April 14: WQNR is rebranded as 99.9 Kate FM with a variety hits format.
April 22: Drew Lane leaves his morning radio show Drew and Mike.
April 23: Steve Shannon leaves the nationally syndicated Steve and DC Morning Show to take a job at WERC in Birmingham. The show continues with D.C. Chymes as host, under the title of "D.C. and the Family."
May 15: WYSP/Philadelphia morning host Kidd Chris and PD John Cook are fired by CBS Radio after learning that a parody song that was performed live on Chris' show, "Schwoogies" by Lady Gash, contained racial slurs and content.[17]
June 16: WGPR in Detroit changes to full urban AC, dropping smooth jazz (which they would sprinkle alongside urban AC) for several years rebranded The New 107.5 WGPR.
July 25: CTVglobemedia announces a deal to sell 1331 Yonge Street, the longtime home of its Toronto radio stations CHUM and CHUM-FM, to a residential developer. The stations, along with the building's neon sign—which is considered a landmark piece of Toronto's cultural heritage—will move to new studios at 250 Richmond Street West in downtown Toronto, near the 299 Queen Street West home of most of CTVglobemedia's cable television channels, in early 2009.[36]
August 1: CBS Radio announces that it will put 50 radio stations in mid-size markets up for sale.[40][41]
August 20: KJOC in Davenport, Iowa, switches from talk to an oldies format, getting most of its programming from ABC Radio Networks' "True Oldies Channel." The sports lineup continues to feature Chicago-area and Iowa State University sports.[42]
August 29: CHAM in Hamilton, Ontario, drops its classic country format and begins stunting with Christmas music, nominally becoming the first station in North America to switch to the format in 2008, before changing to talk radio on September 2.
October 10: WMVN, the former MOViN station in St. Louis, Missouri, drops its format and becomes the first commercial station to change to Christmas music for the entire holiday season, before planning to change to sports radio on January 1, 2009.[43][44] When considering only non-stunting stations, WRIT-FM in Milwaukee became the first non-stunting commercial station in the United States to change formats, on October 31.
November 12: Sirius XM makes massive changes in its lineup on its Sirius and XM channels by eliminating or merging several duplicating formats.[47][48]
November 18: A.C. Nielsen announced that they will enter the radio ratings business, putting them in direct competition with Arbitron.[49]
Brantley and The Babe. April 11. The Fabulous Sports Babe marks her return to full-time radio after a seven-year hiatus, joining Scot Brantley on a daily afternoon talk show on WHBO.
May 12: KXJM/Portland, Oregon, drops rhythmic contemporary for a sports talk format as "95.5 The Game." The KXJM calls, rhythmic format and its popular morning show The Playhouse are picked up by CBS Radio outlet KVMX, which becomes "JAMMiN' 107.5" the same day. KVMX in turn becomes the first station to drop the rhythmic AC "MOViN'" format.
August 12: Bonneville International flips Oldies KBSG/Tacoma/Seattle to all news.
August 18: GSN Radio launches as an Internet only program, later to launch in syndication.
Todd Pettengill's Saturday Night at the 80s. March 1. The ABC Radio program is quietly canceled due to network financial problems.
Sally Jessy Raphael on Talknet. July 7. The program, hosted by former television talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael, was cancelled without notice.
Mike and the Mad Dog. August 15. Host Chris "Mad Dog" Russo abruptly left the show and its flagship station WFAN on that day; Russo and Mike Francesa had hosted the show together since 1989. Russo leaves to found Mad Dog Radio, a satellite radio channel, shortly thereafter.
The Bob Grant Show. November. Grant's evening show is bumped to make room for Curtis Sliwa's national syndication effort; Grant will continue fill-in work on the station until his contract expires, with the station's midmorning slot (where Sliwa was previously located) still a possibility.
Interep National Radio Sales. March 31, Declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy. November 25, declares chapter 7 bankruptcy. The agency, which represents radio stations in the United States, goes bankrupt and some of its assets are sold to Katz Media in court the same day.
The Larry Elder Show. December 12. Elder's contract was not renewed; he had been on KABC in Los Angeles since 1994.
All Night with Danny Wright. December 29. Wright and five other people are laid off as a result of Dial Global's takeover of Jones Radio, bringing an end to Wright's overnight country music show.
Deaths
January 6 - Bob Lemond, 95, American radio and television announcer.[56]
February 7 - Eugene "Rock" Brown, Philanthropist, DJ and Account Executive at WCKX/Columbus, Ohio (gunshot during a misunderstanding at a local bar innocent bystander) Beloved by many
February 12 - Bill Currie, Radio and TV sportscaster (Sports anchor at KDKA-TV; voice of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball; nicknamed "Mouth of the South")
February 13 - Jess Cain, morning host at WHDH-AM (at 850; now WEEI) /Boston from 1958 to 1991
September 12 - George Putnam, 94, at the time of his death the oldest nationally syndicated talk radio host in the United States. Putnam was hosting Talk Back on CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks and KCAA.
September 23 - Ron Allen, 71, long running disc jockey and sports commentator for WARM in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
↑ Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN978-0-7864-3848-8.
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