Is KMJ right for Hitz FM morning show?
Let me make a confession. When I heard that Kleff Maxwell Justice, or KMJ as he prefers to be called for short, would host the morning show on Hitz FM following the departure of Black I to Accra FM, I thought someone had dropped the ball. Or rather was about to drop the ball. Whichever of the two will most likely float your boat.
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For sometime, the station had been looking for the right presenter for its morning show. Qouphi Okyeame held it down for sometime, then Lexis Bill took over and then Black I became the de facto host for a few years. Thus a strong hand was needed, in my view, to make it better.
When I started to hear him on the show, I wasn’t quite sure he was the man for the job and so I tuned off to listen to other morning shows.
Then I started listening again and felt that he was growing into the role and then finally checked and realised to my pleasant surprise that he had taken total control of Daybreak Hitz as though it was his own property.
If you have been following Hitz FM since the Blakk Rasta issue last year, you would know that some massive changes have taken place at the station.
Though Rasta insisted he left because he was not supported by his employers when he was invited by Parliament, sources at the station said a contributory factor was the changes that were going to take place.
The new format was to make entertainment the fulcrum around which the station’s programming would revolve.
As a matter of fact, entertainment discussion would be on the morning show, on the music show that rose from the ashes of Blakk Rasta’s Taxi Driver hosted by Andy Dosty, on the afternoon show hosted by Amanda Jissih, on the drive time show hosted by Mercury Quaye and also on the after drive hosted by Doctor Pounds. Hitz is entertainment!
What that meant was that, they needed to have someone very solid on the issues of entertainment to set the ball rolling in the morning, while still capable of balancing that with other regular mainstream issues as well as the relationship issues the station had adopted since the days of Okyeame.
I can say without a shred of doubt (and I didn’t think I would ever write this) that KMJ fits the bill perfectly. His voice, which sounds different to me on the radio than in real life, is solid on the entertainment issues, he can change from entertainment to talk about other issues and also able to handle the relationship issues perfectly.
He is able to moderate the talk segment that has Prince Tsegah and other entertainment pundits coming to the studio every morning to discuss the most topical entertainment issues with him. His knowledge of entertainment issues is perfect for the show and I think he fits the bill perfectly.
KMJ’s sense of music is also very good and he knows which songs to play in the morning, even if some of the songs on his playlist are sometimes a bit like it wasn’t properly thought through, I think by and large he gets the right songs most of the time.
That KMJ is locked into the space of the core audience of the show he hosts, most of who connect via the Internet cannot be over emphasised. The many hashtags that characterize the tenor of the show he hosts on social media needs someone who understands the space and KMJ comes across as one who does very well.
So is KMJ the guy Hitz FM need on their morning show to prosecute the entertainment agenda? I have no doubt at all that he is. Does he have what it takes to do what is required of him? For what I have listened of him so far, I have no doubt that he fits the bill perfectly.
Having left Vision FM in Koforidua where he used to present the late afternoon show to settle back in Accra, getting the chance to host the morning show on Hitz FM must be a dream come true for him.
So far, he has not disappointed Mark Okraku Mantey or whoever it was who decided to put him on the show. We shall keep listening to see how he progresses on Daybreak Hitz. KMJ, toaso!
LIVE FM TO LAUNCH TOMORROW
It’s been how many months since EIB Network, led by its CEO Nathaniel Adisi aka Bola Ray acquired Live FM from its former owners Dream Africa Holdings? Nine months or thereabout.
After going through the whole nine yards of rebranding, repositioning and attracting the right talent the station is now ready to be officially launched.+
One of the things that the new owners of the station did early on was to identify some of the leading presenters and poach the most talented, among them to help prosecute the youth agenda that the station had set for itself.
Among those who were retained from the old Live FM and others who joined, especially from YFM, include Sammy Forson, Jay Folley, Antoine Mensah, Jeremie Van Garshong, Giovani Caleb, Berla Mundi and Masta Jay. KOD also joined from Radio Gold to take charge as far as events are concerned at the station.
These people have been hitting Accra hard with their own styles. Jay Foley and Jeremie have established their combined strength on the morning show since being reunited, Antoine and his DJ Masta Jay have done well during mid-morning while Sammy Forson has shown that his real first love is the drive.
There is no denying the fact that since the station changed hands in May 2015, and it started to focus on the youth, a lot has happened at Live FM. It has given YFM, especially, a stiff competition and although in my reckoning, the latter still lead in the youth market, the difference is becoming thinner.
So come this Friday at the Roof Top of Silver Star Tower at Airport, the final stage in the Live FM evolution will be witnessed. Big name artistes Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Efya and M.anifest among a host of other mainstream acts will grace what the station’s executives say will be the biggest rooftop experience in the history of Ghana’s entertainment industry.
Tomorrow’s event will also see the launch of the station’s LIVE Youth Conference, which is expected to be the catalyst for series of events tailored to enrich the minds of its target audience.
Jay Foley who doubles as the Business Manager for the station expressed how excited they were about the launch. “Finally, we get to launch an exciting business that has got the city talking for months,” he says.
Folley adds that “Live FM has become a voice for the youth who look this way for daily inspiration. Our programming content is strategically placed to aid the young Ghanaian millennial.”
Let us hope they can keep the momentum going after this massive launch they have planned for tomorrow.
As though you don’t know already, Live FM is owned by media group EIB Network, which also owns Starr FM, Kasapa FM, Ultimate FM, Ghone TV, Agoo FM, Empire FM and the Daily Heritage newspaper.
Pass by the launch if you can so you can mingle with the brass of the station, the presenters, the artistes on parade and also take part in history.
@TheGHMediaGuru
