Toledo Radio: Talker Denny Schaffer New AM Host On Star 105

Denny Schaffer

Denny Schaffer, a longtime Ohio radio personality who left Toledo nearly a decade ago for a broadcasting job in Atlanta, is returning to northwest Ohio airwaves.

Starting today,  Schaffer will host a new, four-hour morning talk show on Cumulus Media’s HotAC WWWM 105.5 FM Star 105, along with former sidekicks Tricia Courtney Tischler and Suzie Moser (“Suzie the Board Op”), who were part of The Breakfast Club with Mr. Schaffer on Clear Channel’s WVKS 92.5 FM in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Schaffer is replacing Mike Shannon on the Hot AC station, a format between Top 40 and adult contemporary.

WWWM 105.5 FM (4.3Kw) 60dBu Coverage

While Shannon offered listeners a mix of music and talk during the morning commute, The Breakfast Show will be all talk, according to The Toledo Blade.

Schaffer stirred up controversy and a lawsuit for statements he broadcast 15 years ago on WVKS about a purported relationship between Blade staff writer Sandra Svoboda and John Robinson Block, the newspaper’s publisher and editor-in-chief. The station settled out of court with a financial settlement to Ms. Svoboda.

But Mr. Schaffer has since married, is now the father of two teenagers, and is a born-again Christian. On his Web site, for example, he lists “God, church, family” as his top three interests, and ends his emails with a citation to John 3:30 — “He must increase, but I must decrease.” His new Toledo show will reflect those life changes.

Schaffer left his morning talk show on WRNO-FM 99.5 in New Orleans after his three-year contract with the station expired last month, opting not to sign another agreement. It was a decision encouraged by his wife, he said, who wanted to return to her Ohio roots.

Previously, he was a radio fixture in Atlanta, hosting shows on WGKA 920 AM and WGST 640 AM.

Except During AM Drive

Andy Stuart, Regional Vice President & Market Manager for Cumulus Toledo said: “Denny is a magnificent talent. His ability to engage an audience is rare and we are all looking forward to working with him on the new Star 105. Our desire to bring him back to Toledo is further evidence of the commitment Cumulus Media has to attracting great talent to our company.”

Schaffer said: "To come home to work with Andy Stuart again and for a company like Cumulus is a blessing! Cumulus gets that talent drives the medium and I'm ready to shake up morning drive once again!"