The following events occurred in radio in 2009.
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Events January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City. January 17: Two well known and critically acclaimed Alternative outlets, KDLD/Los Angeles, California and WHTG-FM/Eatontown, New Jersey, flip formats; KDLD to Regional Mexican (but its "Indie 103.1" format continues on the internet), WHTG to Top 40 Mainstream. January 20: Clear Channel Communications lays off 1,850 employees, including some of the companies' well known DJs and programmers. January 20: In a move related to Clear Channel's layoffs, Premiere-operated Fox Sports Radio merges programming with Los Angeles' KLAC, resulting in the dismissal of FSR personalities Andrew Siciliano, Crystal Fernandez, Craig Shemon, James Washington, Ben Maller and Karen Kay, and KLAC host Mychal Thompson. KLAC's program director Don Martin assumes like duties for FSR, replacing Andrew Ashwood, who died several months earlier. The Dan Patrick Show is also offered to FSR affiliates for the 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST slot, as KLAC aired it beforehand, and Premiere was managing syndication. The Petros and Money Show is syndicated on FSR from KLAC's studios, while incumbent FSR afternoon host Chris Myers is paired with the remaining two-thirds of KLAC's afternoon show, Steve Hartman and Vic "The Brick" Jacobs. February 2: Mark Levin's show expands from two to three hours. February 2: Tom Kent joins ABC Radio. February 10: Muzak Holdings files for Chapter 11. February 10: In the wake of Chris Brown's arrest on felony and assault charges by physically assaulting fellow singer Rihanna (whom he was also dating), several radio stations, including the syndicated American Top 40, announced that they will temporarily stop airing Brown's songs. February 17: KMVK/Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas drops Rhythmic Adult Contemporary for Spanish Hot AC. They also join KXJM/Portland, Oregon and WMVN/St. Louis in dropping the MOViN format. This flip from MOViN' would be followed the next day by WMUV/Jacksonville, who flipped to Classic Country. February 20: In the first of three moves affecting late night television on NBC, Conan O'Brien hosted his final episode of Late Night after 15 years, 5 months, 1 week, 1 day & 2,725 episodes, with Jimmy Fallon taking over with his version of the show beginning March 2. In turn, O'Brien will take over The Tonight Show beginning on June 1, immediately after Jay Leno hosts his final show after 17 years & 5 days on May 29. To complete the shift, on September 14, Leno will debut The Jay Leno Show. As of February 20, Leno's Tonight and O'Brien's Late Night were airing radio highlights on Westwood One. Both shows, with their new hosts, continue to air highlights on the network. February 20: Pioneering Talk FM outlet KLSX/Los Angeles flips to a younger targeted, Rhythmic Pop-flavored Top 40 format as "97.1 AMP Radio." All of the stations' airstaff, including Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis were terminated. The AMP Radio format, which was heard on the HD2 subcarrier of KCBS-FM, will compete against the already established Mainstream KIIS-FM and Rhythmic KPWR for listeners. March 1: Thom Hartmann is scheduled to move from his current syndicator, Air America Media, to Dial Global. March 1: KPTY/Houston, Texas drops Rhythmic contemporary and returns to its former Regional Mexican format. This move comes on February 27, just two days after parent owner Univision announced that they were eliminating 6% of their employees at their properties; the stations' airstaff, with the exception of the PD, would be among those being pink-slipped. March 2: Another "MOViN" station switches directions as KYMV/Salt Lake City flips to Top 40/Mainstream but keeps the moniker intact. March 9: WXRK in New York City drops its "K-Rock" format for contemporary hit radio "92.3 NOW FM;" though the format change was not expected until March 11; morning hosts Opie and Anthony of The Opie and Anthony Show were dropped, and furthermore CBS Radio discontinued their terrestrial syndication. Their satellite radio show will continue unaffected. March 17: After spending 3 decades with the CBC, 30 of them at CBC Radio One and as host of the networks' "World Report" since 1993, host Judy Maddren announces her retirement. March 28: Dick Bartley leaves ABC Radio and joins United Stations Radio Networks the next week. April 1: Hot AC KFRH/Las Vegas becomes the second station this year to adopt the Top 40 "Now" approach. April 2: Citadel Broadcasting announces that it has renamed ABC Radio Networks Citadel Media. The Walt Disney Company will continue to retain its ownership of ABC Radio programming however. April 15: KMVN/Los Angeles will become the latest "MOViN'" outlet to exit the format, as Emmis leases the station to Groupo Radio Centro, who plan to broadcast a Spanish music direction on the signal. April 27: Active Rock outlet WXMM/Norfolk, Virginia brings Top 40 back to the Hampton Roads-Tidewater area. April 28: Clear Channel announces another round of job cuts, 590 total. May 11: The Randi Rhodes Show is scheduled to return to radio through Premiere Radio Networks, airing on flagship WJNO as well as several Clear Channel owned progressive-talk outlets on the West Coast. May 15: Sheridan Broadcasting sells WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR/Pittsburgh to St. Joseph Missions for $8.9 million. All three stations will flip to religious programming after the sale closes, leaving Pittsburgh without any type of Urban or R&B outlet. May 18: KKSF/San Francisco drops Broadcast Architecture's satellite feed of Smooth AC for Classic Hits as "103.7 The Band." May 18: Tony Kornheiser steps down from his co-color commentator position on ESPN's Monday Night Football, citing his fear of flying & clearing the way for him to relaunch his radio show, The Tony Kornheiser Show. Several stations are in negotiations to bring Kornheiser to their stations. May 21: A day of surprise format flips as Alternative outlets KWOD/Sacramento, WMFS/Memphis, and WSWD/Cincinnati all exit the format for 90's hits (KWOD), ESPN Radio (WMFS), and Country (WSWD), respectively, while WNUA/Chicago drops Smooth AC for Spanish Contemporary. May 27: Microsoft announces that HD Radio features will be added to its Zune products, beginning in the Fall. This will mark the first time that a portable device will include radio stations with HD subchannel capability. June 1: KZMP/Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas is relaunched as an ESPN Deportes Radio affiliate. Program simulcasted on KNIT. June 5: Toronto, Ontario once again has a full-signal Top 40 outlet as CJAQ drops Jack FM and returns to its former format and its "Kiss FM" moniker, just one day past the sixth anniversary of its 2003 flip from "Kiss" to "Jack". The move now leaves Canada's largest radio market without an adult hits outlet, though portions of the market are served by Jack-branded WBUF in Buffalo, New York. June 20: The "AMP" Top 40 format crosses the border to Canada, as Alternative outlet CFUL/Calgary, Alberta becomes the first non-U.S. convert. July 13: A pair of outlets with longtime formats make surprise flips. WWQM/Madison, Wisconsin drops Country for Oldies, but after five days returns to Country; KDZA-FM/Colorado Springs, Colorado drops Classic Hits for Active rock, patterned after sister station KBPI/Denver. July 13: Best Buy becomes the first retail outlet in the United States to sell portable HD radio devices, as it offers the Insignia HD Radio Portable Player to customers. July 14: CBS Radio announces that it will bring Sports Talk FM to Washington, D.C. and Boston respectively, with WJFK-FM dropping their Talk format on July 20 and WBMX moving over to 104.1 so it can launch WBZ-FM at 98.5 on August 12. The latter flip also ends a 41-year run for WBCN, who will move over to WBZ-FM's HD2 subcarrier and adds to yet another casualty for the Alternative format. The loss of hot talk on WJFK also marks the end of the hot talk format on CBS stations, a process that had been in the works since 2006. July 14: In a 3-way deal, The New York Times-owned WQXR, Univision's WCAA and WNYC/New York City make an unusual swap/sale. Univision will move WCAA to 96.3 and pay The Times $33.5 million while WNYC gets the WQXR calls and Classical format from NYT and pay Univision $11.5 million for WCAA's 105.9 signal, which will serve as the new home for WQXR. July 20: American General Media doubled the Rhythmic contemporary content in Albuquerque, New Mexico by flipping Country KAGM to "Power 106" adopting a Hip-Hop lean. The company also owns similar formatted and Pop-leaning KDLW in the same market (KDLW would evolve to Top 40/CHR as "OMG! Radio" in August). AGM also brings Top 40 Mainstream back to Bakersfield, California as it flips KKXX from Adult Hits to "Hot Hits 93.1", joining Rhythmic sister station KISV. July 20: Satellite radio and HD Radio sharing a dubious honor with their inclusion in CNET.com's list of "The decade's 25 biggest tech flops." Satellite radio ranks 7th, HD radio 14th July 30: WNFN/Nashville drops Sports Talk for Top 40/CHR as "i106." This brings the number of Top 40s in the Country Music Capitol to 3, joining Mainstream rival WRVW and Mainstream-turned-Rhythmic rival WPRT-FM. July 31: KTNI-FM/Denver became the latest Alternative outlet to bail out of the format, first by stunting as "101.5 The Pole" playing "Stripper Music." But after a week in the format it unveiled its real format, talk radio as "101.5 The Truth," on August 7. August 6: College Creek Media filed a request with the FCC to take Sports KUUS, Top 40 KZUS, and Rock KEAU/Great Falls, Montana silent. All three stations debuted in December 2008 but economic difficulties became a factor in its decision. August 7: Laura Schlessinger announces she is jumping from Premiere Radio Networks to Talk Radio Network. August 7: Grand Rapids, Michigan became the latest radio market to lose an Alternative outlet when WMAX-FM flipped to Sports, bringing the number to 2 Sports FM outlets in the market, joining WBBL-FM, who flipped in May. August 7: CFLT-FM officially launches as "Lite 92.9" (at 92.9 FM) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The station was previously classic country CFDR AM 780 which moved to 92.9 FM. August 8: CBS Radio sells its Portland, Oregon radio stations to newcomer Alpha Broadcasting. August 8: KHTE-FM/Little Rock drops its Rhythmic-leaning Urban format for Top 40/Mainstream but two weeks later shifted to Adult Top 40. August 10: Buffalo, New York gets an oldies/classic hits station again as WHTT-FM reverts to the format after 2½ years as a hot adult contemporary station. August 11: Mega Media, the owners of Dance outlet WNYZ-LP/New York City, files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. August 17: After spending nearly a year with a conservative Urban Contemporary/Talk approach featuring syndicated shows, KDAY/Los Angeles relaunches its Old School Hip-Hop format. The move also ends the use of "The Beat" moniker that they inherited from the former KKBT in 2008 after nearly 20 years in Los Angeles when it was first used at KKBT's former home at 92.3 in 1989. August 19: WSJT at 94.1 and WLLD at 98.7, both Tampa, Florida, will swap frequencies. WSJT will move to 98.7 while WLLD will take the 94.1 signal. August 25: CIGM-FM officially launched a CHR/Top 40 hit radio station as "Hot 93.5" at 12:00 Noon EDT, bringing back Top 40 music to Sudbury, Ontario. The station previously stunted a "Kung Pao 93.5" Chinese music format (similar to WVHT in Virginia) which was launched on August 20 after CIGM-FM began testing their new 100,000 watt FM signal on-air for the first time on August 17, 2009 at 93.5 FM with some classic rock music. August 26: WJZW/Washington, D.C. drops Oldies for Classic rock and adopts the moniker "The Edge."