By the late 2000s, WMOT was one of only a handful of U.S. public radio stations employing a jazz format full-time, without filling much of the broadcast day with news and other genres.

This loss of revenue, along with appropriations cuts by the state of Tennessee, prompted MTSU officials to consider discontinuing the station in early 2009.

Along with the reorganization, WMOT decided to make radical scheduling changes, notably discontinuing its exclusively jazz format in order to appeal to a wider audience in the Nashville market.

[citation needed] In October 2009, WMOT added news and talk programming to the morning and afternoon "drive time" slots between 5 and 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. from the BBC and Public Radio International.

The program's co-creator John Walker praised the partnership, stating that "We've always dreamed there would be a radio station that would fully embrace the Roots, Americana music going on all over the country, but centered right here in Middle Tennessee."