CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

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CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby jon » Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:01 am

Morning show host Ryan Jespersen fired by 630 CHED
Jeff Labine
Sep 27, 2020
Edmonton Journal

Parent company Corus Entertainment confirmed online rumours of the radio morning show host’s departure from the Edmonton station.

Long-time Edmonton media personality Ryan Jespersen is no longer with 630 CHED, parent company Corus Entertainment confirmed Sunday.

Jamie Jensen, communications associate with Global News and Corus Radio, in an email to Postmedia confirmed online rumours of the radio morning show host’s departure.

“We thank him for his contributions. Out of respect to employee privacy, we are unable to provide further details,” Jensen said.

Jespersen confirmed to Postmedia he had been fired and said he plans to release a statement in the coming days. Jespersen hosted his own show on 630 CHED for nearly six years after leaving Citytv Edmonton’s Breakfast Television in 2014. He has since been removed from the radio station’s website.

Jespersen’s departure follows a dispute with Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel over comments the radio show host said regarding city staff. Nickel said on Twitter he took issue with his staff being called chimpanzees on the show.

“You can all me chimpanzee all you want, I don’t care but you do not get to go after my staff,” Nickel said in a video posted to Twitter on Saturday. “You do not get to call them names, you do not get to make them feel intimidated, or trying to intimidate them for working for me. Mr. Jespersen, your behaviour is unacceptable and abhorrent.”

jlabine@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/jefflabine
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Re: CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby freqfreak2 » Sun Sep 27, 2020 2:50 pm

Given what I know of Mike Nickel and the people who support him, Ryan Jespersen's characterization of them as chimpanzees might actually be considered a compliment.

Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relative and they've made less of a mess of the planet than homo sapiens have (and they never attempted to divide the world by way of political ideologies).

Jespersen likely made the comment in terms of relative political competence rather than ethnic make up. All one has to do is look at Nickel's own social media posts over the last six months.

And remember it was Nickel who suggested the chimpanzee reference was a racial slur of some sort hurled towards his staff. Maybe calling them "goof balls" would have been a wiser choice made by Jespersen (with apologies in advance to objects of a circular nature).

Instead of giving Jespersen a chance to explain and/or apologize for the remark, Corus has done what it has done to a long host of their on air personalities (Byron Christopher, Dave Rutherford, Dan Tencer, Andrew Grose) and simply fired him.

We've also recently seen the high-profile departures of Daryl McIntyre, Stacey Brotzel and Rob Williams over at Bell, making for unsettling times in the broadcast industry.

McIntyre was likely too costly to keep on, while Brotzel remains married to a political figure critical of the current premier. And with the UCP letting provincial money bleed into civic elections, no doubt media dollars of all sorts are at stake.

There was once a day when a media outlet was not ashamed of the political stance they took (by way of editorials or choice of investigative reporting). Before the concentration of ownership, it was a fairly level playing field.

We now live in a world where the politically right-of-centre is having a field day tearing down and attacking those who employ voices of reason that oppose their views. It's becoming a mob mentality that may blossom into hysteria. One only has to look south of the border.

Slippery slopes these days folks. Pioneers are the ones with arrows in their backs. We all have choices in terms of who we listen to, what we read, and who we vote for.

And at the end of the day, we should respect the decisions made by the majority. That's why they call it democracy.

If you don't like it, move to North Korea.
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Re: CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby Broadcast Babe » Sun Sep 27, 2020 4:01 pm

I've been following the demise of RJ, and reading between the lines, it appears there may have been other issues. Big media companies begin by 'papering' employees when given the chance. And his file may have had one too many entries. The best way to find yourself out if work in the radio biz is to anger the sales department. They rule the roost. When clients complain to the sales department, the program manager is left with little choice. I wonder if RJs departure may have been hastened by the sales team. I know one thing, if you don't like a host, complain directly to the show's sponsors. They're the ones footing the bill.
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Re: CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby groundskeeper willy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 4:31 pm

I suspect Ryan's days were numbered regardless of what he said or who complained about it. Corus management has been looking for every opportunity to 'rightsize' at every station they own, especially now in the financially-challenging Covid era. Simply look at the recent morning show syndication rollouts on the music outlets. Talk is a little tougher to syndicate across provincial borders, it'd be a challenge to run live daytime programming from, let's say CKNW, on either CHED or CHQR, as those two markets could care less about the goings-on in Vancouver. But if you had an exceptionally strong host with a good grasp of what's happening in Alberta, you could easily simulcast middays or afternoons on CHED & CHQR. Simply make the scope of the shows a little more 'provincial' while avoiding being too specifically local, and the Corus accountants would be happy to save those extra salaries.

CHED easily subbed in the Danielle Smith feed from CHQR last week as they were kicking Ryan to the curb, we'll just have to wait and see if they make her the permanent host in the slot. My guess is that they'll announce the change this week.
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Re: CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby Promotions Guy » Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:31 am

This is interesting. The chimpanze reference, whether valid or not , appears to upset Nichol because it referenced his staff. I agree they should not be judged for things the Councilor does ir says. I believe that crossed the line. They are paid to do a job. Nichol was elected. Take him to task, not his staff.
I believe Ryan is the first of a current move to reduce costs. Back a few years Dave Rutherford did this time slot. He was based at QR in Calgary so there is history that one host can do both. I am confident more changes to come as the bean counters continue to destroy what is left of commercial radio.
We also have to remember that head guru Syd Smith is retiring so an ideal time for more changes. It is unfortunate as Jespersen had cobbled together a following. My humble opinion, it will get worse.
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Re: CHED Fires Ryan Jespersen

Postby jon » Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:23 pm

Tuesday's letters: Radio host's firing goes too far
Edmonton Journal
Sep 29, 2020

OK, this has gone far enough. For crying out loud, nobody should lose their job because they said something that offends a few people. I don’t agree with Ryan Jespersen’s religious beliefs, and maybe I don’t share Mike Nickel’s taste in music. So what? Live, and let live. I fully support both gentlemen in their endeavours; both are top-drawer performers.

Wasn’t losing Don Cherry enough? The person who made the decision to turf Jespersen should take a good long look in the mirror.

H.N. Huget, Edmonton
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