Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 01, 2008 at 20:00:34:
'Morning Fix' bounced from WKQX
Another day, another morning radio shakeup.
Alan Cox and Jim Lynam's "The Morning Fix" has been bounced from Emmis Communication's WKQX-FM's 101.1, with afternoon hosts Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle set to take over in morning drive, effective Aug. 11, the station said today.
Weekend host Alex Quigley will fill in on mornings next week.
Just days earlier, CBS Radio's all-news WBBM-AM 780 lost morning co-anchor Pat Cassidy to WLS-AM 890, where he is in line for a talk show, with John Hultman set as interim co-host with Felicia Middlebrooks. CBS' WSCR-AM 670 replaced Mike North in mornings with the Chicago Sun-Times' Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley a few weeks before that.
WKQX Program Director Marc Young plans to hire a new afternoon personality for a new program, heavy on Alternative Rock music.
Cox and Lynam were the only survivors last November when WKQX ditched its original "Morning Fix," a bold but flawed 14-month experiment with ensemble comedy in morning drive after the 2006 ouster of Erich "Mancow" Muller. In the last eight months, the "Fix" was more focused on music with Cox as host and Lynam handling headlines, sports and traffic.
Tingle, who was part of the original "Morning Fix" team, moved to afternoons in spring 2007 to team with Sherman in afternoons.
"Sherman and Tingle … have grown their show tremendously in the past year, resulting in a great response from our listeners to their highly entertaining content between the songs," Tisa LaSorte, director of brand and operations for Emmis Chicago stations WKQX-FM and WLUP-FM 97.9, said in a memo announcing the move.
"We believe their show can attract a higher level of listening for us in the mornings, and look forward to having them prove us right," LaSorte wrote. "This move is a strong step towards greater success for Q101.1, as we deliver on our promise to be 'Chicago's Alternative.'"
(Rosenthal)