The station whose motto is Its About the Music, FM 94/9, has canceled the talk-show anchoring its mornings, "The Mikey Show."
The station's promotions director, Adam Martinez, said he could not talk about personnel issues but did say, "Mikey is no longer on the air."
Martinez added that the station is still formulating ideas to fill the slot, which, until last year, ran from 5:30 to 10 a.m., but was then rolled back to 5:30 to 9 a.m. this year.
The move comes about two years after the station, owned by Lincoln Financial Media, started airing the show, which was hosted by Mike Esparza and featured a host of other on-air personalities.
San Diego blogger Rosemary Bystrak of sdDialedin.com was one of the first to break the news.
"One of the most divisive moves in recent radio history was FM 94/9's acquisition of The Mikey Show," Bystrak posted on her site. "Instead of rehashing the controversial move by the station, I'll just report that The Mikey Show is no more. Mike Esparza's contract was through January 2013, so it will be interesting to find out why his contract was cut short."
On Thursday, Garett Michaels, the stations's program director, was in the DJ booth at 94/9, playing music.
By Martinez's own admission, the show was polarizing to the station's fans, a drama that continues to play out on the station's Facebook page and elsewhere on Thursday.
"So I'm sitting on the 805, where I normally listen to the Mikey show on 94.9 and he is NO LONGER EMPLOYED THERE!...," Gina Hardesty Ventimiglia posted on Facebook. "I even called the station and spoke to Garrett and he confirmed it!... I hate these changes, and I really loved Mikey!"
Courtney Duncan, however, was on the other side of the Facebook debate: "Absolutely loving the MUSIC this morning instead of the 'talk show.' Make it permanent please!"
Martinez said Michaels would be filling the slot for the foreseeable future.
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