Greg Hoffman and Andre Covington have been staples of morning radio in Fresno for a quarter-century.<\/p>\n
That ended Friday when the pair officially retired \u201cGreg and Dre\u201d from Q97\u2019s morning lineup.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI want to say thank you to all our listeners for giving us an opportunity to entertain them on a daily basis,\u201d Hoffman told The Bee prior to the final broadcast last week. \u201cMy hope is that we rewarded them with laughs to put a smile on their face and thought-provoking discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoffman and Covington came to Q97 in 2013 having already established themselves on the local radio scene with the Juice Crew, whose popular morning show aired on B95 through the 2000s. With \u201cGreg and Dre\u201d the pair kept things topical, offering a series of segments like \u201cLean on the Listeners,\u201d in which the audience solicited advice from the hosts.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe focused on topics which had people look inside themselves, hopefully starting discussions that would carry over to friends, family, coworkers, and loved ones, Hoffman said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was always to be a positive distraction to the pressure and stress that life puts on us all.\u201d<\/p>\n That proved popular.<\/p>\n The show never dropped out of the Top 3 in the Nielson Ratings for the key demographics, Hoffman said, and it hit No. 1 more than a few times. \u201cI never wanted the show to be anything less than its very best. Our listeners have always deserved the best version us daily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope we delivered that to then till the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoffman will remain in the Fresno radio market (as Operations Manager for Lotus Fresno) and on the station.<\/p>\n On Monday he moved to the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. time slot with a new show, \u201cThe Book of Greg.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Covington, in turn, is continuing his career as a touring stand-up comedian<\/a> and launched a 559afterdark<\/a>, a local entertainment site he runs with his wife.<\/p>\n \u2018The Dana Cortez Show\u2019 takes over<\/p>\n Dana Cortez will be taking over the 6-10 a.m. slot with her nationally syndicated morning show and podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cortez was the first Latina to host a nationally syndicated morning show, leading a trio of personalities that includes her co-host\/producer (and husband) DJ Automatic and their friend Anthony A. The show plays for laughs, but also hits the trending topics and pop-culture.<\/p>\n Hoffman and Covington officially passed the reigns to Cortez at last weekend\u2019s Party at the Park event.<\/a><\/p>\n Other changes at Q97.1<\/p>\n The morning show retirement is one of several shifts for the top 40 station. They include:<\/p>\n Kimmie Marquez can now be heard in the afternoons (and Saturday) starting at 2 p.m.Lexi, the former afternoon host, has left the station.<\/p>\n