Atlanta media departures: Kristen Gates, Audrey Washington, Lil Bankhead

Kristen Gates

Kristen Gates, 52, recently announced on social media that she has left 94.9/The Bull after 18 years at the country station. She was the longest-running on-air employee at the Bull.

She did not provide an explanation.

Gates is an Atlanta radio veteran. She began her local radio career at Kicks 101.5 working with the now late Cadillac Jack in mornings. She moved to rival the Bull in 2008, co-hosting mornings, first with Jason Pullman, then with Spencer Graves.

In 2022, she moved to afternoons when iHeart briefly created a new morning show featuring Brian Moote, Jeremy “Otis” Maher and Kimmie Caruba. (That show was dumped in 2024 in favor of “The Bobby Bones Show,” a syndicated program out of Nashville, Tennessee.)

Gates survived a rare form of stomach cancer and a brain tumor, which was removed in 2019.

The Bull’s ratings in the afternoon slot in March (2.8 share) ranked in a tie for 9th with news/talk 90.1/WABE-FM in the Atlanta market, according to Nielsen ratings. (Those ratings do come with an asterisk: Radio stations 99X, New Country 100.5, OG 97.9 and Q99.7 are not included because their parent company Cumulus is not paying for the Nielsen service and has sued Nielsen.)

Audrey Washington

Audrey Washington has left WSB-TV after 11 years as a reporter and fill-in anchor.

“I am so proud of my stories I’ve had the privilege to tell and the incredible places I’ve gotten to see over the years at Channel 2,” she said. “Thank you for allowing this New York girl (with a bit of a Long Island accent) into your homes.”

In a recent social media post, Washington didn’t say what her next move is just yet. “Stay tuned,” she wrote. “Until then, please continue to keep me in your prayers. My dear WSB viewers and the great City of Atlanta, you will always be in my heart.”

Washington started at TV stations in Greenville, North Carolina, and Rhode Island before moving to an NBC affiliate in Connecticut, where she covered the Sandy Hook school shooting and the Boston Marathon bombings.

In 2022, she received the “Best Reporter” award from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, then a Southeast Emmy for “Best Reporter Live.”

Lil Bankhead

Lil Bankhead recently lost his evening hosting job at V-103, which he cited on Instagram as a budget cut.

“Yeah, stop assuming the negative things,” he wrote. “They only did a budget cut. I’m good y’all.”

An Atlanta native, he has been in radio for more than 25 years. He began as a promotions coordinator at Radio One, then production assistant at Cox Radio. He became an on-air talent at Streetz 94.5 in 2013 before moving to V-103 in 2022.

He lost his job despite being No. 1 in his time slot in the March Nielsen rating.