UTICA-ROME -- Just about a month after being introduced by a fake format flip that fooled local and national media alike, new KISS-FM (WSKS/WSKU) morning host Eric Thomas provides a glimpse of how things look from his viewpoint during the show.
Thomas says that's MVP Joe behind the mics on the left edge of the shot, and intern Kelly on the right side.
Thomas revealed he would be the new morning host at the CHR two-station simulcast after listeners spent all weekend calling in with their memories during a "Goodbye KISS-FM Weekend" last month. We ate the bait at first too, along with NBC affiliate WKTV, the Utica Observer-Dispatch and even AllAccess.com.
I am surprised so many people fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, especially, during a ratings period. I guess the average person would not know better, but I thought most media people would have known what was going on. Obviously WKTV went along with it because there are ties between radio station employees and management at WKTV. Nice partnership. Problem with that entire joke...many of the reporting sentences were lies.
Idea to fool people was good, no doubt about it, how it was done was very misleading. The morning show itself is very weak anyway, but in today's world, most people do not care or pay as much attention to the on-air talent as they did many years ago. If they did, some of the stations with weak talent would be at the bottom of the ratings. It seems as if today, what matters most is the music, contests and promotions. Many stations that just track with out of town voice talent are even doing well.