the station finally pulled the plug on its unsuccessful run as a top 40 outlet and changed formats to news and talk in 1980, making it one of the first stations in the southern u.s. to adopt that format exclusively. it continues to fill that niche of programming, and in 1986, wlac pioneered the now-burgeoning format of sports talk in middle tennessee, when it began a two-hour-long afternoon drive-time sports talk show hosted by record company executive and sports fan rick baumgartner, along with former wsmv-tv sportscaster charlie mcalexander. also, former wsm, wsmv and wkrn-tv personality teddy bart launched his critically acclaimed "roundtable" interview program on wlac's morning schedule in 1985. the show, which featured newsmakers in tennessee politics, later moved to several other nashville stations before discontinuing production in 2005.