bad.
Rusty Humphreys on WGST has been excellent! He had “The Kimmer” on as his first guest and was fun and gracious to him. He’s been fun and entertaining on every show and is doing local talk (Nathan Deal & Saxby Chambliss in the first few days). You people are either deaf, dumb or just bitter. Savage is great, he’ll be back on in ATL soon, no doubt. Erick Erickson, not too sure about that. The best move to put people to sleep is to put Ramsey on. Rusty Humphreys is a big shot of energy and class to Atlanta and ‘GST.

Alfredo

January 5th, 2011
7:56 pm

I’ ve heard that WSB is negotiating Tom Houck’s come back.
Please, get rid of the 95.5 thing, it’s very annoying, enough is enough. It reminds me and bothers me as much as “the new River” (97.1 fm). “New” is not new anymore, they’ve been announcing that for years. It’s time to stop it.

tvBoy

January 5th, 2011
8:57 pm

ok y’all calm down. clearly, wsb wouldn’t have wasted acquiring dave ramsey were they to put him permanently in the middle of the night. one of these days something will change, someone will retire. WSB simply is preparing to inject dave ramsey somewhere in a future line-up whenever there’s an opening. meanwhile, he’ll languish overnights until such time he’s called up to prime-time. dang, y’all are a nervous lot, i’m tellin’ you

mirandalambert2012

January 5th, 2011
10:56 pm

Well maybe I’ll listen th Erickson. I’ve only seen him a few times on CNN and how can I say this. He has a face for radio. Savage was entertaining but sometimes a bit nutty. As for Dave Ramsey after midnight I geuss I might flip between him and ESPN Radio after midnight. It might be a nice show for those on the graveyard shift to listen to.

mirandalambert2012

January 5th, 2011
10:58 pm

I love the 95.5 thing. I cant get WSB AM on my little radio at work downtown so the FM signal comes in. Its fun to listen to Boortz berate the dumb Obamatron types.

Mike Bell

January 5th, 2011
11:28 pm

But there’s only one place for my side-splittingly funny slant on the days sports developments and that is 790 the Zone.

Art Stone

January 6th, 2011
6:51 am

Some answers:

1) Remember that WSB recently added an FM simulcast – the ratings went upwards signfiicantly
2) Why put Ramsey on at Midnight-3am? That’s pretty easy to answer – by having him on WSB when nobody listens, Ramsey can’t be on another station in Atlanta when people would listen.
3) Phil Hendrie won’t be on a station in Atlanta at a reasonable hour unless his synidcator (Talk Radio Network) changes his hours. His show is live 10 PM-1AM Pacific time (1-4 AM Eastern). The only way for an East Coast station to carry his show earlier would be to replay the show from the prior night. WKBN in Youngstown Ohio streams the show from Noon-3PM Eastern, because they aren’t allowed to stream Rush Limbaugh which is what they carry “over the air”. Or you could subscribe to and pay for his podcast on demand service. Phil Hendrie’s magic only works if the program is live and not in the middle of the day.

Bennie Da' Bookie

January 6th, 2011
9:12 am

Art Stone is correct that WSB only picked up Ramsey to prevent WCFO, WAFS or another station from having him on live in Atlanta and going against Clark Howard. And remember, it cost them nothing to pick up his show.

So now WGST has 6 hours of live and local during the day plus 2 hours of Art Merlino on the weekend. It’s a start, but they still need to do the following:
1. A local host ready to step in when Glenn Beck finally implodes.
2. Some decent weekend programming such as the weekend gang over at WGKA (Henssler, Memmolo, Adams, Bob & Rodman, and others)
3. The long awaited return to FM.
4. The elimination of the snake oil, ponzi schemes and colon blow paid programming on weekends.

Kleen Kolon

January 6th, 2011
10:34 am

But Bennie, my colon has been clean as a whistle since WGST opened my eyes!

daniel johnson

January 6th, 2011
12:13 pm

Boortz probably had something to with Savage since he obviously didnt like him when Royal got bumped. With WSB programming mostly on the conservative side why in the hell dont they get rid of CNN as their news outlet. Go with Fox radio. Swipe that from WGST as well. Its a sad day with Michael Savage being taken off.

jasatl

January 6th, 2011
3:25 pm

How does having Dave Ramsey on from midnight to 3AM reach a broader audience? Everyone’s asleep. Put Dave on at 9PM – Midnight. Huge mistake on both parts… not a win-win at all. I will miss Dave.

jasatl

January 6th, 2011
3:30 pm

I agree with Bennie Da’ Bookie… WSB knew that if Dave went up against Clark Howard they would loose in that battle. Sorry WSB… you’ve already lost… now instead of listening to Dave on WGST from 3-6… I’ll just listen to him via him live via the internet during Clarks show 2-5.

PJ

January 6th, 2011
4:59 pm

It is tragic that WGST took the only reasonable show left and dumped it. They should have kept Ramsey. It was the only thing I would listen to there and would suffer through the aweful Art Maring. So long, WGST.

YingYang

January 6th, 2011
8:54 pm

i gave rusty humphries a listen today, and i actually enjoyed it. the discussion with the guy from ‘washington times’ was great and very informative. i think clear channel’s gonna use this guy in syndication based out of atlanta. that’s a good idea

James

January 6th, 2011
9:50 pm

Who cares? If you listen to Dave Ramsey or Clark Howard and need their advice to function , then it means you lack common sense. It’s ABC type stuff. It’s not rocket science.

Jazzy Jeff

January 7th, 2011
8:15 am

Michael Savage was the Best listen! Truth sometimes hurts, but people need to listen to him. I hope he gets picked up in Atlanta at a station with a strong signal. I listened nightly. The big dog makes Boortz look like a pup!

TheLazyComic

January 7th, 2011
4:19 pm

WSB has their heads up their butts so far, I can’t even describe it. I’ve done video rants about them on YouTube. Savage was the ONLY thing on WSB worth listening to. When they moved Savage from his old time slot of 7 – 10……… and moved him to 10 – 1 AM, I knew then they were trying to get rid of his show and he was on borrowed time with them. I had a problem with the time change immediately, because Atlanta callers could not participate on calling in, since the show was delayed. But I love the Savage Nation, so I tuned in later. Now, I won’t tune in at all. Oh, if you want to check out my WSB video rant, here’s the link. Just copy and paste it in your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ6bO3Nr3Mc

Patriot1776

January 8th, 2011
8:12 pm

This new twit has half the brain Michael Savage had. I had been enjoying The Savage nation near every night. Now i just change the station. I dont want to hear somone treating adults like children because there too stupid to realize ten thousand dollars in cc debt will screw up your finances. No kidding really….. Savage delt with real issues not this mumbo jumbo, two thumbs down on this switch. Your new guys a tool

Sluggo

January 9th, 2011
5:04 pm

Savage was the only thing worth listening to on 750. Throughout the day it’ the same ole tired blather with the current hosts. The traffic reports are good but I’d rather listen to the CBS news on 1160 or 1690.

Eric

January 9th, 2011
5:36 pm

Can WSB please take Herman Cain off the air!!! He’s got to be the single most annoying person on the radio. Not too thrilled about the addition of Erickson, either.

Jr.

January 10th, 2011
3:17 pm

Obumma! WSB. Want Savage Back!

GaPeach

January 10th, 2011
10:42 pm

I really enjoy Dave Ramsey…Thank goodness I can listen to him on the internet. I’ll just have endure those horrifying SafeEyes, EZMEALS, Zander Insurance Commercials….sh*t. Even my kids can recite them.

Peter A

January 11th, 2011
12:48 am

Bad move. Savage provided great entertainment. Listened to the new guy tonite. I’m sorry, but if this guy can garner a larger audience than Savage i’d be really surprised. I like the idea of Phil Hendrie, what a hoot. Until then off to 920AM. Please keep Boortz

DancesWithWolves

January 11th, 2011
10:42 am

Savage gone? Wow, that’s rad. I’m ready to give the new guy a listen but I got totally sick of Ramsay and his self righteous financial poop when I lived in Nashville. Oh well, I’m about out by midnite anyway. Thanks for the link, Daryl!

joan

January 11th, 2011
12:20 pm

Savage got me away from the T.V. and onto the radio. A real down to earth guy, very entertaining,very unique individual, who is irriplacable. Well at least I’ll be getting to sleep earlier now.Thankyou Micheal for all that you gave us and may the Force be with you!

joan

January 11th, 2011
12:29 pm

Micheal was the only one I would stay up for at nite. Someone should replace the WSB program director… how bout Pee Wee Herman???

JJM

January 11th, 2011
2:53 pm

I don’t sleep well .. so Savage and going back and forth to Tom Sullivan with ear buds fit my bill. Ramsey is obviously very financially successful .. but have to be honest.. I tire quickly of the “debt free” shouts and the callers.. “Hi Dave, we have just retired and want to know where is the best place to put our million and a half annual retirement dollars?” UGH.. kinda out of touch with me .. just a commoner with a few credit cards, a mortgage and buying things anyplace but where Clark Howard shops.. Hey, maybe I am jealous .. So it goes. J

Bill Byous

January 11th, 2011
3:14 pm

You guy’s have blew it. Guess some people just can’t handle the truth. Mr. Micheal Savage is just too much for some of these fragile minded liberals to listen too. I will not listen to 750 am or 95.5 fm anymore. It was my thing to do every night at 10:00 pm. Pxxx on the radio station as I will listen to him online from my laptop. With all this being said, wish I could really tell ya how I feel, GO FIGURE !!!

sarah

January 11th, 2011
8:12 pm

Please…, ya gotta put Dave Ramsey on earlier in the evening. There are a lot of financial souls in need of help right now!!! He is the best host, and VERY entertaining for families to listen to as well.

SavageNation

January 12th, 2011
10:34 am

Haha, cancel TOP 5 talk show host for an unknown. Just proves some programming directors of commercial radio stations are in the biz for their own political agendas and not to be commercially successful. These idealogs should apply for the newly opened NPR director position.

quanah01

January 12th, 2011
11:49 am

In my humble opinion, both WSB and WGST have made serious mistakes in their new programming. Golly, given that changes were going to be made, why didn’t one of them go get Kimmer?

SoSoTired

January 12th, 2011
2:09 pm

Even the comments here are censored by the Republicans. Watch how long this one stays posted.

Johnzo

January 13th, 2011
3:14 pm

Dave Ramsey is the Dr. Laura of financial talk radio.

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