Armstrong Resigns from WFAT

Cites Format Change, Lack of Support

April 21, 2000

(Kalamazoo, Michigan) -- WFAT morning show host Ace Armstrong resigned following his airshift this morning. He had been the morning host on WFAT since January. No replacement has been named; Armstrong will return to part-time status at the station next weekend.

Armstrong cited the station's change of format to a mainstream AC format as the main reason for his departure. "The new format is incompatible with the kind of radio that I do," he said. "I do an upbeat, fun show with lots of telephones and contests. With a sleepy AC format in place, I can't do that."

He also said the station had not given the show the support he had been promised. "One of my main conditions upon accepting the job was that I would have a co-host; this co-host never materialized," he said. "I was also told that I would be given equipment that would allow me to conference calls and have a cleaner telephone interface; this also never happened. In both cases, I was told these situations were to be temporary. It turned out that neither was. In fact, instead of finding myself with a permanent co-host, I found my temporary co-host being taken away. Then, yesterday, I was issued an edict that the station would have no callers aired, no music beds used, and no street visibility in any daypart, including mornings. The entire station (including mornings) was to sound like 'an extended midday show.' And, as you may have guessed, I was told that this would be 'temporary.'"

Armstrong stopped working full-time at the station over a year ago when he decided to pursue other interests. He said it took the offer of mornings to bring him back to radio full-time. "Now I don't know what I'll do," he said. "On a personal level, this is absolutely devastating to me. It has been my dream for a long time to do mornings, and I finally had it. We were finally starting to make an impact on the market, and even though it had a ways to go, the show was finally starting to sound like I wanted it to sound. Now to have it all snatched away from me at the last minute . . . it's just incredibly painful."

Armstrong performed his last airshift using the name "Allen Smithee." Smithee is the name the Director's Guild of America allows its members to use when they no longer wish to be associated with a film that the studio has butchered.

Armstrong is currently seeking another full-time or part-time radio position, and can be reached through email.