Atlanta Radio: WYAY Rebrands As Talk 106.7

Cumulus Media's WYAY has rebranded as the new Talk 106.7.

The station recently dropped its remaining all-news program, a morning show led by Rob Stadler, and is seeking a permanent talk-show host in that slot.

Shannon Burke

According to Rodney Ho at ajc.com, the station has effectively dropped any pretense to be a news station and at the same time wants to sound hipper, younger, more assertive than its news/talk rivals.

“We’re branding it as a talk station and pounding that home,” said Sean Shannon, market manager for Cumulus Atlanta. “It’s an attitude with board operations and productions and sales staff and marketing people. It’s an attitude in the building we have to have in order to go and do great radio.”

Kim Peterson

The 106.7 signal has gone through multiple lives. For many years, it was country, then went oldies in 2008. In 2012, Cumulus revamped it as All News 106.7 but the effort never caught fire. In 2014, it became NewsRadio 106.7. But that name became a misnomer as news programming was gradually stripped away.

“The whole concept is personality-driven radio,” said the new program director Tom Lee, who has been in sports and news talk radio for 25 years in different markets including Los Angeles and Dallas. “People can get news anywhere. They can’t get Shannon or the Kimmer. Our goal is to have four morning shows one after another.”

The station’s overall ratings are modest but it carries strong ratings from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. courtesy of hosts Shannon Burke and Kim “The Kimmer” Peterson.

The station in 2017 finished with its strongest ratings in its history in its news/talk incarnation, averaging a 1.725 rating with a 1.9 rating among 25 to 54 year olds. The first full year of Burke/Kimmer combo pulled in an average of 4.47 rating among 25 to 54 year olds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., far better than previous years in that mid-day time frame.