In January 1997 after a 3-month contractually mandated non-competition period, Germain brought his show to KABC as "Ask Mr. KABC". As part of promoting his show on the new station, newspaper ads ran in Los Angeles area papers claiming that Mr. KABC had been switched at birth and that explained his time as Mr. KFI. Later he would sometimes be known simply as "Mr. K". Initially, the show received poor ratings due to inconsistent time slots. The show was frequently preempted by Los Angeles Dodgers games while Germain also spent time filling in as a morning talk show co-host with Brian Whitman.