2013 flashback: Vikki Locke, Kelly Stevens leave B98.5 mornings

ajc.com

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

This was posted June 12, 2013 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

Pop station B98.5 is seeking a new morning show with the pending departure of Vikki Locke and Kelly Stevens.

The final show will air June 21 for Locke with Stevens going solo until June 28.

Locke, according to a press release, plans to spend more time with an ailing father in Ohio and start her own media training/consulting/PR company. In a Facebook posting, she said she is working with local public relations veteran Meg Reggie and former WSB-TV "Hot Topics" host Kimberley Kennedy under the name LRK.

“I thank Atlanta for making a Buckeye feel like a Southerner for the last 25 years,” Locke said in the press release. “After years of waking up at 3 a.m., I’m excited about starting this new chapter.”

She later told Atlanta magazine: "I don't want to do this anymore."

Locke has been with B98.5 the past five years after a 19-year stint with Star 94. She was paired with Steve McCoy as a highly successful duo most of that time until 2010, when B98.5 replaced McCoy with Stevens.

This is Stevens' second stint with B98.5. Stevens was part of a long-time morning team on B98.5 with Alpha Trivette.

A nationwide search for a new morning show begins immediately, said Chris Eagan, the program director. Eagan said he wants a show that appeals to women in their 30s and 40s "that blends well with the contemporary pop music we play."

A part-time fill in will cover the morning show until the replacement is found, hopefully within 30 to 45 days, he said.

Stevens, who was severely injured last year in a wrong-way car accident but survived, couldn't be reached for comment.

The station is ranked No. 4 in the market, tops among pop stations and No. 1 during mid-days. The Vikki and Kelly morning show in May Arbitrons ranked seventh overall.

B98.5 (WSB Radio) is operated by Cox Media Group, which includes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution