It's been eight months since Hot 107.9 let go former morning host Rashan Ali. Presumably, her non-compete clause in her contract is now over.
She has been pursuing TV projects and working on her Sporty Girls foundation, which encourages minority girls to pursue sports in high school that aren’t typical such as swimming (her love) and soccer. (They hold a camp every summer.) She also had her second child last fall.
But does she want to go back to radio? Given the current economy, jobs are few and far between. V-103 just let go Joyce Littel, which Littel said was simply a way to reduce costs.
I heard a rumor last week that Ali is in talks with V-103, possibly to join afternoon host and mentor Ryan Cameron. But alas, if V-103 is in cost-cutting mode, this doesn't make a lot of sense although it would reunite her with Ryan. He helped her get into radio a decade ago on his show on Hot 107.9. She ultimately got her own morning show on Hot but lost it when Radio One, seeking to pare costs, gave her spot to Rickey Smiley, a less costly syndicated option.
Interestingly, Ali and her agent Matt Kramer, both of whom are usually pretty responsive to me, have not returned my texts, voicemails or emails over the past three days. I'll update this item if I hear anything from them. (She and Ryan both share the same agency rep Career Sports Entertainment.)
A Ryan Cameron/Rashan Ali reunion
- A great idea! It'd be wonderful to have the two together again.
- Been there, done that. Ryan is fine as is.
Speaking of Littel, I've also heard that V-103 is in talks to replace her on the station's Quiet Storm with a possible new syndicated show hosted by Atlanta couple and actors Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker, who currently stars in ABC drama "The Deep End." They did occasional radio show fill-ins on the New York City urban station WBLS-FM. The rumor's been floating around the past week. Kodjoe ("Soul Food") is also set to play a CIA agent in an NBC pilot that is described as a mix between "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "The Bourne Identity."
Parker's publicist told me Friday she can't talk to me about the radio show per instruction from Reggie Rouse, V-103 program director. Rouse's boss Rick Caffey said he will have a replacement for Littel soon. Currently, Quiet Storm is airing without a jock.
As noted earlier, syndicated shows are almost always cheaper than airing a live jock.
-UPDATE: In local TV news, newsblues.com (a subscription site) notes a new hire at WAGA-TV.
Elizabeth Prann, blondiful morning news anchor at Gray's crappy little WJHG-7-NBC in Panama City, FL (Market #151), has been hired as a reporter at Fox News' Atlanta bureau. (Fox News actually called me Wednesday to correct this because it originally said she joined WAGA-TV.)
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