The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Sam Houston no longer with AM740?

Shorty Wave · August 18, 2024 9:56 am

I tune into AM740 for my oldies fix and I noticed on Friday that their morning co-host Sam Houston had been replaced by their producer Andy Wilson for their Annual Cruise promo. I checked out their site and again Houston has been dropped. I heard nothing mentioned on air so I wonder what happened. Any info out there?

RadioActive · August 18, 2024 10:06 am

Her Linked-In page provides a clue.

Under the heading "Toronto Radio Morning Host" at 740, it reads "March 2018 - August 2024, 6 years and 6 months."

The fact it gives an end date suggests she is, indeed, no longer there, although it's not clear whose choice that may have been.

Above that there is a listing for a freelance company she's had since the year 2000 called "Smart Mouth Productions," which is ongoing. So perhaps she'll turn up in other places depending on who hires her. But it does seem her 740 days are done.

Samantha Houston's Linked-In Page

Shorty Wave · August 18, 2024 10:20 am

Thanks RA, it must have happened this week as I’m fairly certain I heard her the week before. Similar thing that happened with Neil Hedley before her, gone just like that, no goodbyes etc. Too bad.

Radiowiz · August 18, 2024 2:24 pm

Has an all woman morning show ever worked anywhere? They tried it in Ottawa with the late great Jewel FM, then dropped the idea shortly before becoming Lite FM.
Now Zoomer has dropped the idea...

Radiowiz · August 18, 2024 2:29 pm

Shorty Wave wrote:
I tune into AM740 for my oldies fix and I noticed on Friday that their morning co-host Sam Houston had been replaced by their producer Andy Wilson for their Annual Cruise promo. I checked out their site and again Houston has been dropped. I heard nothing mentioned on air so I wonder what happened. Any info out there?

It's official:
"Weekday mornings from 6-10am, join Andy Wilson and Jane Brown on The Morning Zoom!"

Source: https://www.zoomerradio.ca/programs/the-morning-zoom/

peter · August 19, 2024 7:24 am

RA - "Her Linked-In page provides a clue."
It's LinkedIn;
I guess you're not on it or you would know

Last edited by peter (August 19, 2024 7:24 am)

rawkgurl · August 19, 2024 8:04 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
Has an all woman morning show ever worked anywhere? They tried it in Ottawa with the late great Jewel FM, then dropped the idea shortly before becoming Lite FM.
Now Zoomer has dropped the idea...

Yes, there are a few. One in Calgary, one in Vancouver, and a few solo females doing mornings across Canada.

RadioAaron · August 19, 2024 8:12 pm

rawkgurl wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
Has an all woman morning show ever worked anywhere? They tried it in Ottawa with the late great Jewel FM, then dropped the idea shortly before becoming Lite FM.
Now Zoomer has dropped the idea...

Yes, there are a few. One in Calgary, one in Vancouver, and a few solo females doing mornings across Canada.

Also, Jewel Ottawa and 740 Toronto aren't good examples, as both have/had essentially no ratings on *any* shift.

Paul Jeffries · August 19, 2024 8:38 pm

Truth be it told, I always thought this promo seemed a tad misandrist.

I miss the combination of Neil, Sam and Jane. Neil's a funny and insightful guy, and the three personalities used to bounce off each other really well. They genuinely sounded like they were having fun, and not "staged fun" like a lot of morning shows.

Sadly, I guess a three-person morning show just wasn't in the budget for the station.

PJ

mace · August 20, 2024 8:21 am

Laura Daniels has been doing Morning Drive solo on WHTT Buffalo since July 2022.

Shorty Wave · August 21, 2024 8:50 am

Paul Jeffries wrote:
Truth be it told, I always thought this promo seemed a tad misandrist.

I miss the combination of Neil, Sam and Jane. Neil's a funny and insightful guy, and the three personalities used to bounce off each other really well. They genuinely sounded like they were having fun, and not "staged fun" like a lot of morning shows.

Sadly, I guess a three-person morning show just wasn't in the budget for the station.

PJ

I agree, that promo was man bashing for sure. My favourite AM740 morning crew was “The Happy Gang” consisting of Bill Gable, Eva D and John Gallagher. They had great chemistry and did a lot of extra features, like “GNN”, Gable’s news spoof, plus a few other features. Haven’t heard anything like that since, too bad.

Paul Jeffries · August 21, 2024 9:34 am

Shorty Wave wrote:
I agree, that promo was man bashing for sure.

Which is a shame, because even though Sam and Jane promoted themselves as The Sisters of Sunshine, I never got the impression either of them were male-bashers. Quite the reverse, actually. When the John Derringer scandal broke a couple of years ago, the two of them talked about the good men they had worked with over the years, including Neil Hedley, who had departed the station by that time.

PJ

RadioActive · August 26, 2024 10:34 am

AM740 has made the new morning show official, although it certainly took them awhile.

I suppose it shouldn't be surprising there's not one mention of Sam Houston in their press release.

A New Era of The Morning Zoom

newsguy1 · August 26, 2024 11:05 am

I have often found radio station promo campaigns for personalities kind of cringy.
They often gush with praise for some new host or team etc, only to fire one or all of them a few months later without even a mention or a thankyou.
This promo bashing men... actually showing a man devolving into an ape, is quite disturbing and misguided.
Imagine if a promo said something like, "We've ditched those yappy dames and welcome a couple of real regular dudes."

Shorty Wave · August 27, 2024 8:44 am

RadioActive wrote:
AM740 has made the new morning show official, although it certainly took them awhile.

I suppose it shouldn't be surprising there's not one mention of Sam Houston in their press release.

A New Era of The Morning Zoom

They must have done this press release in a hurry as they got the start date really wrong as it states Monday August 23rd, which isn’t on this year’s calendar.

Binson Echorec · August 27, 2024 8:51 am

Shorty Wave wrote:
They must have done this press release in a hurry as they got the start date really wrong as it states Monday August 23rd, which isn’t on this year’s calendar.

I can't count the times I've seen erroneous dates on items of importance, and I can't find an excuse for it.

Shorty Wave · August 27, 2024 9:13 am

Binson Echorec wrote:
Shorty Wave wrote:
They must have done this press release in a hurry as they got the start date really wrong as it states Monday August 23rd, which isn’t on this year’s calendar.
I can't count the times I've seen erroneous dates on items of importance, and I can't find an excuse for it.

Unfortunately there is no excuse for it. A second pair of eyes at the approval stage might help!