Montreal Radio: Brill Media Launches New Morning Show At CJFM

New At CJFM: 'Counsin' Vinny, Shannon King

Listeners of CJFM Virgin Radio 95.9 are upset with the station after it quietly dismissed its morning team of “Freeway” Frank Depalo and Natasha Gargiulo last week, and on Monday morning announced it had hired “Cousin Vinny” Barrucco and Shannon King to replace them.

Barrucco comes back to the station from archrival The Beat 92.5, which he left Virgin to join when it launched in 2011. He left The Beat in February, being coy about where he was going. It’s standard practice in the industry to have a non-compete clause that prevents on-air talent from immediately leaving for a competitor, so Barrucco has been off the air for six months.

King comes to Virgin from Kiss 105.3 in Sudbury, Ont., and before that Kiss 99.3 in Timmins, Ont. She’s originally from Guelph, Ont.

We’ve shared so much together.
It’s been a historic run. No words.
Except for these .Thank U / Merci MTL for your continued decade long of ♥️ & support. we miss u @freewayfrank & @natasha_gargiulo always have each other’s back See u soon #FREEWAYANDNATASHA @virginradiomontreal pic.twitter.com/O6bGCwzGbi

— Natasha Gargiulo (@NatashaGargiulo) August 8, 2019

The Montreal Gazette reports Gargiulo and Depalo were told last Wednesday their services were no longer required, and the station scrubbed references to them from its website. On Thursday, they posted a video to social media relaying “probably some of the worst news we’ve had in our life” that they had been fired.