On the air: Kristy Knight bounces back
Jim Fannon ready to return to radio
They were voices familiar to thousands of listeners across Niagara.
One was a bombastic talk show host, the other hard rock’s leading lady.
Both exited their stations under less than ideal circumstances. But for Jim Fannon and Kristy Knight, 2016 has seen a return to local airwaves at new homes. And both are eager to wipe the slate clean.
Two years ago, Fannon was dismissed by CKTB 610 for criticizing the lack of local bands booked for the Niagara Wine Festival.
“From a management standpoint, it was having an opinion on a sponsor,” he says. “That’s what it boiled down to.” Once ousted, Fannon hardly disappeared.
He hosted local events such as the Niagara Music Awards, and was the St. Catharines Green party candidate in last fall’s federal election — his fifth campaign for MP. He has also run for St. Catharines MPP and mayor over the years.
He’s hardly been silent, but Fannon’s long wait for another talk show ends Oct. 22 when he premieres the new Jim Fannon Show live and online at the Sessions on the River studio in Fort Erie.
In addition to political and topical issues, Fannon will devote a large part of the broadcast to Niagara musicians.
Audiences can attend live, or listen and watch at www.sessionsontheriver.com.
“You know, two years is a long time for a guy like me to have his mouth shut,” he says.
“I gravitated towards some of the topics mainstream media didn’t pick up. So my hunger to get back on the air, and interview the people that want to talk about what’s wrong with the system sometimes, was just amplified.”
The talk show runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. After a break, Fannon returns at 7:30 p.m. for a one-hour showcase with his musical guest.
Knight, meanwhile, is finding her groove again at classic rock station Giant FM 91.7.
She says the station was eager to pick her up shortly after she was among 380 job cuts by station owner Bell Media in November. It required a two-month wait before joining another local station, as per her severance agreement with Bell.
It was two months she desperately needed anyway, says Knight. Her troubles started with the death of friend and longtime HTZ-FM co-host ‘Iron’ Mike Benson to cancer in 2013.
“The walls just didn’t feel the same for me,” she says. “And soon after Mikey died, I went through a horrific and stressful marital breakdown. All of it ended up with me being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.”
Knight started at hard rock station HTZ-FM in 1988, leaving in 1999 to work for record label Loggerhead. She returned to the station in 2003.
Three months after she was let go, she was back on the air at classic rock station Giant FM. She calls the three month gap a “blessing.”
“It forced me to actually take a break,” she says. “I’d been on the air since I was 15 years old almost every day, so it was nice just to regroup, relax and take the time.”
She calls getting back on the air “fantastic.”
“As soon as I walked in the door it felt like home. You know, bad things happen to get you where you belong.”
Knight is on air from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays with co-host Jef Brown, playing nostalgic songs she didn’t get the chance to at HTZ-FM.
“We all get older and right now I’m loving in it because I’m listening to the music of my teenaged years,” she says. “I’m 52 years old and I love hearing Trooper songs again, I love hearing The Beatles, Paul McCartney, all these songs I would secretly listen to.”
Knight believes some of the country’s best radio “happening right now is in Niagara,” and is glad to hear some personality creep back onto the airwaves. It’s the type of radio that makes a difference beyond corporate playlists.
“It’s nice to be real, and be yourself … the audience will always gravitate,” she says. “We’ve got to pay the mortgage, got to get the kids to school. Those kind of life things.
“But those life things are not only hassles, they’re fun.”
These days, Knight finds herself laughing as much as she ever did on radio.
“There’s a lot of people that give many important things to this world, but if I can just make somebody smile once a day, that’s pretty good.”