Ace + TJ – Ace + Riggins

• A surprising radio development broke out of Charlotte late last week, as it was announced that the three-decade-long partnership of Ace & TJ had come to an abrupt ending, as David “Ace” Cannon exited the syndicated show.

That news was delivered in a terse social media post that read: “The new TJ & Riggins Show begins Monday, September 23. Expect much of the same content and products with some new additions to be announced soon. Ace is no longer associated with the show.”

The “Riggins” in question is Brian “Riggins” Weber, who joined the show alongside Ace and Richie “TJ” Beams as an intern in 2009 and for the past eight years has taken on more significant role on the show, including that of VP of Programming for The Ace & TJ Network.

The duo’s longtime manager, Adam Goodman, was unable to reveal any details about Cannon’s exit, telling the Charlotte Observer, “We have an agreement with Ace that’s basically a nondisclosure agreement,” adding, “we want to try at least to relay that … he is still our friend.” Goodman continued, “We are heartbroken over the loss of a tremendous radio performer. (Our) hope for Ace is that somewhere down all of this is a great other side for him. There’s nothing positive we wouldn’t hope for for him. This is a person we love.”

Cannon and Beams had been an on-air team since 1993, when the Louisiana natives were paired up for the first time on Top 40 KQID/Alexandria, LA. The show has been based in Charlotte since 1998, starting at WNKS (Kiss 95.1), then crossing the street to iHeartMedia rival WHQC in 2012; then back to Beasley’s WNKS in 2022 before migrating across the hall to afternoons on AC sister WKQC (K104.7) in May of this year.

When describing the newly rebranded show to the Observer, Goodman said, simply, “We’re doing the exact same show (starting) Monday. It’s just called something different… and Ace isn’t there.”