There were whispers lately that Shad hasn't been a good fit as the host of Q on CBC Radio One. Those whispers got a lot louder as we got the news that Tom Power will be the new host of Q.
Shad aka Shadrach Kabango will host his last show today. Power will take over in October.
Shad had a difficult task given how successful Jian Ghomeshi was as the host before his scandals. Listenership dropped from 220,400 in June 2015 to 168,000 listeners in June 2016.
Power has been a frequent guest host on Q and had a presence on the TV version in the interim period before Shad was hired. He currently hosts the morning show on CBC Radio 2. Plans for the CBC Radio 2 morning show are not set.
Shad, who was in the post for all of 16 months, is expected to stay at CBC, likely in a new show about music.
Power definitely is a great pick to host Q. As for other internal candidates, Gill Deacon should have received great consideration for the post. Deacon has done a great job filling in on Q and she should get more time guest hosting the show.
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One name floating out there for Q and now possibly for the morning show for CBC Radio 2 is George Stroumboulopoulos. Strombo may not be interested in either gig though he could be one of the interim hosts until Power takes over.
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You can't help but wonder if Shad was a sacrificial lamb in all of this. If CBC felt they couldn't hire Power to replace Ghomeshi right away, then Shad wasn't destined to last long anyway. Q needs stability and hopefully, Power provides that for the show.
Q airs on CBC Radio One at 10 am local time and on radio stations in the United States via Public Radio International. You can also listen to Q on Sirius/XM Channel 169 and on the CBC Radio app. For the TV version, check your local listings.
photo credit: Dustin Rabin/CBC
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