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November 13, 2021 6:13 pm  #1


CHFI Morning Show


never worked ever, in radio
 

November 14, 2021 12:56 pm  #2


Re: CHFI Morning Show

It will be interesting to hear Pooja and Gurdeep together on the radio.  They were popular on CP24's morning show and worked well together.  A shrewd move but also a bit of a risk for CHFI.  Rumour had it years ago FI tried to get Roger Rick and Marilyn to move from CHUM FM but ultimately it didn't happen.

 Wonder if any of the Toronto newspapers will give this any attention...they should...Could this eventually spark any other changes in the morning for Toronto radio?   Any word on when the new show officially launches?  The next ratings come out on December 8th, so do they launch around that time or wait until the new year?  The TV ads for this will be interesting to see.  Rogers has a habit of running their television ads for CHFI on CBC as well as City and OMNI.

 

November 14, 2021 4:27 pm  #3


Re: CHFI Morning Show

paterson1 wrote:

 Any word on when the new show officially launches?  The next ratings come out on December 8th, so do they launch around that time or wait until the new year? 

I think this may answer it all: https://www.chfi.com/contests/meet-the-new-chfi-morning-show/

 

November 14, 2021 4:33 pm  #4


Re: CHFI Morning Show

OK, I'm saying this with absolutely no knowledge of the new hosts' backgrounds before CP24. So there's that. But what do you guys and gals think of the idea of putting a pair of news people into the morning slot on a music station? I'm sure they're talented enough to handle it, but does this sound like a good fit for a station with a format like CHFI has?

I guess time will tell and I wish them luck, but it seems like an odd choice to me. 

 

November 14, 2021 7:45 pm  #5


Re: CHFI Morning Show

Thanks Radio.Intern, that does answer the questions.  So a live broadcast and contest to introduce the new morning show on CHFI on November 29th.  Christmas music or not, I will be listening.

Yes I agree RA possibly a different choice, and as I mentioned above a bit of a risk.  However on CP24 both Pooja and Gurdeep had lots of opportunity to allow their personality and humour to come through and they did have a pleasant chemistry together.  Both are well known and generally well liked and most listeners won't think of them as news people at all.
 
The music side is just that, a side of the morning show, and as long as Pooj and Gurdeep keep it natural and let things flow they should be fine.  The Christmas music will give them a few weeks to grow a little into the show and they won't be on every break since this isn't the regular format.  Come early January the real show starts and we will have a better idea what really is planned, but at least the CHFI morning show had a few weeks to work some things out.  This could be a very good move!  

 

November 15, 2021 8:42 pm  #6


Re: CHFI Morning Show

Radio Active I have to agree.  Two TV Talk Show hosts; about to host a music driven show.  I also have no knowledge of the two of them before CP24.  It should be interesting.
 

 

November 15, 2021 8:58 pm  #7


Re: CHFI Morning Show

Hmmm. According to their respective Linked-In pages, Gurdeep Ahluwalia's experience, in addition to his 9 years at CP24, consists of a couple of years at TSN as a reporter/anchor, and host and producer at Rogers cable for a show about the Marlies. 

Pooja Handa has a combined 13 years at CP24 as anchor and reporter, and did morning traffic and some hosting for Global News, a gig that lasted almost 5 years. 


It's possible they didn't list everything, although given the number of years they've been in the business, I doubt they would have had the time for much else. Beyond Handa's traffic reporter position, I don't see any real radio experience listed for either of them. Not saying they won't be great - maybe they will - but there's a big difference between hosting a heavily scripted TV morning news show and fronting an ad lib-style early music program on the radio.

I hope it works for them and that they're great at it. They're certainly known quantities in the city and that should help, because many in the audience are already familiar with them. But you might have thought that Rogers would have looked for someone with far more radio experience for the most important shift on their highest rated station in the biggest market in the country. 

 

November 15, 2021 9:02 pm  #8


Re: CHFI Morning Show

I think "news anchors" isn't a fully accurate representation of what they did on CP24. There was a lot of room for personality and humour, and they had both. That show wasn't all that different from a radio morning show in a lot of respects.

 

November 15, 2021 9:06 pm  #9


Re: CHFI Morning Show

Fair enough. I'm not all that familiar with them because I don't get CP24. But their lack of real radio background still surprises me somewhat.

Because it's CHFI, I suspect the numbers will be good in any case, simply because it's so many people's ingrained habit regardless of who's in the air chair. And replacing the incumbents is an admittedly thankless task. But if the numbers slip after a while, then what?

 

November 15, 2021 9:12 pm  #10


Re: CHFI Morning Show

I think having the right morning show will actually be key to CHFI's success moving forward. They don't have a great music position, and they have CHUM on one end with an AC-age and massively promoted morning show, with Boom and an appealing music mix for CHFI's older demos on the other. Mornings on CHFI have been under-performing the station for a while now, especially recently.