Chris Palliser's Presentation

Chris Palliser – Sarah Cousineau – March 26, 2019

Chris Palliser braves the dark winters of Fort McMurray to get started in radio, and eventually becomes an on-air personality at Victoria’s Virgin Radio station. Against all odds, this is where he is reunited and paired with Brittany King, an old colleague he worked with up north.

Originally named “Cool Radio”, Virgin Radio is now revamping its branding with the arrival of  Palliser, a key person in this fresh start. Despite the pressure felt by the change, Palliser is incredibly excited and honoured to be a part of it.

“We popped a bottle of champagne, and said let’s go get it,” says Palliser.

Palliser worked solo for over 15 years before he is paired up with King as part of Virgin Radio rebranding scheme. Some adjustments were needed but above all, Palliser and King needed to connect.  

“I went for numerous secret Penny Farthing pub dinners, and we just chatted,” says Palliser.

After chatting in person, conversing for hours on the phone, and doing it all over again, Palliser and King become the official morning team at Virgin Radio.

“Brittany and I, we seem to be bouncing the ideas from each other, our work ethics matches up, “ says Palliser.

The content on Virgin morning shows with Brittany and Chris has to be partly prepared beforehand. A topic is chosen the night before or morning of, and the two hosts have to come up with a show that seems as candid as possible, despite being rehearsed. Sometimes, one strays too far from the topic and have to come back to it, or choose to play a song abruptly.  After their show, Palliser and King discuss how the show went and how to adjust their performance to make it better. Working with another person this way is a constant work in progress, says Palliser.

“There is a certain amount of ego, personality you need to have to be ‘entertaining’,” says Palliser.

Palliser’s and King’s are both charismatic and great at working with people. This is a solid foundation to ensure their personality and chemistry will keep developing over the years.

As Palliser’s boss says, “give it time”.

The energy and the ‘community’ focus of Virgin’s radio station, as well as Palliser’s excitement for the radio’s revamp and his growing connection with teammate King, are looking promising for ratings to go up once again.