Originally posted Wednesday, October 10, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Ryan Cameron is returning to radio eight months after he left mornings at V-103, this time at R&B station Majic 107.5/97.5.
He will take over afternoons from Silas "SiMan" Alexander and Chubb Rock starting November 5, airing from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.. SiMan and Chubb move to 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Back in January, Cameron departed V-103 to become a business partner at branding firm Rakanter and later, also a business partner with management consulting firm the Threaded Agency, which focuses on sports and technology.
For Cameron, this is not just a standard radio DJ job. If that were the case, he said in an interview, he wouldn’t have taken the job. He said he plans to create content and strategy for Urban One, which owns Majic and other radio stations as well as its digital and TV platforms.
He said he will work in the mornings with Threaded and Rakanter, then with Urban One and Majic in the afternoons. (He will also continue his work as live game announcer for Falcons and Hawks home games.)
Peter Sorckhoff, who runs both Rakanter and Threaded, said Cameron can provide Urban One advertisers with more than just a standard endorsement. "It's not that one-dimensional mercenary-style endorsement deal anymore," Sorckhoff said. "Frankly, that kind of limits his ability to maximize his value."
Instead, Cameron - using his expertise about the African-American community over the past quarter century - can help create a comprehensive business strategy for advertisers across multiple platforms that will benefit everyone involved.
Cameron - who himself is an established brand in Atlanta - said he spoke with Alfred Liggins, Urban One CEO, about generating digital content. For instance, he'd love to take some of his favorite stories, narrate them and turn them into animated or sketch comedy bits. (He did a live variation of this at Village Theatre over the weekend.)
In a sense, this is a homecoming for Cameron. Urban One also owns Hot 107.9. Hot signed Cameron from V-103 more than 20 years ago to become its first morning man and helped him establish his now legendary presence in the city.
"It is a dream come true to add Ryan's amazing talent to our line up," said Tim Davies, Radio One's regional vice president.
Cameron, now in his early 50s, has segued onto a station that aims to satisfy his demographic, playing R&B music spanning his entire career.
Majic, since adding back its 97.5 signal in 2016, has been garnering strong ratings. It ranked sixth last month in overall ratings, fifth among 25 to 54 year olds. It's now easily outpacing its closest rival Kiss 104.1 across the board. Kiss just lost its afternoon host Sasha the Diva, who is joining a syndicated morning show.
Here’s what Cameron said earlier in the year when announcing his departure from V-103:
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