Radio news: 107.9 is ‘The Link’ no longer. And ‘Matt & Ramona’ is moving to a new time.
WLNK-FM has a brand-new nickname as of Friday.
Out: “107.9 The Link.” In: “Mix 107.9.”
Radio One has announced that the first official broadcast in a new era for the Charlotte station begins at 3 p.m. Friday. The new format will be anchored by “Matt & Ramona in the Morning” (6-10 a.m.), followed by Drew Parham (10 a.m.-3 p.m.), Madison James (3-7 p.m.), and Holly Haze (7 p.m.-midnight).
The most high-profile of those shows is Matt Harris and Ramona Holloway’s — the duo has co-hosted an afternoon drive-time show on WLNK in Charlotte for the past 20 years. But starting Monday morning, they’ll be in the spot long held by the “Bob & Sheri” show, which aired for the last time on the station Friday morning.
“We asked the Charlotte listeners what they wanted from a radio station, and Mix 107.9 is a direct result of what those listeners told us,” said Marsha Landess, regional vice president at Radio One, in a press release announcing the changes. “We’re excited to bring engaging and entertaining on-air talent combined with the best upbeat mix of music from the ’90s, 2000s and today to the airwaves of Charlotte.”
Radio One acquired WLNK in a multi-station swap with the previous owner, Entercom, last November, picking up two other Charlotte stations from Entercom as part of the deal: Sports 610/102.5 WFNZ and News/Talk 1110 WBT/99.3 WBT-FM.
Since the acquisition was announced, there have been multiple shake-ups involving the station’s top shows.
In December, Todd Haller was let go from his longtime position as programming director and executive producer of the “Bob & Sheri” morning show. Though co-hosts Bob Lacey and Sheri Lynch have owned their nationally syndicated show since 2017, when they broke from “The Link,” Haller was retained as an employee of the station after the show went independent.
Earlier this month, Brent Harlan (perhaps best-known as radio handles “Bandy” and “Bandy Boo”) was let go from his job as producer and “third wheel” to Harris and Holloway.
And then, just recently, “Bob & Sheri” co-host Sheri Lynch told the Observer that their syndicated show was being dropped by “The Link” after 29 years, dating back to when WLNK was WBT-FM “Sunny 107.9.”
Friday, in fact, was Lacey and Lynch’s last day on the air at “The Link,” the only affiliate out of the 70 they work with that is dropping the duo. Lynch has said they are actively looking at other options for “Bob & Sheri” to return in the Charlotte market.
“As people head back to work and our lives return to some normalization, now is the perfect time to launch Mix 107.9,” said Terry Foxx, brand manager for WLNK, in Friday’s press release. “People will relate to the music, and we’ve put together some of the best talent in the industry. We will be live and local in Charlotte every day.”
It’s unclear how much music will play a role in the format of the new morning show, but it could be significant.
According to Radio One’s press release, “each weekday, the station will host three 24 song sweeps throughout the day.”
Harris and Holloway met working in radio in Columbus, Ohio, and teamed up for a show on a Virginia Beach, Va., station before coming to WLNK in Charlotte in 2001. They took the station’s 3 to 7 p.m. shift, quickly became No. 1 in its target demographic — women aged 25 to 54 — and was offered for national syndication in 2004.
Their popular drive-time program was named “Best Radio Show” by the voters in Charlotte Magazine’s annual Best of the Best (BOB) Awards several times over the years.
According to Friday’s press release, Radio One — which uses the the name Urban One interchangeably — is the nation’s largest diversified media company that primarily targets Black Americans and urban consumers.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 1:45 PM.
