Atlanta Radio: PD Ron Roberts OUT At Entercom's WSTR

Ron Roberts

Ron Roberts, the program director for Entercom's HotAC WSTR Star 94.1, lost his job Tuesday.

Rodney Ho at ajc.com reports the move comes just six weeks after he removed Jeff Dauler as morning host and revamped the show with Jenn Hobby as the lead.

Roberts joined the station last August and quickly instituted changes to the morning show, including dumping Dauler’s prank call segment.

He also adjusted the music, salting in a few hip-hop gold cuts like “Low,” “OMG” and “Just a Dream” that didn’t get much airplay on the station when the songs were new.

But the big moves came last month soon after morning show Kelly Cheese left with no explanation. Roberts dropped Dauler but kept  Hobby and show producer Jeannine Riley. He added Mark Owens, formerly of WZGC 92.9/The Game, and a friend of his from Myrtle Beach  Stone, an interior designer.

He also removed afternoon host Mike Marino while mid-day host Heather Branch left on her own. Amanda Kelly is now mid-days and  Kannon is afternoons.

But the transition did not go as smoothly as expected. Reaction was so negative on the show’s Facebook page, management took the page down for a time.

When asked on air the first day after Dauler was let go to say something nice about him, all Roberts could come up with is that Dauler took him out to lunch when Roberts first arrived from Myrtle Beach, S.C. where he had his last radio job.

Dauler was not allowed to talk publicly about his firing, based on his severance package, but his wife Callie said during an emotional Instagram Story spilled some tea. While he knew things weren’t going well, he didn’t expect to lose his job midway through his contract, she said.

The station’s ratings have not budged much in recent months and remains in fourth place in most demos among the four pop stations behind B98.5, Q100 and Power 96.1.