Breeze catches Bobbie Ansah
The name Bobbie Ansah is one that comes with controversies in radio circles whenever it is mentioned. This is because the broadcaster who bears this name does not stay away from controversy even when he sees it coming.
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When he arrived on the radio scene in Accra from Hello FM in Kumasi Nana Kwabena Bobbie Ansah sounded the warning that he was here to cause something to happen. I remember speaking to him at the time and he assured me that a lot would happen on the radio scene in the capital so long as he was on.
He took over Ekosii Sen, the political talk show on Asempa FM from Ken Addy (if I recall correctly), threw in a hefty dose of controversy and before long it was the show that everyone who had some interest in Ghanaian politics (aka NDC and NPP politics) would tune to in the afternoon.
Some say he intentionally courted controversy just so he would get ratings for his show and as is often the way things happen, this got him in trouble when he was sacked from the show some two years ago in circumstances that were never explained.
You will recall that in early 2012, a number of alleged NPP supporters besieged the premises of Asempa FM threatening to lynch Bobbie Ansah for what they considered to be attacks on their presidential candidate, Nana Akuffo Addo. Thankfully, the police intervened and managed to avert any vigilantism on 355 Fanofaa Street in Kokomleme.
After this incident, Bobbie Ansah was suspended by his employer from the show he had hosted for such a long time and the programme was also taken off for a good measure air when the NPP said they would have nothing to do with the show if he stayed on.
After three months or so afterwards, Nana Kwabena Bobbie Ansah, was handed his dismissal letter from the Multimedia Group. He launched a vitriolic attack on the management of the station when he, among other things, accused them of bribery from the NPP to get rid of him.
Eventually the dust on the Bobbie Ansah saga was settled and he found himself at another radio station, Agoo FM, hosting a similar show called Si No Pi from 2pm to 6pm on week days and just like he did on Eko Sii Sen, he never steered clear of controversy.
Incidentally, here also he was reported to have been accused by the NDC for not doing their bidding although that was what he was brought to a station owned by a member of the party to do. Bobbie Ansah responded that he was on radio not to do the bidding of any political party but to serve the people of Ghana.
I recently picked up information that Bobbie Ansah could be on his way to Breeze FM but I took it with a pinch of salt. This is because I didn’t see the station as one that would like to entangle itself with the controversial nature of the shows that Bobbie Ansah hosts.
However, from sometime last week, I started hearing jingles on the station that was introducing him as a host of a new show on the station from the beginning of June. Very reliable information I have picked up is that Kojo Antwi and his team at the station decided to engage Bobbie Ansah to host an afternoon talk show because they want to be influencers in the scheme of affairs and not just passive participants.
Now if they really want to get themselves involved in the political game as much as they want then there was no other person to give them that as Bobbie Ansah. He has been around and done that and therefore knows which pulse to press to get the station going.
Bobbie is a fifteen year industry veteran whose career spans news reporting, presenting music and religious shows. He has been around and besides Asempa FM and Agoo FM he has been with a few stations including Mighty FM, Meridian FM, Luv FM and Hello FM. He is one of the most straight forward interviewers with a penchant for bringing out information in a direct approach. The jury is out there on whether this approach is the best for afternoon radio.
I am sure Bobbie Ansah knows that he would come up against strong competition during the time that his programme would air as Adakabre Frimpong Manso would be on air on Neat FM and so would Kwadwo Asare-Baffour Acheampong or KABA as he is popularly known KABA who hosts Eko Sii Sen, the show that Bobbie Ansah used to host.
The question however is this: is Breeze FM prepared to receive the mudslinging that would come as a result of this union with Bobbie Ansah? If it’s not the NPP raining it at him with accusation of bias then it is the NDC flaying him for not doing their bidding. Well, everybody knows you cannot satisfy these two parties so that’s not an issue.
My take is that Bobbie’s coming would bring some awareness to the station and will draw all the big and major political talkers to the afternoon political programme he would be hosting from next Monday. However, there will certainly be some price to pay one way or the other when he gets into the thick of affairs and Antwi and his team should get prepared.
Meanwhile, apart from Bobbie Ansah who is rumoured to be on his way to the Airport Residential Area station, some other names have been bandied about as likely to be on Breeze FM. They include former broadcaster and ace actor Kofi Adjorlolo, radio and television personalities like Mikki Osei Berko and Betty Anim Addo, multiple Big Brother Africa housemate Sammy B among others.
We have been waiting for far too long for the Breeze FM real broadcast to start and hopefully with the arrival of Bobbie Ansah and the others mentioned (some of whom are already playing shows behind the scenes) above, the real breeze will start to blow from the station.
@TheGHMediaGuru