KFI Major Schedule Change Starting Tomorrow

[Ray D. Owe]

Bill Handel loses an hour, goes 6-9a.
Gary and Shannon move down 9a to 1p. John and Ken cut to three hours 1-4p
Conway goes to 4-7p
Mo Kelley debuts 7-10p

 

[henry]

Wow! That's... kind of a demotion for John and Ken, is it not? (IMO, I would have put Mo in from 1-4 and left everything else the same.)

I'd say I'd miss Conway at night, but honestly, I podcast his show anyway. So, I can still listen to him at night on demand or tune into Mo's show if there is something live/breaking going on.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall and learn the reasoning behind this change. But KFI tend to know what they are doing over there, so it's not really my place to question it.

 

[Karl]

Got to give Mo Kelly his shot!

 

[michael hagerty]

Wow! That's... kind of a demotion for John and Ken, is it not? (IMO, I would have put Mo in from 1-4 and left everything else the same.)

In the old days, that would be getting moved from afternoon drive to middays. Commute patterns are different now, though. L.A. is its own animal, but here in Northern California, where there's still significant work-from-home and hybrid work, we're seeing people in their cars earlier in the afternoons, trying to work it so they pick the kids up from school and are home after that.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Got to give Mo Kelly his shot!

Hasn't he gotten enough of a "shot" over the years? He is so not weekdays 7-10 p.m. material. He doesn't talk with his audience, he talks AT his audience. Not only that, his protracted segments in the past on Marvel superheroes are "turn off radio."

Robin Bertulucci just KGO'd and KABC'd KFI....

We'll see what the advertisers think....

 

[TheBigA]

Official announcement:

‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ – Weeknights on KFI/iHeartRadio

Multimedia Personality and Syndicated Cultural Commentator, Mo’Kelly Brings Late Night-Themed Variety Show to KFIAM640 Los Angeles and iHeartRadio: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ LOS ANGELES (January 2, 20…

mrmokelly.com

This may be the early stages of a nationally syndicated show.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

This is such a huge mistake. I do not enjoy Mo Kelly show. From what I can tell he does not have a fan base so I don't know what is making KFI do the switch it's not a very smart move in my opinion. It would be nice if KBC could take advantage of this but probably not

 

[Gregg.]

When I first saw the headline, I wondered, is KFI adding a syndicated show to reduce costs? But no, that's not it. It's primarily to give Mo Kelly a five night a week schedule.

KFI remains live and local from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays. And much of the weekend is local as well, even if some of those hours are syndicated to other stations. At least, in this era where hosts are asked to work more hours, this is the reverse. Now the weekday shows are three, not four hours long.

 

[asugeorge1]

Gary and Shannon get to keep their full 4 hour show, presumably because they are the most popular show. I’m not a fan of losing Tim Conway from 6-10 weekday nights. He was perfect for that evening time frame and attracted that local LA night crowd. I’d rather keep Tim from 7-10 and have Mo Kelly in the 1-4 spot, but that’s just me.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Official announcement:

‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ – Weeknights on KFI/iHeartRadio

Multimedia Personality and Syndicated Cultural Commentator, Mo’Kelly Brings Late Night-Themed Variety Show to KFIAM640 Los Angeles and iHeartRadio: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ LOS ANGELES (January 2, 20…

mrmokelly.com

This may be the early stages of a nationally syndicated show.

Lol

Gary and Shannon get to keep their full 4 hour show, presumably because they are the most popular show. I’m not a fan of losing Tim Conway from 6-10 weekday nights. He was perfect for that evening time frame and attracted that local LA night crowd. I’d rather keep Tim from 7-10 and have Mo Kelly in the 1-4 spot, but that’s just me.

I rather have No Kelley I mean mo kelley at all no matter the time. Bad call for Kfi

 

[henry]

Gary and Shannon get to keep their full 4 hour show, presumably because they are the most popular show. I’m not a fan of losing Tim Conway from 6-10 weekday nights. He was perfect for that evening time frame and attracted that local LA night crowd. I’d rather keep Tim from 7-10 and have Mo Kelly in the 1-4 spot, but that’s just me.

That's kind of his schtick. People are getting off work. They want to hang out.
I figured Mo's show would be similar (like when he fills in for Conway). But his press release sounds disappointing. I'll give it a shot.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

It will be interesting to see how long they stick with this change....

 

[ercjncpr]

Hasn't he gotten enough of a "shot" over the years? He is so not weekdays 7-10 p.m. material. He doesn't talk with his audience, he talks AT his audience. Not only that, his protracted segments in the past on Marvel superheroes are "turn off radio."

Robin Bertulucci just KGO'd and KABC'd KFI....

We'll see what the advertisers think....

 

[ercjncpr]

There are a whole lot of talk hosts on radio that are very successful at talking “at” the audience as you put it.

 

[ercjncpr]

Herr is the actual release
Radio host Mo’Kelly is poised to put the “variety” back into talk radio, weeknights from 7-10pm on KFI AM640, LA’s #1 news/talk station and iHeartRadio.

Launching January 3rd, Later, with Mo’Kelly will offer not only conversations with Hollywood but complement them with unique analysis of the direction of industry from technological and cultural perspectives.

“Talk radio can be musical, joyful, comical and insightful; all at the same time,” said Mo’Kelly. “We’ve been devaluing the medium by believing otherwise and audiences deserve to have it all.”

Later, with Mo’Kelly will feature legends and upstarts, from comedy to music to film and TV. Mo’Kelly previously hosted the weekend radio program The Mo’Kelly Show, where he was honored with 4 LA Press Club awards, including “Radio Journalist of the Year” for 2020, a National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award and was named “Entertainer of the Year” by the Latin Business Association for 2021.

“Taking our inspirations from variety talk show greats like Carson, Leno and Arsenio (Hall), Later, with Mo’Kelly is bringing late-night television to the radio and changing the landscape of the news/talk format,” said Tawala Sharp, Executive Producer.

 

[TheBigA]

I’d rather keep Tim from 7-10 and have Mo Kelly in the 1-4 spot, but that’s just me.

Keep in mind that 7-10PM is a very low rated time in radio. Most stations are running some form of syndication. If you have a talent on the level of Tim Conway Jr, you want to put him on when the most people can hear him, and that's from 4 to 7P. Mo Kelly is doing something different for talk radio. Not a traditional talk show. That's something you put in the evening, when fewer people are listening.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Agreed

 

[michael hagerty]

Keep in mind that 7-10PM is a very low rated time in radio. Most stations are running some form of syndication. If you have a talent on the level of Tim Conway Jr, you want to put him on when the most people can hear him, and that's from 4 to 7P. Mo Kelly is doing something different for talk radio. Not a traditional talk show. That's something you put in the evening, when fewer people are listening.

Which is why I think you're right about this possibly being a test run for syndication. The news release compares it to "late night talk". This show, live from KFI 7-10 pm, would be live on the East Coast from 10pm-1am.

 

[TheBigA]

Which is why I think you're right about this possibly being a test run for syndication. The news release compares it to "late night talk". This show, live from KFI 7-10 pm, would be live on the East Coast from 10pm-1am.

We've talked in the past about the need for an alternative to Coast To Coast AM. That show has grown old and stale. This sounds like an attempt to do something more entertaining and non-political. It should fit in with KFI. The challenge will be getting the typical talk radio audience to accept the host and his presentation.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Official announcement:

‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ – Weeknights on KFI/iHeartRadio

Multimedia Personality and Syndicated Cultural Commentator, Mo’Kelly Brings Late Night-Themed Variety Show to KFIAM640 Los Angeles and iHeartRadio: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ LOS ANGELES (January 2, 20…

mrmokelly.com

This may be the early stages of a nationally syndicated show.

But the thing is that he is NOT of national syndicated talent caliber for all of the reasons which have already been stated.

The KFI "villagers"on an "unofficial" KFI Facebook pages are up in arms and have their pitchforks in hand and their torches burning.

Conway at 7-10 p.m. has always had a very high commercial load by advertisers who have been there on his show for years. I would sure hate to be an advertising rep trying to explain to a client why their ads are not pulling like they used to, as Mo Kelly is 75% of the time is unlistenable.