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| Vicki Locke |
As WSB-FM B98.5-FM morning show host Vikki Locke clicked-off the
microphone for the last time this morning after a 28-year run on Atlanta ’s airwaves, she’s left behind a radio industry
much different than the one she entered as an Ohio State University
During her nearly 20-year reign at WSTR Star 94 with partner
Steve McCoy, you could invite a superstar listener like Elton John, who lived
down the street from the station, on air for an extended chat and to spin his
favorite songs. In 2013, morning show talent is advised to keep the chatter to
under two minutes, edit your interviews in advance and spin Train’s “Hey, Soul
Sister” ad nauseam.
Locke last week reflected for Atlanta Magazine on the
industry she departs from today.
“Radio isn’t the same as when I started in the 1980s,” she says, “In 2013, radio is a cookie-cutter, numbers game. It’s all about how much money you can make. It’s really not about the content anymore. Personalities don’t matter anymore. It’s cheaper now to run a syndicated morning show, which wasn’t the case when I was a kid. It was all-local, all personality driven. The whole landscape has changed so drastically. The young people getting into the business now don’t have that perspective and I’m sure it will be fine for them. But for me, I remember working in radio when it was great. When I couldn’t wait for that alarm to go off at 3 a.m. I don’t feel that way anymore.”
Earlier this month, Locke made the difficult decision to
exit her job at B98.5 in order to spend more time in Ohio with her 80-year-old dad who has
recently been diagnosed with colon cancer. Says Locke: “When you find out your
dad has cancer and your boss says, ‘You can’t take time off for six months
because we’re in a ratings period,’ your priorities become very clear. I
realized I didn’t want to do this anymore.”
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