Posted by Bud on August 14, 2009 at 13:13:48:
From Tom Taylor's daily Radio-Info newsletter:
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Will "Premium Choice" find a voicetrack morning talent for Chicago's "Lite"?
That was the speculation from the Los Angeles Board at Radio-Info.com, and it even comes with the name of major-market veteran Valentine. That's because Melissa Forman is out again at WLIT-FM (93.9), says Lewis Lazare in the Chicago Sun-Times. The daypart ratings in the sometimes-cruel PPM world haven't been kind to Melissa, and the cheapest, fastest way to replace her is to use Clear Channel's "Premium Choice" list of approved (out-of-market) talent. That's where the rumor about L.A.-based Valentine comes from. But it could be somebody else, and (who knows?) market manager Earl Jones might even hire a live-and-local morning personality. Melissa had pretty much owned the shift for years, until Clear Channel needed to find a Chicago home for the Whoopi Goldberg syndication. That was in Summer 2006 and it lasted until Fall 2007, when Melissa triumphantly came back -- and wound up appearing even more hours, thanks to a voice-tracked PM drive shift stacked on top of mornings. Then earlier this year, the PPM was introduced to Chicago. Forman's contract is up October 1 and she's now off the air -- with the Sun-Times saying Clear Channel will have an announcement "early next week."