Hot 107.9 Morning Show let go?
I have just received word from a confidential source at Hot 107.9 that the A-Team Morning show was abruptly let go today.
Word is comedian Rickey Smiley has been installed as the new Morning show host at Hot 107.9. That is sad news, but the new Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) has every radio programmer in Atlanta shook.
Hopefully the morning show jocks will land new gigs at other stations in the area.
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79 Responses to “Hot 107.9 Morning Show let go?”
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Wow … Griff goes to my church … I hope this isn’t true … but if it is .. all I can say is .. Wow …
wow never listened to them anyway..they annoyed the hell out of me. but, sorry to hear that. nobody should just be abruptly fired. they will recover.
DANG, MAMI CHULA IS NOW AT 95.5 THE BEAT. ARE THEY CLEANING HOUSE OVER THERE???
Anybody know all the members names of the morning show? Wow
GUY ON LEFT IS EMPEROR(SP) SEARCY.
Noooooo…not Rashawn (sp) and Griffy 2K! They are funny as hell in the mornings! I flip between them and Ryan in the mornings on my way to work. I’ma miss the birthday rhymes. =-(
ALREADY….I don’t know anyhting about the old crew, but Rickey Smiley is a beast on that morning show!!!! You’ll see, he will have you smiling on the way into work!!!
WOThis is a shocker. I feel bad because they all have families and small children to take care of talk about hard times for everyone
On a lighter note, i love ricky smiley…that show gone be funny as hell. I hope he plays some of them caller jokes on folk.
I meant WOW
I keep tellin yall I’m old school .. I listen to Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey in the AM .. i can’t STAND V-103 AT all .. and the ONLY reason I know Griffy’s name is because he goes to my church … lol
Since Ryan left the show ain’t been the same
I mean..look at LaLa…she’s doing big things..sometimes its good to be fired..or like KillerMike says..fire your boss.
They are still listed on Hot’s Website as the A Team Morning Show…..one of my best friends in Pittsburgh was a mid-day DJ for W**o and she recently was let go and they abruptly removed her image from the website…..so until I see proof this is merly a RUMOR.
KYM…LOL
DANG, TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL ABOUT V-103…. LOL
I MUST ADMIT - I ONLY LISTEN TO V-103!!!
I hope Rashawn joins Ryan…they were great together in the mornings. I always felt like Griff was lame (tries too hard to be funny!) and Akeni (sp?) is just corny as all get out! But as previous posters have said, I wish them the best and I’m sure they’ll land on their feet.
I ALWAYS FELT LIKE 107.9 WAS HOOD AS HELL. TOO HOOD FOR ME, ANYWAY!
I WAS DOG SITTING LAST WEEK AND MY FRIENDS DOG LIKES TO LISTEN TO THE RADIO… SOMEONE (MAYBE THE DOG) PUT THE RADIO ON 107.9. ALL I HEARD AT 4AM WAS “SHE GOT A DONK, SHE GOT A DONK”…
TOO TIRED TO GO DOWNSTAIRS AND CHANGE IT!!!
@ black barbie……….. I am so *dead* that the dog likes to listen to the radio and turned it on!!!! LMAO!!!! I think that just made my day!!!
LOL @blackbarbie404
now, that i’m thinking about it..what really irritated me about griff is that when he’s out..he walks around with like 25 woman with his shirts on…and be acting like he’s the business…and he’s not. uggg..
I BELIEVE IT WAS ON A SUNDAY NIGHT…
WHEN I WOKE UP AND WENT DOWNSTAIRS THE DOG HAD A V.I.P. VELVET ROOM BRACELET ON.
HE MUST HAVE SNEAKED OUT THE HOUSE. THAT DAMN DOG, I TELL YOU!!! HE CAN’T COME BACK!
@ black barbie………. you must’ve meant “man sitting” and not dog sitting…………… sounds like the typical atlanta
dogman to meRadio is changing period no matter where your at now and Syndicated Personality’s like Steve Harvey, Russ Parr, Tom Joyner, etc are what bring ratings. Local faces on Morning shows is a thing of the past. I listen to Rickey Smileys morning show every morning and I promise it will have you cracking up w/ Paternity Test Tuesday’s , and his prank phones calls and so much other stuff but the A should enjoy it.
LMAO @ STYLERAZZI
DANG - THAT DO SOUND LIKE MAN SITTING… HUMMM…
BUT, IM CERTAIN IT WAS A DOG… NOT THE MAN KIND….
OK, SO I LIED - LET ME STOP BEFORE THE FAM THINK I’M CRAZY!!!
POST #17 IS REAL, OF COURSE….
This probaly is true, They did the same thing to The Bip Lip Bandit Show here in Miami. I guess it’s fair to say they want competition. Tom Joyner , Steve Harvey, Rickey Smiley.
Which one is Griff?lol
Griff’s slow dragging voice annoys me. That station is straight hood. Hood is ok sometimes but not all day. I listen to Tom Joyner in the morning even though I can’t stand Sybil. Ricky Smilie is annoying as all hell and just not funny. I think they are making a mistake.
@ brownsugga .. he DOES think he’s the biz .. and he is SOOOOOOOO not the cute … unless you like the wanna be Suge Knight starter kit belly
Honestly, though, I hope this isn’t true. I love Rashan’s energy. The show is hood but I think it caters to a different demographic than v-103 and 95.5 the beat. The only reason I can see them letting them go is that sometimes syndication costs less than paying for a full 3 person morning staff. I would most definitely like to hear Rashan Ali next to Ryan more than Elle………..
the format of radio is changing. you dont really need a cast of characters to run a radio show. syndication is the way to go (steve harvey, ricky smily, joyner, howard stern, etc). those big names pull a lot of people nationwide. why would you continue spending money on locals?
it’s business, nothing personal. life happens. next.
WoooW!
I think they pulled a Chi Town DJ (Crazy Howard) for the same reason….
Dang! Times is too hard to be pulling folks’ job like that…..at least they will get some nice unemployment checks….
and i agree; the show was/is ghetto as hell. i never listen to them, but obviously they had an audience. griff irritated me on 103. add his voice to the hood olympics at 107.9 and i was too phuckin through.
love steve harvey in the morning…that’s all i listen to. real topics, real news, not what the TI and Shawty Lo beef is about…nonsense.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/radiotalk/entries/2008/08/28/828_hot_1079_ju.html
Per that link, Maria More was also fired too!!!! DANG DANG DANG!!! I really like her.
Preach Brown!
between syndication and Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM)a lot of people will be losing radio jobs…
on the flipside, the internet is killing off newspapers and magazines…
times are changing for sure
@ Style Razzi:
I see Rodney Ho reads Sandrarose.com.
essence Says: You have got to be here in Dallas!!!! I love paternity test Tuesdays, I was late for an appointment trying to hear the resluts this week! Ya’ll don’t understand te treat tthat you are about to get with Rickey Smiley, it’s like having your own personal ticket to a comedy concert everyday!!!
@ Sandra…. LOL!!!!
He saw this on your site and started making phone calls!!!! LOL!!!
Dang that’s sad for real. But I must say I’m not surprised, the show wasn’t all that good to me. Their message got lost in all the hoodness. Plus I remember Sandra had a blind item a while back about a popular radio station closing in doors, I always figured it was Hot 107.9.
Rickey Smiley is based here in Dallas and his show is pretty funny sometimes. Paternity Test Tuesday is GHETTO as hell, but still laughable at times. And yes - he will bring the prank phone calls. He did a repeat on one where he pretended to have a sleeping disorder that caused him to fall asleep at his job in a funeral home and he told the 911 operator that he had been buried by mistake! LOL
We also have Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey here too. I’m getting old because I can only tolerate Rickey Smiley and our local DJs (K104 Skip Chetham and Da Playground) in small doses, because I am sick and DAMN tired of Li’l Wayne and the other rappers they play every 5 minutes.
Thats so sad,I was just at their Female Fumble event last weekend. It was really nice. You never know in Corp thats why I work for my damn self!
Ya’ll know Dallas is where it’s at! Russ Parr and Alfredas got started here, Tom Joyner blew up here and Rickey Smiley is doing the damn thing here! Hell Steve Harvey had a comedy club here waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day!
Well, tell some of the hosts if they want they can work on my internet radio station. I just don’t have budget to pay anyone but the promo will be crazy
Don’t know these ppl and Rickey smiley is not on in NYC.. I listen to Steve for about 10 mins when they do the strawberry letter 23.
But Radio is changing. We use to have MsJones in the morning but now we have bigboi (who lost so much weight he looks like…..) I can’t take radio anymore. They have cut the bonus hour off of Wendy show. So, to hear this news lets me know something is not good in the radio biz.
I haven’t listened to the morning show on that station since Ryan Cameron and Eboni Elektra were there. Sorry to hear though. Times are hard for all kind of folks.
Ugh…that is not cool. I love Rashan. She’s very intelligent and very much an advocate for young adults. At least she may still have a job (@ a different time) but Griff is an advocate as well…its shady to just put them out on the street w/o notification. God Bless Them!!
I live in Miami and the Rickey Smiley morning show took the spot of our local show. It’s horrible!!! They do paternity tests on the air.
Griff and Maria More are no longer on the Hot website.
I can’t do V103, Frank thinks he knows it all, and Wanda sounds like she looks. I can’t do Hot 107.9 in the morning, I’m clearly not that urban. Steve Harvey talks over everyone and is country as hell and Tom Joyner is about 20 years too old for me and I can’t stand the ignorance that is J. Anthony. I’m not pop enough for 95.5. I can listen to the Bert show, though Jeff works my nerves… I think its time for me to renew my XM Radio subscription
Rashan, Beyonce and Searcy are staying, just in different slots…BUT…it wasn’t just Griff, Akini and Maria More that were let go.
karaz I feel the same way you do esp re: J anthony and Steve HO-Vey. When I’m not listening to Rickey Smiley I have it on Jamie Foxx Satellite radio station - The Foxxhole
Check out the station websites. Then you can see who’s missing. It’s pretty obvious…
wow this is a shock i listen to them every morning. i just cant get down with syndicated shows i need that local flavor. steve harvey, tom joyner while they have good shows i like to hear about things going on in my hook and they just dont offer that. i dont care for frank ski but if hot put on a syndicated show guess ill start
Lawd, Frank Ski thinks he knows everything. I can’t stand Steve Harvey’s arrogance so I don’t listen to him. Is Miss Shaneka being let go also?
@ NaturalFromHead2Toe
IF ONLY.
^^^lol
karaz Says:
I can’t do V103, Frank thinks he knows it all, and Wanda sounds like she looks.
*********************************************************
Gurl .. I KNOW what you mean .. my son HATES her voice …
He used to get up to CoCo Brother @ 5am on hot 107.9 then they moved him to praise 97.5 in the eve’n
Maybe Rashan Ali will come on the Ryan show and take El Duncan place, I don’t know how El got a job on the radio she is so annoying. V-103 needs to put Ryan on in the morning the annoying morning crew Frank Ski with his name droping a$$ and Wanda with her LOUD a$$ need to go.
Good Morn Family
I can’t STAND Elle Duncan …I like the 5 o’clock mixes THATS it.
I will really miss them. I liked the show. I hope they all do well. This is sad news.
Good morning family,
I’m with you uptopgrl!! I can’t stand Elle Duncan and her whinning behind. She’s not a good fit for radio. Half of the time she gives a terrible traffic reports because she’s too darn busy try to make a joke. One afternoon I was tuned into Ryan’s show and she was giving the traffic report and reported an “Entrapment” and she had the nerve to insult the listeners by say “for those of you who don’t know what entrapment means, it means the person is trapped inside the car and the authorities have to remove them mechanically.” WTF, we all know what the hell entrapment means heifer. I seriously don’t understand why she’s still working for V-103
It must be her looks!
good morning sr fam..
back to the topic. i can’t stand frank ski either…he’s another one that walks around like he’s the sh**. a grown man at 40+ yrs old with a damn entourage???? baseball cap to the back, b*tch*ssness t-shirt on…wtf???…i mean really. + he talks to d*mn much. radio is not the same…
Morn brwnsugga !!
^^^good morning kym^^^
I KNOW its been said over and over but ummm WOW! hmm I gotta agree that show hasnt been the same since Ryan left, BUT I likes Rashan(fellow cancer born 6/24)Although I rarely listen to the morning show anymore( yayyyy Praise 97.5) I wish them all the best and I’m sure they will pop up at another station soon
I could have sworn I heard them on the radio just a few minutes ago with Jeezy on
* * * * * Shakes Monitor * * * * *
WAKE UP AUNTIE !!!!
hey fam. where is mizz rose this a.m.? she musta been up late watching obama.
MORNING FAM!!
LOL @ KYM!
maybe 103 will be next. frank’s time is up. he does think he knows it all. yall are right; that fool does some name droppin fa yo a s s. i tried to listen to 109 this morning while driving, but 30 seconds into that damn jeezy song, i hit the cd button. i couldn’t take it. the format of that show needs to change fast.
Yep…..this is very true. They wont be doing the morning show but will still be on 107.9 at different times. I’m glad MamiChula got out…she’s got her own show at 95.5. Putting Ricky Smiley on the show was a great move for 107.9.
Wow!! They WERE just on! I heard them this morning while V-103 was on commercial break. And I only listen to V-103 because I’m a ‘girl talk’ fan. I don’t listen to the radio much either with the exception of the Ryan Cameron show. He’s hilarious! I tend to keep my cd’s in heavy rotation. Tired of the same ole crap that they play on the radio. That’s so unfortunate though. I hope they can recover well. It probably won’t be easy to find another job that will compensate the salaries and way of life they’ve become accustomed to living if they make anywhere near how much the dj’s at V-103 make.
Gm! I live in dallas and I listen to Rickey Smiley and best to believe they will have you cracking up. ***Rickey Smiley and Deez Nuts!!!
Sad to hear Griff is out of a job. I read the story on AccessAtlanta and he said he will still be out and about hosting events and doing comedy (I think he is corny anyway), but he has a lot of faith so Im sure he will be fine. I couldnt stand them in the morning..too loud and corny.
Hope this is ok to post Sandra…taken from Access Atlanta:
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 replacing 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.)
H~A~P~P~Y F~R~I~D~A~Y!!!!
I used to love the Steve Harvey show, but it started to get annoying. I stick with my “Big Boy in the morninnnn’” show here in LA.
I heard Rashan is going to middays, Searcy to the 2-6pm slot and I think Shyneka will be on 10 pm to 2am. Griff, Akini, Maria More, E4Real and Pezo were those unfortunately let go yesturday…It didn’t stop there. Sonya Hamm from Praise 97.5 and Renee Miller from Smooth Jazz 107.5 were also let go. I certainly won’t miss ALL of them, but I wish them well!!
Oh no @ Sonya Hamm..wow.