KiddChris signed with Philadelphia rock station
WYSP and The KiddChris Show began broadcasting on Monday, August 29, 2005. While Chris made remarks that the show was "gay" and that "it'll be gone in six months," this incarnation of his show lasted for over two years, and the station exercised their right to extend his contract for one more. On August 21, 2006, it was announced that The KiddChris Show had been syndicated to a rock station in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show entered syndication on August 28, 2006. On September 13, 2007, the Philadelphia station announced a format change from all talk to a rock/talk hybrid. The official change, which left KiddChris on during the drive-time hours of 3pm-7pm, was announced during the KiddChris Show. Moments before the announcement, Chris, with
Opie and Anthony in-studio, commented that "It would be a hoot if they fired us live right after the big announcement." After announcing the format change, the station dropped to music and The KiddChris Show did not return to the air, causing confusion on multiple listener-run message boards as to their fate. On September 14, 2007, Chris appeared on The
Opie and Anthony show and there was no mentioning of a firing. The show returned to the air on September 17, 2007, but with old recordings in-between music, leaving fans of the show confused as to its fate. Soon after, Chris stated that they needed to "establish the rock first. The show WILL be back", which confirmed the statements made by other sources that the show will be returning to its original form. On the
Howard Stern Show on October 22, 2007, KiddChris called in to discuss
Bruce Springsteen and
Billy Joel. Howard quickly turned the topic of conversation to Chris' employment at the station, claiming a "pretty good source" told him Chris would take over the morning slot from
Opie and Anthony relatively soon. Chris had no comment on the rumor. On October 23, 2007, the Philadelphia rock station ended their syndication of
Opie and Anthony's morning show. There was no mention of it on-air by Chris. KiddChris ended his show that night unexpectedly with
Journey 's "Don't Stop Believin'." He has stated on-air in the past that if anything were to "go down" in regards to the show, he would play that song (though he originally claimed the song would play in the background and he would continue on as if nothing was happening). No morning or afternoon show aired for about a month. On November 6, 2007, KiddChris was called by possible evening DJ Tic-Tac about his future with the station. In so many words, he stated that he "will be back", but claimed not to know when or in what time slot. Callers asked whether he was joining the
Howard Stern Show staff and he said that would be impossible since he is staying in Philadelphia. He reminded fans that if he was fired, he would no longer be featured on the website. During the week of November 18, 2007, Chris's website was changed to a countdown with the tagline "Are You Ready?", set to end on Monday, November 26 at 6 AM. The countdown also appeared on his MySpace page. Prior to this, the station began to air short recordings featuring the "Are You Ready?" tagline, as well as the opening of "The Game" by
Motörhead (the theme song of The KiddChris Show). The recordings varied; they included short clips from the show, clips from Brad the Cripple interviews, recordings of callers asking what happened to the show and if he was going to return in the mornings and
Howard Stern discussing the future of KiddChris in morning drive. However, there was no official voiceover to these clips, no direct mention of "The KiddChris Show" or any date of return. The KiddChris Show officially returned to the airwaves on Monday, November 26, 2007, at 6 AM EST.
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Michael Klein reported in his Sunday column of the show's return. The move to the morning slot was notable for a few reasons. It replaced the
Opie and Anthony Show. In January, the show was second to rival Philadelphia morning show hosts
Preston and Steve among men ages 18–34. In May 2008, KiddChris was fired over a guest's racist parody song (three months after it was aired.) Also fired was program director John Cook. ==Post Philadelphia developments==