The Mikey Show:

SAN DIEGO — Former Rock 105.3 morning man Mikey Esparza has found a new radio home. Beginning Jan. 25, "The Mikey Show" will air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on alternative rock station FM 94.9. He will be replacing the music-heavy morning show hosted by Mike Hansen and Tommy Hough, both of whom are staying with the station.

Esparza left Rock 105.3 in December after failing to reach a contract agreement with Clear Channel Communications, which owns the station. His "Mikey Show" sidekicks — Sky, Boston Rob, Eddie and Ashlee — stayed with Rock 105.3, so Esparza's new show will also feature a new crew.

"He's looking for interesting, real and engaging people," program director Garett Michaels said. "And it's going to be local."

The resurrection of the popular "Mikey Show" will come as good news to fans of Esparza's straight-talking show, but it could come as a shock to listeners who saw FM 94.9's music-filled mornings as an oasis in a sea of talk. But Michaels says that while the station's slogan has always been, "It's about the music," talk-free mornings weren't bringing in the ratings.

"I have been the morning guy for 3½ of seven years, and I have learned that being about the music is a spectacular approach after 10 a.m. But if being about the music was going to work in the mornings, it would have worked by now."

But if mornings are going to sound different at FM 94.9, Michaels reassures listeners that the station hasn't changed.

"There are no plans to adjust what we do on the radio station after 10 a.m. If I had the money to put up a billboard, it would say, 'Mikey in the mornings, music all day and night.'"

Courtesy Lincoln Financial Media

Mikey Esparza's "Mikey Show"
will resurface on 94.9FM on Jan. 25.