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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
4/30: Update on the Steve & Vikki lawsuit, Kelly’s status, Regular Guys back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The owners of Star 94 were livid when they found out B98.5 was airing TV ads with Steve & Vikki promoting the morning show’s arrival at the station July 1. So Star filed a lawsuit and requested a temporary restraining order to stop B98.5, saying the former Star morning team didn’t comply with a noncompete clause in their employment contract.
A judge at the Superior Court of Fulton County Tuesday rejected the temporary restraining order and Star 94’s owners, Lincoln Financial, will no longer pursue the lawsuit. The TV ads have continued to air since the lawsuit was filed earlier this month. For B98.5, the ads are a good way to reach former S&V fans and spread awareness of the impending change.
“We are disappointed that the judge ruled on a technicality, a loophole, and not the intent of the agreement with Steve & Vikki,” Kanov said. “Steve & Vikki did not honor what they previously agreed to.” Kanov had chosen not to renew Steve & Vikki’s contracts last year, deciding to go for a younger-skewing show in the Morning Mess.
The S&V employment contract, with its noncompete, includes wording from 1991, Kanov said. Future Star 94 employment contracts will certainly fix the language to ensure this never happens again, he said.
Meanwhile, Kelly Stevens, part of the “lame duck” Kelly & Alpha morning team on B98.5, has been off air for awhile. I checked in with the boss Paul Ciliano and he said Kelly has some personal issues to deal with but should be back early next week.
The pair, who have been on the air for the past decade on B98.5, have never been given much of a chance to be genuine “personalities.” It’s all about getting in and out quickly and play more music. But alas, despite good ratings, they were dumped in favor of Steve & Vikki, who will be given far more room to breathe in terms of gab since they became very successful personalities and brand names at Star 94.
(And in response to Sad Sack, posting below, true, I hadn’t noticed Stevens’ absence because I don’t listen to B98.5 in the morning and nobody had informed me about it until I saw your radio-info posting yesterday.)
-On Tuesday, the Regular Guys were in “best of” mode during the middle of the spring book: Larry Wachs was ill with the flu, according to Gary Lewis, the market manager. And in “all for one, one for all” fashion, they decided if Larry’s sick, Eric and Southside get the day off. Not a bad deal!
They were back today so all is well in Regular Guys land.
Gary was bemused that folks wondered if they did something Monday that led to a suspension or something worse. But that was not the case. Given their past record of firings, this isn’t just paranoia.
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