Wow, never saw that coming but not surprised given the state of declining local radio. Before Citadel got swallowed whole by Cumulus which ran their predecessor's stations in the ground, Citadel managed not to give their mainstream urban outlets syndicated radio - and most were located in the mid-size to small markets. (Another example of a local AM Drive still in effect outside Cumulus is Inner City-owned WJMI in Jackson, a small market.)
Big Boy was carried on WWWZ, KKND, KRRQ and WEMX due to the contract with Citadel, but he flopped outside Los Angeles and Citadel simply returned these stations to the AM Drive to the locals afterwards unlike Cumulus before the merge. How Big Boy is still on the air in Shreveport (KMJJ) is still a mystery to me.
In the case of WEMX, the local AM Drive was kept and Big Boy was on tape delay until midday, so Latengela Sherman was simply swapped from the AM drive to middays when Rickey Smiley came thru. In Charleston, Rickey Smiley was first carried on WWWZ's defunct competitor 92.5 The Box (calls?). In the case of NOLA, the CC heritage urbans (WQUE/WYLD) both carry grown folks radio, so that leaves KMEZ as the only local AM drive.
Not sure if KRRQ in Lafayette will keep running local or go Smiley soon.
