On February 7, 1979, the station, under the direction of Jim Ward, station manager, and Robert H. Ruark, veteran talk show host and newly-appointed program manager, pulled the plug on its unsuccessful run as a Top 40 outlet and changed formats to full-time news and talk, making it one of the first stations in the Southern U.S. to adopt that format. The new schedule, (as reported in "The Nashville Tennessean" newspaper's "Sunday Showcase") included news coverage weekdays from 6 to 9:30 am, Noon to 1 pm, and 4:30 to 7 pm, when the regular nighttime "ethnic music" programming began. The mid-morning and mid-afternoon talk show programming featured debate-type discussions with local or national figures via telephone and listeners calling in to ask questions or join in the discussions. Weekends followed the same basic format, and on Saturday mornings, a guest host was featured. Roger Frazier and J. Paul Robinson debuted the new programming as featured newscasters and talk show hosts.