EDMONTON RADIO: Are we losing our voices?

The sudden departure of Melissa Wright from K-97 after 20 years of service is not going to be another one of these Disgruntled Former Employee stories.

“I don’t want to trash anybody,” she says. “I’m going to have to start looking for a job.”

People in Edmonton radio get fired all the time – but the downsizing is escalating at an alarming rate. Industry trends across North America show eroding profits, fewer local on-air personalities, more syndicated content, single hosts where once were teams, less shifts, and even less news, with some of the “talk” out-sourced to voice tracks produced out of town. K-97 morning show co-host Bill Cowen was let go a few months ago, preceded by Steve Zimmerman, so the Terry Bill and Steve Show is now just The Terry Evans Show.

Requests for comment from K-97 program director Jeff Murray to explain the situation were not immediately returned – and to answer the question of who, if anyone, will be taking over Wright’s 9-2 midday slot. Right now it sounds like tracks. Calls to other stations’ PDs to answer other questions were not returned, either. Like is this new station “The Chuck” (formerly 92.5 Fresh FM) eventually going to have real announcers, or are they sticking with tracks, too? Who knows?

Look, Corporate Overlords: What you do with your radio stations is your business, but listeners have a stake in this, too. Melissa Wright was a huge part of the K-97 identity. Her fans – who are crying bloody murder on social media – know her as a straight-shooter with heart. She’s also a broadcasting pioneer: the first female announcer on a rock station in Canada to host a show solo. There have since come others – Lauren Hunter on Sonic 102.9, Pam Kirby on the Bear 100.3 – but Wright led the way. We’re going to miss her on K-97.

Listeners still value their local radio announcers, at least for the traffic reports. At best, the DJ is your invisible friend who knows your town, who knows you, and who picks songs you might like to hear – a lovely illusion since we all know playlists are largely determined by Corporate.

Radio people move around, and they stick around. Wright says she’s going to miss the people she worked with for 20 years (less two days), and her listeners. “I’m can’t believe I’m not going to talk to them every day,” she says. But there’s hope she’ll be on the air again before too long. Both Pepper and Dylan were fired from 104.9 Virgin FM in 2015, but they bounced back as the morning show hosts on KISS 91.7. Terry Evans has been kicking around Edmonton radio forever. Turns out he was fired from K-97 twice in the past – and yet by some magic is still there.

Melissa Wright says she’s never been fired – a rare thing in radio, especially after 20 years – “and now I share that dubious distinction.” It hurts.

Making it worse is the cruel broadcasting tradition of shunning the outcast: This once highly-paid and vital part of the brand is terminated with little notice, or explanation other than “restructuring,” is unceremoniously escorted out of the building, and has his or her identity stricken from the official record. It’s as if they’d never existed.

They deserve better – and so do their listeners.