Is Charlamagne Ready to Move On From The Breakfast Club?

Charlamagne tha God has come a long way since his infamous mid 2000's interview with video vixen Buffie The Body on a South Carolina radio station that got him noticed by Wendy Williams. Charlamagne manned his own morning show after co-hosting with Wendy until he did another infamous interview in 2009 with rapper Beanie Sigel saying quite a few disparaging things about Jay-Z.



Directly or indirectly Charlamagne was let go by the Radio One Philly (100.3 The Beat) as a result of that interview. They told him they were going in another direction with their morning show. And about a year later, Charlamagne resurfaced in New York City on Power 105.1 on a new morning show simply called The Breakfast Club.

He along with DJ Envy and Angela Yee have created the most iconic radio show for the culture of Hip Hop. Arguably "The Breakfast Club" is the most important syndicated radio show in the history of radio. For those that question that statement think of the diversity of guests that consider it a "must-do," a "go-to" program. From presidential candidates to the biggest stars in Hip Hop, and everyone else in between have appeared on The Breakfast Club. Their guest lists rivals any of the late-night or daytime TV talk shows on ABC, NBC, and CBS. This is all due to what Charlamagne as a personality brings to the show each and everyday.

But now it may be time to move on.


Recently Joe Budden speculated what it might be like in a radio universe without Charlamagne.

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Charlamagne's iHeartRadio counterparts Ryan Seacrest and Bobby Bones are more high profile with mainstream audiences and their popularity is immense. The ever evolving Charlamagne wants to do more. His brand has become larger than being just a part of a morning show, a TV host, a podcaster, and an interviewer on his own YouTube platform.

The author of two New York Times Best Selling Books talks about his brand with Devi Brown.




What could be next?

If he were to leave The Breakfast Club, then terrestrial radio is a wrap. Charlamagne would be looking to get on network TV in a platform similar to Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, or Stephen Colbert. A weeknight 12:30 slot following one of the previous mentioned hosts is not far-fetched. He's done a lot of TV hosting on MTV and BET. He's looking to do much bigger things.

If Charlamagne were to remain in radio, it would have to be on Sirius XM. If there is any radio host or media personality that he aspires to be like in terms of influence, then that person would be Howard Stern. Could Charlamagne drive subscribers to Sirius XM? A better question might be, is there anyone else out there besides him that could do so? Not to say at this point that Charlamagne can match his popularity, but the 66 year old Howard Stern will retire from radio. One day.

Would Spotify, Apple Music, or even a Netflix or Hulu, be players in a world of digital audio and on demand content?  (Although we can't see Charlamagne and Ebro, the Global Editor of Apple Music, having a working relationship.)

Charlamagne's contract with iHeartMedia is up in December. Negotiations have been private and hasn't gotten much attention.

Each member of The Breakfast Club talked about where they stood in continuing with The Breakfast Club in an interview with Revolt TV's State of the Culture hosts.



The answer to the question is yes. Charlamagne is ready to move on.

But somehow we believe that iHeartMedia developed the weekend program and podcast, “Hollywood Unlocked with Jason Lee" with co-hosts Melyssa Ford and DJ Damage as a backup plan if The Breakfast Club were ever to break up at the end of the year. But as we see it, the show could go on with Joe Budden.