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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
6/14: Steve Harvey talks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Harvey said he’s psyched to join the Atlanta airwaves Monday at 102.5, which is now a hybrid R&B music/talk station.
Harvey, best known for his standup comedy and his long-running sitcom, is now a syndicated morning host on more than 20 radio stations nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Detroit. He launched syndication just this past October.
“It’s absolutely the funniest morning show on the planet,” Harvey told me. “I’ve done the math on this. It’s not bragging. It’s just common sense. I’m a professional stnadup. That’s what I do. No other morning show [syndicated, at least] has a professional standup that’s been doing it the way I’ve been doing it.”
He also said the radio show allows him to reveal multiple facets of himself, including his inspirational side. Also unlike TV, “I have more control.”
At the same time, he won’t trash talk his rival Tom Joyner, heard locally on Kiss 104.1, which has a much stronger signal than 102.5. “I respect him,” Harvey said. “ I enjoy him. We’re friends. That’s all.”
Harvey will replace Silas “SiMan” Alexander, the morning host for 102.5 since 2002. SiMan will do evenings from 7 p.m. to midnight.
A gracious SiMan said he’s appreciative that 102.5 is keeping him on as the local voice and face of the station, even if it means a much lower-profile time slot. “It’s a good move for the station,” SiMan said. “Steve has star power. And he’s funny.”
Once exclusively an R&B music station, 102.5 has gone through a transformation the past year with the additions of all-talk Michael Eric Dyson and Al Sharpton from 10 to 3 p.m. and relationships guru Michael Baisden from 3 to 7 p.m. Both Baisden and Harvey blend R&B music with entertainment. Harvey said he plays three or four songs an hour, focusing mostly on new stuff. “I want to keep R&B alive,” he said, even though he is an espoused lover of “old school.”
The station’s new slogan: “Grown folks radio, the new 102.5.”
Insiders will be amused that Harvey used to work with Radio One in Los Angeles on their station the Beat. They had a dispute over syndication. (Harvey says Radio One was resistant.) So he left. Now in Atlanta at least he’s back working with Radio One. Harvey was kind about Cathy Hughes, the Radio One founder. Smart not to burn bridges.
