Kiss off: Brotha’ Fred unplugs connection to Charlotte

Christopher “Brotha’ Fred” Frederick

One year to the day after he was hired as morning personality at Top 40 WKSC-FM (103.5) here, Christopher “Brotha’ Fred” Frederick has severed ties to the city that put him on the radio map.

While his Kiss FM morning show is still heard on a few other Clear Channel Radio stations and the company’s iHeartRadio app, Frederick is being replaced on WHQC-FM in Charlotte, North Carolina, which had been his home base for more than five years. A local duo known as Ace and T.J. will take over as of January 9.

As his legion of fans in Charlotte took to social media to lament his departure, Frederick told me in a Twitter exchange over the weekend that the news was “not surprising,” adding: “Luckily, things are going well here.” Later, he told fans on Facebook: “I am beyond appreciative for the opportunity to host this show in Chicago and thank Charlotte for over five years of loyalty!”

Since he debuted in Chicago last January, things have been going well for the 31-year-old Boston native. With sidekicks Angi Taylor and David Livingston, Brotha’ Fred’s Neighborhood ranks fifth in mornings with a 5.1 percent share of listeners in the target audience between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the latest Arbitron Portable People Meter figures. That’s up from the ninth-place ranking he inherited from his predecessor, Kevin “DreX” Buchar.

But Kiss FM remains in a spirited battle with CBS Radio Top 40 rival WBBM-FM (96.3), where Jamar “J Niice” McNeil and Julian Nieh rank third in mornings with a 6.0 share of 18-to-34 listeners.

In addition to his radio work in Charlotte, Frederick was something of a local television star, co-hosting the nightly Fox News Edge on WCCB-TV in the nation’s 24th largest market. “The Fox affiliate there had a perfect platform for me — one that I haven’t seen in any other local market,” he once told me. “I am unconventional, though, and can’t wait for the perfect opportunity to develop a television partnership in Chicago.”

Shortly after he started here, I asked Frederick how he would know when he’d really “made it” in Chicago. “When I am invited to throw out the first pitch at both a Cubs and a Sox game — and nobody ‘boos’ me,” he said.

Almost a year later, he’s still waiting patiently for those invitations. But, he added jokingly: “They almost asked me to play for the Bulls, though, had the lockout not been resolved.”