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Published on Thursday, 30 August 2012 17:00
Last night, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment flipped Atlanta's WKLS-FM from an Active Rock format to to a new Top 40 format, branded as "Power 96.1." This afternoon, Clear Channel announced the man who will be in charge of turning this new station into a winner: Chicago's WKSC-FM/103.5 Kiss FM Program Director Rick Vaughn. Effective immediately, Vaughn exits Chicago's Top 40 station to take over Atlanta's new station and one other.
In addition to taking over as Program Director of WKLS-FM, Vaughn will now also oversee programming at Atlanta sister-stations, Rhythmic CHR simulcast WWVA-FM/WWLG-FM (aka "Wild 105.7 & 96.7").
In a statement this afternoon, Operations Manager Brian Michel said: "I am thrilled to start a new era in Atlanta radio for Clear Channel Media + Entertainment. We are putting our unmatched leverage, creativity, and resources into creating not just a great cluster of stations, but one that consistently wins. To be able to do that, we are assembling the best team to carry out the mission here. I am proud to have Rick Vaughn -- one of the most respected programmers in the country and a true Top 40 specialist -- take the reigns as PD for both the new Power 96.1 and our Rhythmic Top 40 product, Wild 105.7 & 96.7. I look forward to building great brands with Rick and making Clear Channel/Atlanta even better."
Rick Vaughn came to Chicago's WKSC-FM in August 2008, taking over as Program Director from Rick Gillette. Under Vaughn's leadership, the station has weathered the loss of an extremely popular
morning show personality soon after his arrival and come up from shrinking ratings to become a local radio powerhouse. For the past two ratings periods, 103.5 Kiss FM has been at the top of the ratings, coming in at #2 in both the all ages ratings and the 25-54 demographic in the
June period. In the
July period, WKSC-FM came in at #2 in the all ages demographic, but became #1 in the 25-54 demographic. More importantly, the station has been #1 in its target demographic of Persons 18-34, most recently with a whopping 9.0 share.
In addition to Chicago, Rick Vaughn has been a programmer with Clear Channel at stations in Philadelphia, Hartford, and San Diego.
There is no Program Director replacement named yet for WKSC-FM. A nationwide search for a replacement began today.
