I hear from two sources that
Wanda Smith
is going to return to V-103 and will make the announcement Monday morning.
[The original announcement was supposed to be made Friday but Smith posted on her Facebook page that it was pushed back to 7 a.m. Monday]
UPDATE: Monday, January 13, 2014, 10:18 a.m.: Smith indeed made her announcement at 7:08 a.m. "I am rejuvenated," she said. She said she enjoyed the year off and was able to spend more time with her family, who joined her in the studio. She said she was grateful to come back and plans to do it even better with Ryan. She saved money and was not in any financial straits taking the time off. A highlight: Mayor Kasim Reed called in to wish her luck. With Cameron joining the Hawks to London for their game their later this week, Smith arrived just in time to do the show without him for a few days starting tomorrow.
She was with V-103 for more than 15 years, virtually the entire time as Frank Ski's co host until he and CBS Radio split ways at the end of 2012. They were the top-performing morning show for pretty much the entire time they were on air as a team.
Smith, I'm told, will return to mornings, this time paired with Ryan Cameron, Ski's replacement. Cameron, with ratings going down the second half of 2013, was forced to dump Kendra G and Christopher "Crash" Clark. V-103 kept Mo Ryan.
Smith's a stand-up comic who hosts shows at Uptown Comedy Corner. She has worked with Cameron when Cameron subbed in for Ski.
After she was let go a year ago, she didn't proffer any bitterness to me.
"This has become a beautiful beautiful long run for me," she said. "I’m happy. I’m not mad. I feel great. My heart feels good."
Smith and Ski balanced each other with Ski leading the show and Smith injecting bits of humor. Cameron is also a comedian so it will be interesting to see how the two play off each other over the long haul.
In the latest Nielsen ratings book, Cameron's show rebounded, hitting a 10.2 share among 25 to 54 year olds, best since May. The 18-to-34-year-old demo bounced from a low of a 5.5 share in late October to 7.3 in the book that mostly covered November, finishing third. That younger demo is where V-103 used to be dominant until the summer.
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