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Finally, Jalang’o agrees to pair up with Jeff Koinange at Hot 96

BONIFACE KASEMBELIApr 10, 20172k

Jeff Koinange goes to radio.

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Felix Odiwour, popularly known as Jalang’o, has joined Royal Media Services, the company that runs Citizen television.

.At Royal Media Jalang’o, who signed off from Standard Group’s Radio Maisha on Friday 31^st April, will join the lowly-rated Hot 96 radio station where he will co-host the morning show with Jeff Koinange.

His move comes barely a month after it emerged that he had rejected the offer to move from Radio Maisha, a more popular Swahili radio station with a national reach. It appears RMS services sweetened the offer for the comedian-cum-radio presenter to make him move.

As he left Radio Maisha, friends may have taken his joke too seriously when he said he was going to work on the campaign teams of Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Kisumu Senator Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o. Even Business Today took his lie hook, line and sinker and reported how Jalang’o was jumping into new territory of political consulting.

The Jalang’o-Jeff partnership is expected to debut this week on Hot 96, according to sources at Royal Media, which hopes the two will attract listeners to the radio station that seeks to attract urban youth. Hot 96 has been struggling to find space at the high table in a radio industry dominated by Swahili stations and the more radical English radio, Classic 105 FM.

Jalang’o has established himself as humorous analyst who pokes fun at issues while delivering the message home. His show at Radio Maisha has become popular especially among the not-so-sophisticated audience in the middle and low-class audience as well as upcountry listeners.

Jeff Koinange, who was hired by Citizen two months ago for his JKL show, is likeable by across-section of Kenyans and will be hoping to transfer most of his TV fans to the radio, even though his stint at the defunct Nation FM with a country music show did not strike a chord with listeners. Besides presenting the Wednesday bulletin and JKL, he will be hosting the morning show on Hot 96 on weekdays.

[crp]