Oh dear...Jack FM Vancouver have decided that the best way to gain listeners is this:
Fire all of your on-air staff (except the morning show) and go presenter-free for twenty hours a day.
Genius.
Why didn't anyone else ever think of this?
Oh hang on a minute - XFM in London did something almost exactly the same about two years ago. Funny how that experiment didn't last long, isn't it?
Jack FM now have Larry And Willy on the morning gig and are literally music from then until the next morning. No VT even.
Howard Cogan is apparently back as their imaging voice and sole personality. Now don't get me wrong - I love Howie and his style. I always have. Going back to when we worked together in LG73, he always had that something special. he was the guy that said to me once - "This internet thing will be huge for radio,one day". However great Howie is though, this is a radio station. You need presenters, otherwise it's just a (not particularly) good iPod.
Listeners can get all of their favourite songs on the MP3 player anytime they want. What they can't get, is surprised. You programme your MP3 player. You know what's on there. You never know what a human being on air will do next.
Taking humans out of radio - Genius*
Best wishes to Pam Stevens and Kelly Latremouille. Two amazing radio presenters.
*Note very obvious sarcasm.
