Cleveland Radio: WDOK-FM To Revamp Morning Show

Trapper Jack Elliot, a fixture in Cleveland radio for a quarter-century, and one of his morning show partners at soft-rock WDOK 102.1 FM, Jim McIntyre, are out of work and off the air.

Trapper Jack (cleveland.com photo)

"Ironically, we found out on Nov. 15, exactly the 17th anniversary of when Jim and I began working together,'' Elliot told Chuck Yarborough at The Plain Dealer.

"We decided to go in a different direction with the morning show,'' said WDOK Program Director Dave Popovich of opting against renewing the pair's contracts, which expire on Dec. 31. "I'm the one who brought Trapper to Cleveland 25 years ago. I have nothing but admiration for the man as an individual and as a professional. Same with Jim McIntyre.''

Popovich said  personality Jen Toohey will remain with the station and the show. He called the decision to make the move a way of "revamping'' the morning show, not a shift in format.

The latest numbers from Arbitron put WDOK fifth in the market, with a 6.7 share, behind WMJI/FM-105.7, WTAM/AM-1100, WZAK/FM-93.1 and WENZ/FM-107.9.

Both McIntyre, 55, and Elliot, 60, have six-month noncompete clauses in their contracts, which will keep them off the air locally at least until June.

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