The program signed on on July 31, 2006 on flagship station
WKTU, launching into syndication two weeks later.
Wake Up with Whoopi aired from 5 am - 9 am local time (live on the East Coast) in several markets. At its peak, the program was heard on four of the top six major markets (New York's
WKTU, Chicago's
WLIT, San Francisco's
KKSF and Philadelphia's
WISX) and approximately twenty affiliates overall such as
WAMO in Pittsburgh. However, affiliates began dropping the program in the summer of 2007. Flagship station WKTU dropped the program in November 2007; the show moved its production from the WKTU studios to sister station
WWPR-FM, although that station did not carry the program. The program was produced by longtime WKTU morning show producer
Michael Opelka until he left the show and the company, ending nearly 10 years of his affiliation with the station. Opelka left to join
Opie and Anthony; he was replaced by a team of Matt Bosso, Lisa Jackson, and Glenn Baker.
Cubby Bryant, who had been Goldberg's co-host, left the show in January 2008, staying on WKTU's morning drive. The show's cancellation had been anticipated for months, and the last live broadcast was March 27, 2008.
Wake Up with Whoopi's final broadcast on March 28, 2008 was a taped performance from the previous year, with a final sign-off by Whoopi, explaining her thoughts on the show's cancellation. When the show was cancelled, only
Denver,
Las Vegas,
Raleigh,
Utica and
Muskegon were carrying the show; all but one of the stations are owned by
Clear Channel Communications (Utica's WUMX was owned by Clear Channel but the company sold WUMX to
Galaxy Communications, who kept the show until its cancellation). ==References==