Levy, the new host of Capital FM’s ‘The Late Date’ show, is looking to take the show to continental popularity although there is still some adjusting to do.
On Monday, Capital FM unveiled Levy real names Arinaitwe Innocent Levy, as the new host of the night show ‘The Late Date’ following the exit of Daniel Irish Kanyerezi in October last year. DJ Will has since been sitting in.
Levy joined Capital this year after resigning at Bob FM in December. An opportunity had opened at Capital and he notified his employer (Bob FM) about his intentions to pursue it.
At Kisementi, he began doing voice overs and weeks later, Management talked him into taking The Late Date seat, to which he agreed.
In an exclusive interview with Plugged, Levy said The Late Date is going to sound different, an attempt that Capital FM has deliberately made to change a format that has been static for so many years.
“We have changed the programming of the show, which the fans are not yet used to, but they will get used, because it’s much better than what it was. They should expect something more fresh, lots of fun and happiness,” Levy told Plugged on Wednesday.
The show will now have a new feature, ‘Confessions’, an hour where people confess the things they have done in their relationships and apologize where necessary. The ‘Urequest’ where the host took requests will be dedicated to love dedications.
“You dedicate a love song to a loved one and you tell me why you want to dedicate a song to that particular person,” he says.
Over the years, The Late Date which has previously been hosted by DJ Ronnie, Shawn Kimuli, Jimmy Jones, Val Oketcho and Daniel Irish Kanyerezi, has grown to be among Capital FM’s most popular shows. It ranks third behind the Big Breakfast Show and The Drive in ratings.
Levy told Plugged that the idea of him joining the list of “big dogs” that have hosted The Late Date was a challenge at first.
“I was telling myself, this show has been hosted by big dogs. But then what came to mind was, all these things are done by human beings. So, the people who have done this show have red blood, not white. So, why can’t I do this show even better than those that did it earlier on? I like taking challenges and working towards them.”
Though, he admits there is a lot he has to adjust to – audience, show format and music genre. Bob FM being strictly an American country music station and Capital being more flexible means Levy now has a wider pool of music to select his playlist from.
“The night show at Bob, we weren’t mending relationships. We had a program before my show that was doing that. What I did was keep listeners company throughout the night and to play cool love jams. Here (Late Date) it’s more intimate.”
But the 6 years at Bob have taught him a lot, he says.
His plan is to see The Late Date drawing in a continental audience considering “Capital is the best in Uganda and one of the best in East Africa”.
“I’m looking at Africa right now. The best night show. And I know we shall hit that target.”
He says the feedback, since he got on The Late Date on Monday, has been good so far.
Levy, 30, launched his broadcast career in 2015, as a presenter on Bob FM during his second year at Ndejje university.
“I’ve literally done every show at Bob FM. I’ve done the morning show, I’ve done the mid-morning show, I’ve done the evening show, the night show, weekend shows… I was also a sit-in presenter. I was the presenter they would call at any time and do any show. I was versatile,” he told Plugged.
Off-air, Levy is a voice over artist and also does emceeing on corporate events and weddings. He has hosted the Abryanz Style and Fashion Awards (ASFA) for two years in a row – 2018 and 2019.
He went to school at Kampala Parents School. After P7, he joined Katikamu SDA and Old Kampala Secondary for his O’Level. His A’Level was split between Standard College in Ntungamo and St. Lawrence Creamland Campus.
From there, he joined Ndejje University where he pursued a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications (Journalism).
