Atlanta Radio: McCoy More Entertainer Than Journalist

Steve McCoy

Long-time Atlanta radio host Steve McCoy has been fired.

The longtime media personality lost his job at NewsRadio  WYAY 106.7 FM after passing an old interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as new.

WXIA-TV11 reports Radio industry insiders Friday said McCoy, who was more entertainer than journalist, made a major mistake.

The interview was fake, but the consequences for McCoy were real. Friday morning, WYAY general manager Sean Shannon emailed a statement to 11Alive News saying in part, “For obvious reasons, McCoy no longer works at the station.”

Tom Sullivan

“Steve McCoy brought his DJ and entertainer background into a news situation,” said talk radio consultant Randall Bloomquist.

“He didn’t use good judgment,” said radio and television host Tom Sullivan.

Sullivan has known McCoy for years, and has recently hosted podcasts with him. Sullivan also knows what else McCoy has been battling.

“Steve is kind of dealing with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease,” he said. “This is something that we’ve known about for awhile, and he’s come out with it today.”

Friends of McCoy hope his Atlanta reputation extends beyond this job-costing offense.

WYAY Program director Greg Tantum released this statement Friday morning:

“For obvious reasons Steve McCoy no longer works at the station.  Cheryl White, Drew Nelson and Randy Wyles will continue to provide Atlanta with a high energy news product that accentuates breaking news as well as in depth coverage on the top stories.”

Atlanta-based Cumulus Media hired McCoy in March. He had been a long-time morning host on pop stations in Atlanta, a Georgia Radio Hall of Fame inductee, but he hadn’t been on air in the city for five years.

WYAY has been struggling to build ratings since it debuted in May, 2012 first as a full-time news station. It has since become a hybrid, with a mix of news and talk with a few infomercials thrown in on weekends. It remains far behind WSB 750 AM / 95.5 FM and non-com WABE 90.1 FM in listenership, according to media writer Rodney Ho at ajc.com.