Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > August > 28
Thursday, August 28, 2008
8/28: Hot 107.9 dropping the A Team, possibly replaced by Rickey Smiley
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I just heard that Hot 107.9 today got rid of the morning show, the A Team, consisting of Rashan Ali, Griff, Beyonce, Akini and Emperor Searcy. (From two sources, I hear Rashan will do mid-days and Searcy will go back to late afternoons, but I’m not sure what happens to Beyonce and Akini. Griff’s publicist confirmed that he is out.)
UPDATE: The Web site was updated in the evening to show Beyonce still having a shift on the weekends. That bodes well for her. And Mizz Shyneka and Durrty Boyz seem fine for now. But no sign of E4Real. Temporarily, it appears Rashan and Searcy will do the mornings without Griff for now.
Here’s Griff’s official statement: “The last 3 years and 6 months at Radio One have been a life changing experience. I thank my spiritual Father for the friends that I’ve met and worked with because I’ve learned so much and have grown as a person here in Atlanta. I’m excited about my future, I have a strong team of people helping to take me to new heights, and I will continue to make people laugh all over Atlanta at events and comedy clubs, while serving the community through my foundation, Positive Vibes. When I got home today, I read a book that said: ‘On this day the will of God is done in my life.’ That was all the closure I needed.”
Hot is expected to replace them with a syndicated show led by Rickey Smiley, the comic who was just in town at the Civic Center on Saturday. Ironically, I interviewed him a few days back and joked with him about entering the Atlanta market. At the time, he said he felt he had enough of a following to take on Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner here. He didn’t betray any sense he knew this was coming but maybe he did.
Smiley is in 20 markets including Dallas and Miami with a big push earlier this year. And if you like prank calls on the Morning Mess, just wait til Smiley comes in. He loves them!
Maria More, the mid-day host for six months, said she was let go but couldn’t comment further. The person who answered the phone at Hot 107.9 said he couldn’t talk about it either. I left a message with the Hot boss Bruce Demps, who was in a meeting. I also haven’t reached Steve Hegwood, the operations manager. I left voicemail messages with Rashan, Griff, Akini and Searcy but no answers back.
The station, ratings wise, seems to be doing fine, finishing regularly top 3 among 18 to 34 year olds. But revenues in radio (as well as other media) have been dropping sharply this year and perhaps Radio One, the station owners, is looking to cut budget. It doesn’t hurt that Radio One’s syndication arm just happens to own the Rickey Smiley show. That fact alone actually has fueled rumors over the past year that the A Team would be replaced but given the A team’s performance and its local bent, nobody quite believed Radio One would pull the trigger.
Hot doesn’t beat V-103 but has been a solid No. 2 or 3 among younger listeners. It managed to survive the loss of Ryan Cameron in late 2004 although the A Team, while solid, has never achieved his best ratings.
Ultimately, syndication is almost always cheaper than a local show. And Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner have proved that the African-American audience is willing to take a national show. (The rock crowd has been tougher. Witness the local demise of Bob & Tom, the Greaseman and the like.)
Permalink | Comments (400) | Post your comment |
8/28: How did Atlanta’s Kazual stack up on “America’s Got Talent”?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta quartet Kazual performed tonight with nine other groups on TV’s biggest summer show ‘America’s Got Talent.” We hadn’t seen much of them so far so they had to kill it. And up to this point, I’ve only heard them a capella and they sound great together.
But I didn’t quite “feel it” tonight when they sang “Can You Feel It.” The foursome looked and danced like pros. The problem: the solo vocals didn’t stand out. Another problem: nobody was ID’ed as the lead singer. Only one of the four (EJay) really carried the charisma and vocals to be the lead. The other solos were weak, one getting swallowed up by the backing tracks. Again, when the four of them sang together, Kazual sounded solid. That may not be good enough for them to survive into the next round. We’ll learn their fate on Tuesday.
Piers Morgan echoed my sentiments exactly, as did Sharon Osborne. “You were nervous,” said David Hasselhoff. “But you pulled it together in the end… I hope America gives you a second chance.” David said to make EJay the lead. True that!
I enjoyed quite a few of the acts including the finale singers both nights. Neal E. Boyd, the insurance salesman, did a solid job on “Somewhere” and *Queen Emily&* did a solid job with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” But my problem is both songs are so cliched an dtired. I wasn’t nearly as wowed by either of them. And honestly, I think LaKisha Jones was better than Queen Emily but she has a great back story. So does Boyd. The judges are hyping both to high heaven. Both are guaranteed slots in the top 20.
Night one was stronger than night two. My favorites that first night (besides Boys) were the Extreme Dance FX cloggers (big improvement), the James Gang (very unusual!), the gal who fights her dad in the group Elite (daddy issues? She just missed the top 5), Ronnie B. (this year’s Boy Shakira, who didn’t make it to the top 20), and the magician Shimshi with the card trick (more fun than it sounds but he missed the top 5 as well). The drummers didn’t do it for me and the cowboys were middling talent goofballs.
My night two favorites were Paul Salos, the Sinatra impersonator; Zooperstars (good for pot smokers, I fathom), the Wright Kids (more adorable than great singers); trombonist Jonathan Arons (simply fun, even if his trombone playing sucked). I agreed with Piers—the Slippery Kittens were a bore and Jason the Giant was a joke.
