Isn't it time radio killed the multiple hosts format?

[westfield60]

I was listening to Frost on Sunday and noted how relaxed and in his element he seemed. Which then brought to mind that on FHF it must have been a nightmare to try and get a thought in while the other two are constantly interrupting. So I wonder if it is high time we retired the mutiple hosts format. I don't think it works anymore. Imagine having Rush Limbaugh constantly interrupted by some other host trying to compete for airtime, same for Tom Leykis or any host that are successful and strongly articulate.

The problem being that you usually don't have everyone with the same intelligence that are paired up. For example, when you had Conway and Steckler, it clearly was Doug Steckler that everyone tuned in for who had the most colorful and articulate opinions. Conway basically would laugh like an idiot throughout the show.

Likewise you have John and Ken. John is clearly extremely bright and articulate, whereas Ken is a brainless patsy. The problem is that Ken constantly interrupts John, especially when he is making an argument or a salient point. Ken will stop the flow and say the most irrelevant and most stupid thing. This disrupts the flow of John who was on a rant. I truly believe that everyone is tuning in for John and not for Ken. So isn't it time to break up that team and let John have his own show? I know that I would enjoy that far better than having John thrown off his track by stupid interruptions in mid-sentence.

Robin Quivers is also guilty of this and gets a lot of flack for this. Now Howard seems like he may leave radio so there is nothing to fix there, but I do think KFI should give John his own show. Look at the difference it made with Frost.

 

[Robnoxious]

There could be no John without his Ken just as there could be no Howard without his Robin. You couldn't have Hudson without a Landry or a Lohman without a Barkley. There is something to be said about a team.

Some play better solo, like Leykis and Crummey and Hendrie and even Jim Rome or Lee Hacksaw Hamilton.

Carolla with Strasser was not a team no matter how hard they tried to make it so.

I will concede that Frosty was constantly over run with Heidi's cackles and Frank's "Yer a ****" zingers so much so that it diluted the product overall. But it all boils down to the fact that Frosty is still getting radio opportunities because of his talent whereas Frank and Heidi are now also-rans with flimsy radio skills.

There are many more talented people in radio than FH&F. Joe Crummey comes to mind. You guys had a good run.

I wish Heidi and Frank the best but they squandered a good thing by not looking beyond a week in advance.

 

[musicfan101]

Please explain why.

 

[radio-darn]

I've often wondered what event triggered the belief that all morning shows had to be a team with a posse of producers, helper boys, interns and assorted other hangers on? Throw in interaction with the news and traffic reporters and it really gets to be a cacophony of competing voices.

The old "two man" morning teams ala Hudson & Landry, Lohman & Barkley, Charlie and Harrigan, etc. really were just that: two experienced voices usually of equal talent doing a lots of original things that were planned and even rehearsed. They did not have three or four toadies with a combined three years of experience chiming in on seemingly random topics and chortling at the same old People Magazine gossip news as every other morning show.

 

[landtuna]

I've often wondered what event triggered the belief that all morning shows had to be a team with a posse of producers, helper boys, interns and assorted other hangers on? Throw in interaction with the news and traffic reporters and it really gets to be a cacophony of competing voices.

As one who greatly misses a local Phoenix area morning show that went from five people to two I think it is the interaction of the on-air staff with each other and the faster pace that make multiple people successful.

Several people can play off each other more successfully than a single jock. Two make it a bit more interesting and faster paced (if done correctly). But having a round-robin of players make you pay attention as someone new is always contributing and getting reactions from the others. I once heard four people in studio talking about .....bacon. That's it. Just bacon. It was 90 minutes of absolute hilarity and I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks. They did too. One or two people probably could not have pulled that off.

It has to be done right and the players can't be stepping on each other but if done correctly the result is almost always more enjoyable.

 

[Robnoxious]

Carolla with Strasser was not a team no matter how hard they tried to make it so.

Please explain why.

Mostly because Strasser is batfart insane. Teresa and Adam had zero repore and zero chemistry. Whenever David Allen Grier showed up you could literally hear Teresa sulking in a corner during "her" big news segment. Granted, DAG is an over the top loudmouth with a propensity to fly off the rails if unchecked but I remember one show where Teressa was ready to walk off just because DAG was stealing the limelight.

 

[musicfan101]

To me, that was the most entertaining part!

 

[nancedanceluvr]

I agree, I thought the shows with Strasser & DAG were the most entertaining.

Does anyone have opinions on other shows with female co-hosts? Personally not that big a fan of Seacrest and Ellen K on KIIS, but who's even worse is whoever the new chick is with Carson Daly on AMP. I think she might also be the producer... Does anyone even listen to that show here? When did that show take a turn for the worse?

 

[Stormychuck]

I have to agree with Westfield and Radiodarn, and yes, it's time radio killed the multiple host formats. For the most part, and maybe this is just my opinion, I never really thought multiple host ever really worked, I worked LA radio in the mid-70's it was all single morning talents that could handle it all by themselves, now Hudson and Landry, that was a team and those two and that act will never ever be replaced.

Somewhere along the line the biggie radio corp's decided that 2 or more morning people made it better and we're assured that this is what the listener wants to hear, and in some cases this is true, but nowaday's you can drive through any large market ie; morning drive and hear 3 or more morning talents, if you want to call them talents, all bantering for their little piece of on-air radio time, you got the board op, (producer) traffic guy, news girl (side-kick) and the main morning talent, it's not just LA it's nation wide, this is the radio broadcast mentality, 2 or more is better, I'm thinking it's got to be expensive especially since all the Biggie radio corp's are all poor mouthing.

Any more then Two morning talents clogs the airways with their personal BS bantering, but until the Big radio corporations come up with another plan this is the way it will be for now..

 

[Wildstyle K]

Wow, and I've always preached for more liveness and fun by encouraging multiple hosts engaging, teasing, and tag teaming each other. I guess it all depends on WHO is lumped together. Some people have no chemistry together and should never be placed on air as a team.

 

[blackgold]

Here in Boston, they've got this Carson and Kennedy show on Mix 104 FM, and it's the most disgusting morning show ever. Especially when they've got that "Can't Beat Kennedy" segment, when they ask 5 pop culture questions. And if the listener blows it-and Kennedy gets them all right-they end up with an "I Can't Beat Kennedy" tee-shirt. That's the junkiest show on the radio today.
By the way, who's gonna start the Christmas music derby in L.A.?

 

[TheRadioGal]

Well Teresa S is now on 790 Am with Peter Tilden in a multiple host format. I am sure that more than one host makes the show easier on both hosts but I have to say it doesn't work when they are stepping on each others words. Sometimes they never finish a thought and it gets frustrating

If a team is well balanced it certainly can add to a morning show. I don't feel so talked to, but as if I am over hearing a great conversation.

For me, it depends on the team.

 

[MSerious]

KKGO has lost a lot of listeners by dropping the "team concept" when it disengaged Shawn Parr & Ashley Paige....some folks work together & some don't...these two did....I guess KKGO does not like a good thing....

 

[kover]

I think it depends on the host. With talk shows, some host do a great job on their own while other host needs a cohost or the program becomes boring or stale. A benefit of more than one host is that it becomes like more natural exchange of ideas rather than a lecture.