A shakeup at an Atlanta radio station leaves former Toledo radio talk-show host Denny Schaffer without a job beginning today.

Schaffer has been host since October, 2005, of the 8 a.m. to noon show on WGST-AM, where he tied for 25th in his time slot during his first full ratings period.

In Toledo at WSPD-AM, he was No. 2.

Results of the most recent Arbitron survey are set for release today. The radio hosts learned their fate yesterday.

"It was part of a complete overhaul of a station that has struggled for a long time," said Randall Bloomquist, WGST program director. "Looking at the situation, radio is like any other business. It's about attracting customers and generating revenue."

Schaffer did not respond last night to an e-mail request for an interview.

Also losing their jobs are two veteran Atlanta radio hosts, Bloomquist said: morning host Tom Hughes, who has had a show for 25 years, and afternoon host Kim Peterson, who has had a show for 15 years.

WGST is owned by Clear Channel Communications, as are Schaffer's former Toledo outposts, WSPD-AM and WVKS-FM.

The station will replace the trio with syndicated programming: Wall Street Journal This Morning; Mike McConnell of WLW-AM in Cincinnati (his show is available to any Clear Channel station, Bloomquist said); and The Dave Ramsey Show.

While WGST has struggled overall, Schaffer "put up a valiant one-year battle against one of the most talented and successful talk show hosts in the country," Bloomquist said, referring to Neal Boortz of WSB-AM.

"This is his briar patch. Neal knows this town street by street, almost person by person," Bloomquist said. "It would have been difficult for anybody to get traction against such formidable competition."

Schaffer last month organized a protest in front of Atlanta-based CNN because the cable network showed sniper videos of U.S. troops being fired on. Comments on a Web site that mentioned the protest referred to the host as "Dummy" Schaffer.

Bloomquist said that Schaffer had to "get up to speed on a lot of issues quickly." He added that "Denny is first and foremost an entertainer. Where his passion and talents lie are in entertaining people, less than in debating the issues of the day.

"I don't know if he was ever completely comfortable having to get into really grinding ideological battles," Bloomquist said. "I think he will bounce back and be a very successful radio personality for years to come. This was probably just a bad fit."

Schaffer has two years remaining on his contract, Bloomquist said. He declined to give further details.

The overhaul at the station is unrelated to news last week that Clear Channel agreed to be acquired for more than $18 billion by an investment group.

"WGST was and still is a struggling radio station," Bloomquist said. "I've been there for a little over a year, and since long before I got there, we've been looking for the right mix to get it right. The cutting is a part of the process of fixing."

Contact Mark Zaborney at:

mzaborney@theblade.com

or 419-724-6182.

First Published November 22, 2006, 3:30 p.m.