From Thursday morning's

Graham Hicks
Hicks on Six column in the Edmonton Sun:


TOUGHER THAN IT LOOKS

In the perplexing department.

Management at Capital FM have yet to decide on a permanent morning show host.

The Capital FM website makes no mention of on-air personnel.

But some guy in the letters to the editor yesterday was giving me the gears for not praising current Capital FM morning hosts Jason Roberts and Kari Skelton.

Let you in on a little secret.

Morning show announcers don't get there overnight. They pay their dues. They become well established, either in another city or in another time slot in the same city.

The morning show is the flagship of any radio station. The quality of the morning show greatly affects listenership. A difference in ratings can mean millions in lost or extra ad revenue.

Capital FM is looking for a "name" announcer, somebody who their target audience may have grown up with.

That's why "name" morning hosts make the big bucks, while most other on-air personnel are wage slaves.

Which relative wrote that letter?

THIS 'N' THAT

* Congrats to CHED's Eileen Bell, who took a two-month sabbatical to go complete her BA in communications at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. "I started it," says Eileen, "in 1977." Straight A's too!

http://www.edmonontonsun.com

Don't you think that they would have launched with their "name" morning show? The music will drive this format but it sure would be nice to hear announcers in other dayparts.

It can't be easy for the current morning show hosts to have read this type of material.  I give much respect to them for having to go through that.  Why that's even worse then reading something written about you on message board  

Quoted from YIKES

Don't you think that they would have launched with their "name" morning show?

Don't forget they announced/launched the sound six days after Corus made known they were flipping CHQT. And with a 4.9 share on half a book, apparently who needs announcers, name or otherwise.

Quoted from ahmed

It can't be easy for the current morning show hosts to have read this type of material.

If you can't stand the heat ... get out of broadcasting (or, at the least, Newcap).

come on people. Give the poor guy a break. Jason's a great guy who I'm sure doesn't like the kind of things everyone is writing about his career, here or anywhere else. How would you feel if you read the paper or some forum full of negative people speculating on who's going to replace YOU. He deserves credit for what he's acheived, and I hope they find a place for him somewhere so he doesn't become just another statistic.

Call me naive but do you really need a "big-name" morning show anymore?  Really all you need is solid music and some solid announcers.  If you have that combination then listeners will grow to love you.  The thing companies don't have is patience.  If they had some of it instead of turfing a morning show after a year or two, they would see a better listenership.  I wish Jason and Kari all the best.  Hopefully they do stick around.  Maybe Newcap will show some patience this time.

Quoted from Old Unreliable

Call me naive but do you really need a "big-name" morning show anymore?

If you're going to charge a premium for advertising in the show, it had better be worth it.

Quoted from Glen Quagmire

If you're going to charge a premium for advertising in the show, it had better be worth it.

I the eyes of an advertiser the only thing that makes it worth it is the numbers. I hope they give the current team a chance. They sound like they give a shit and are trying. Can't say the same for many other shows in town like the one across the hall.

From Hicks on Six Today
Sunday July 20, 2008



Audie Lynds signed off Joe-FM's morning show Friday and left the building, never to return.

As covered in this column, the new Capital FM was looking for a well-known jock. After 30 years with CHED, Power 92 and Joe, Audie is their man.

Will Capital sign a co-anchor? Don't expect an official announcement for a while.

Audie is a perfect fit for Capital FM. They'll probably give Jason the Drive spot.

Jason and Kari had decent numbers for their first book...why not give Audie the Drive spot, he's the one looking for work supposedly.

Just FYI Graham... nobody except you cares about the 12+ numbers... management and clients are concerned about their key demos.  You cannot sum up the radio scene in a couple of paragraphs, you need to break the numbers down.

Audie was not looking for work.  Audie was offered a job good enough to pull him away from JOE.  Don't make Audie sound like he was the one asking.

I think Audie will be missed on Joe FM - cant say I will move stations with him for love the music on Joe