2020 in radio

The following is a list of events affecting radio broadcasting in 2020. Events listed include radio program debuts, finales, cancellations, and station launches, closures and format changes, as well as information about controversies.

For topics pertaining to radio in the United Kingdom, see 2020 in British radio.
List of years in radio (table)
In music
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
In television
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
In home video
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Notable events

January
Date Event Source
1 WWIZ West Middlesex, Pennsylvania/Youngstown, Ohio, United States, having dropped Oldies on October 25, 2019, amid speculation of a change to its format, returns to Oldies after playing Christmas music. [1]
KSKI-FM Sun Valley, Idaho, which dropped Adult Album Alternative on November 1, 2019, returns with Alternative. [2]
W233CM/WYCT-HD2 Pensacola, which began filling the Holiday void with Christmas music in November 2019, went straight to stunting with “Baby Shark” ahead of a potential flip. Its previous ESPN Radio format had already relocated to WEBY/W256DL in August 2019. On January 13, the station returns with a Soft AC format, billed as “Pensacola’s Blend,” barring any legal issues from SiriusXM over the “Blend” name. [3]
WLGX Louisville, who also joined the list of stations playing Christmas music after dropping the ratings-challenged Adult Top 40 “100.5 Kiss-FM” on November 27, 2019, after four years (and also joined AC rival WVEZ in bringing Holiday music to the Kentuckiana area), leads up to a return to its previous '90s-centric Variety Hits format on January 14. [4]
In a time brokerage agreement with RM Broadcasting, KCXL Liberty, Missouri/Kansas City began airing Radio Sputnik six hours a day, which will run until December 31, 2022. The arrangement is already being criticized by local media for allowing a Russian-associated entity to broadcast programs that is considered propaganda to a Midwestern market. [5]
2 Urban One's Reach Media moved Rickey Smiley's syndicated morning show from R&B/Hip-Hop outlets to Urban AC and Adult R&B stations, where it replaced Tom Joyner's program due to the latter's retirement. Smiley's replacement at R&B/Hip-Hop will be a new program hosted by Smiley's co-host Headkrack, starting January 6. [6]
As a result of Rickey Smiley's move to Urban AC stations, R&B/Hip-Hop WEDR Miami will replace his program with a local show hosted by Love & Hip Hop: Miami stars Trick Daddy and Trina, which will also play into the VH1 reality-based series' storylines. Smiley will continue to be heard in the market as it moves over to Adult R&B sister WHQT. [7]
3 WNWV Elyria/Cleveland, which dropped its nine-year run with Smooth Jazz on November 15, 2019 (its second tenure with the format, the first from 1987 to 2009), followed by a surprise announcement that the air staff was let go on December 6, effectively ending what was the last major market commercial outlet in the United States to offer a Smooth Jazz format, returns with a millennial-focused Modern AC billed as “JenY 107.3” (a reference to Generation Y), targeting listeners in both Akron and Cleveland. [8][9][10]
WRKA Louisville officially shifts from Rhythmic AC to Urban AC after one year. The move coincides with the addition of Rickey Smiley to its lineup. It also gives Louisville two Urban AC's, as they take on Alpha Media's WMJM. [11]
Sports Talk KABZ Little Rock fires afternoon host Eric Sullivan after he is accused of stealing $409 from a woman at a local bar. The woman told police that she was at the restaurant on January 1 when she left her purse on the table and went to the restroom, then noticed the next day that her money was gone; she later viewed surveillance footage from the establishment and saw Sullivan going through her purse, which she then posted on her Facebook page. Sullivan did return the money to the woman and later issued an apology: "I need to address something to you all: I've made a monumental career mistake & I take full responsibility for it, I let many people down as well as the listeners and great people at 103.7 the Buzz and I will own that for the rest of my life." [12]
5 Premiere Networks renews The Rush Limbaugh Show through 2024. [13]
6 A new format (adult album alternative) replaced the Nash Icon Country format at WNUQ Sylvester/Albany, Georgia under the new ownership of Tripp Morgan's Pretoria Fields Collective Media, which acquired the station from Cumulus Media’s Mainstay Station Trust in October 2019. The station is being billed as "Q102 The Queen Bee" and will take the new callsign WPFQ. [14][15]
With Rickey Smiley moving over to Urban AC KQXL-FM, Rhythmic Top 40 sister WEMX Baton Rouge will fill his morning slot with the syndicated DeDe In The Morning program, one of eight new affiliates joining the Dallas-based morning show. [16][17]
KKOB Albuquerque expands its News/Talk format to sister station KBZU, replacing the Nash Icon Country format and brings the KKOB-FM calls back to the market after removing them from the now-current KOBQ in November 2019. The former simulcast at translator K233CG 94.5 will launch a new format in February. [18]
7 Just six months after dropping Country to simulcast KRCX-FM’s Regional Mexican broadcasts, KNTY Sacramento launched a ranchera format, branded as "José 101.9". [19]
13 KOOO Omaha transitioned from Classic Rock to Variety Hits, but retains the “101.9 The Keg” moniker. [20]
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra announces the award of its Karl Amadeus Hartmann Medal posthumously to its late conductor Mariss Jansons. [21]
After six days of stunting with Drake’s “Hotline Bling", WHTP Portland, Maine expanded its Rhythmic Top 40 format to former Oldies WJYE/W262DP Gardiner/Lewiston/Auburn and former Classic Country WCYR/W275CQ Bangor, both of whom had dropped their formats prior to the stunting. The three stations also rebrand as “Hot Radio Maine” to reflect its coverage throughout the state's largest metropolitan areas. [22]
15 iHeartMedia announces a major corporate restructuring, resulting in a round of mass layoffs nationwide, mainly in small and mid-sized markets, affecting hundreds of positions. [23]
16 Australian community radio station Stereo 974, based in Melbourne, ceases broadcasting because of lack of finance. [24]
KBDS Bakersfield changes formats from rhythmic contemporary to Spanish/English CHR, branded as "Forge 103.9". [25]
A day after iHeart Media announces a round of layoffs at its stations, a format shake up takes place in Des Moines. Sports Talk KXNO general manager Joel McCrea announces that the AM will begin simulcasting on KDXA, starting at a yet-unrevealed time the following week, thus ending the latter's Alternative format. [26][27]
17 Adult Top 40 KQKQ-FM Council Bluffs-Omaha becomes the first station in the market to launch an all-female morning show, as it pairs up current host Nikki Oswald with afternoon host Laura Blenkush, the latter succeeding Matt Tompkins, who moved over to sister station KOOO in the same slot. [28]
Colorado Public Radio takes over the operations of KRCC Colorado Springs and its network of stations in the state. The NPR-affiliated News/Talk outlet will continue to utilize its local staff and retain its identity, although their news operations and programs will be incorporated into CPR's Denver operations. [29]
21 After eight days of stunting with a loop of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”, Homeslice Media Group’s KKLS/K284BA Rapid City flipped from News/Talk to Classic Country, billing itself as “The Cowboy“. The flip gives the station a flanker for Country sister KOUT and co-owned Farm/Country KBHB while competing against Bad Lands Broadcasting's KRKI/KXZT. [30]
23 The European Radio and Digital Audio Show is held in Paris, running until 25 January.[31] [30]
31 KPTY/K297BS Waterloo, Iowa drops Top 40/CHR for Classic Country, branded as "107.3 Hank FM". [32]

February
Date Event Source
1 WCKR Hornell, New York flips from Top 40/CHR to CBS Sports Radio in order to conserve funding due to high music royalty fees. [33]
3 Rush Limbaugh announces that he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and will be taking leaves of absence to undergo treatment. The next day, he is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the 2020 State of the Union Address, becoming only the second person to earn the medal for contributions to radio, after 2005 recipient Paul Harvey. [34][35]
5 Radio New Zealand attempts to convert its FM classical music network RNZ Concert to a youth service, shifting its classical music broadcasting to an automated programme on its AM channel and in streaming format. The decision was reversed within days after listener criticism. [36]
7 Dutch DJ Lex Gaarthuis is forced to apologise after playing a "parody" song called "‘Voorkomen is beter dan Chinezen" ("Prevention is better than Chinese") on Radio 10 the previous evening. The song, which implies that Chinese food is responsible for the spread of coronavirus, triggered thousands of complaints. [37]
10 WSM Nashville, the last clear-channel station in the United States with a music format, announces the elimination of its All Nighter overnight programming. [38]
13 World Radio Day: UNESCO and UN calls on radio stations to uphold diversity, both in their newsroom and on the airwaves. This year's theme is "Radio and diversity". [39]
World Radio Day: A team from William Paterson University broadcasts a three-hour show from the former home of Guglielmo Marconi in Bologna, Italy. [40]
17 The BBC's Deputy Political Editor, South African-born journalist John Pienaar, announces that he is leaving to join Times Radio, a new station set up by Rupert Murdoch. [41]
18 The Oakland Athletics abandon radio for a team exclusive channel on TuneIn, exiting their deal with KTRB to broadcast the team's games after one season and complaints from fans over poor promotion and flow from the station's conservative talk radio format. Athletics games in the Bay Area market will be heard exclusively on TuneIn instead of radio, a first in Major League Baseball and the team will go without a flagship station. [42]
Talk-formatted KTBL Albuquerque drops its format in favor of an active rock format as "The Pit", and began simulcasting on translator K233CG (94.5 FM), which was formerly used by KKOB. [43]
21 XHCPBS-FM, La Voz de los Chontales, begins broadcasting on 98.7 FM in Spanish, Chontal Maya (yokot'an), Ch'ol and Ayapa Zoque from Nacajuca in the Mexican state of Tabasco. The original station was closed down in 1990 for political reasons. [44]
23 WZPW Peoria drops its former "Peoria’s 92.3" branding after five years in favor of a new branding of "Z92.3" as part of the relaunch of its morning show; no other changes are made to the station. [45]

March
Date Event Source
11 The National Association of Broadcasters announces that the annual NAB Show, scheduled for April 18–22, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first time in the organization’s history to do so. [46]
Prior to the tipoff of the game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City, the sports stations from Cumulus Media's Oklahoma City cluster (WKY, WWLS-FM and KWPN) and Larry H. Miller Communications' Salt Lake City cluster (KZNS and KZNS-FM) report that Rudy Gobert was placed on the Thunder's injury list due to an unidentified illness, causing the game to be initially postponed. Shortly afterwards, the NBA announces that the league would suspend its season following the conclusion of that night's games after Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. This event resulted in the MLB and NHL suspending operations the following day, dealing a major blow to sports radio stations around the entire United States.
12 The studios of Cumulus Media’s Atlanta cluster (Top 40/CHR WWWQ, Country WKHX-FM, and Active Rock WNNX, along with several syndicated programs that originated from the studios) are quarantined after an employee tested positive for coronavirus, having come in contact with a friend who was visiting several days earlier. The news results in the air staffers at the three stations to do their shifts from their home until further notice. [47]
13 The Grand Ole Opry announces it will forego live audiences and reduce airings to one day per week, continuing its Saturday night flagship broadcast without a studio audience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. [48]
19 After a few days of stunting, NRG Media's KLNC Lincoln flipped from Classic Hits to Hard-centric Classic Rock as "105.3 The Bone," giving the Nebraska state capitol its second Classic Rocker, as it takes on Alpha Media's market leading KTGL. [49]
20-23 In the wake of the cancellation of the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, the organizers have partnered up with SiriusXM to air a virtual broadcast featuring the acts that were scheduled to perform on air during the weekend the event was supposed to be held, airing on Diplo’s Revolution. [50]
20 Entercom AC KEZK-FM St. Louis converts to an unusual spring Christmas music format to "lift spirits as the coronavirus quarantine continues". [51]
A new environmental radio station, Gorilla FM, based at the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, begins broadcasting, with financial support from Switzerland and support from NGO Internews and Radio France Internationale. [52]
23 NPR debuts a new call-in show The National Conversation, an offshoot of All Things Considered, which exclusively discusses the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. [53]
25 The University of Washington’s NPR-affiliated KUOW-FM Seattle announces it will no longer carry the live feed of the White House Coronavirus Task Force's daily briefings, citing a number of false claims and exaggerations, specifically from President Donald Trump's portion of the briefings. The station will continue to summarize them in later newscasts. [54]
26 WQTX Lansing drops Adult Hits for Rhythmic AC, billed as “Stacks 92.1”, a reference to the three smokestacks at Lansing Board of Water & Light’s Eckert Power Plant which serve as the tallest buildings in the Lansing skyline. [55]
27 Cox Media Group’s Top 40/CHR WFLC Miami temporarily rebrands from "Hits 97.3" to "97.3 Quarantine Radio" to discourage listeners from further large public gatherings due to stay-at-home orders put in place by local governments. For the time being, all on-air staffers are working from home playing into the temporary branding, which will include daily coronavirus updates, along with long commercial-free stretches of EDM remixes in overnights hosted by Al P, billed as "Fit Mixes". On May 29, WFLC went “under construction” ahead of a June 3 “relaunch” of its format. [56]

April
Date Event Source
5 KXPN-FM Wichita Falls becomes the first Sports radio victim to flip formats due to the coronavirus pandemic that shutdown major sporting events, resulting in the station to switch to Classic Country and simulcast sister station KTFW-FM Ft. Worth. The move will see them take on rival KXXN, which had a TBA with KXPN from 2014 to 2015. [57]
6 KRJO (Monroe, Louisiana) three years after flipping to Hot AC, returned to Classic country, branded as "99.7 The Legend". [58]
10 WNTR Indianapolis drops Adult Top 40 for Christmas music, as it prepares for a possible format flip while giving listeners something positive during the coronavirus pandemic. On May 14 it returns with a mainstream AC direction. [59]
After nine years, Brooke & Jubal (based at KQMV Seattle) is rebranded as Brooke & Jeffery in the Morning after Jubal Fresh departed the Hubbard Broadcasting outlet in September 2019 and has not appeared alongside his co-host Brooke Fox since then due to his time working on his podcasts and stand-up comedy shows with his wife. Jeffery Dubrow has been named as his replacement. [60]
12 A storm knocks over the transmitter tower of KPBA-Pine Bluff, Arkansas, which also relays KTPB, KTRN, and KDPX. [61]
13 The Rio Grande Valley sees two stations flipping formats within the course of two hours, all coming from Entravision, who flipped Top 40/CHR KVLY Edinburg back to AC, which was done to help the recent launch of former Regional Mexican turned bilingual rhythmic sibling KKPS Brownsville, and Active Rock sister KFRQ Harlingen switching to Classic Rock. [62]
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “The Lark Ascending” was chosen as the winner of the 2020 Classic FM Hall of Fame in the United Kingdom. [63]
20 After seven years, iHeartMedia's WRDA Atlanta drops the Alternative format due to declining ratings, replacing it with Spanish CHR format as "Z105.7", simulcasting on WBZY, where the format has been heard since October 2018. WBZY serves areas to the south and west of Atlanta, while WRDA covers the more populous northern and eastern portions of the market. The simulcast will be a temporary one, as iHeart has yet to announce plans or a timeline for a new format on WBZY. [64]
22 KQCJ Quad Cities drops “Jack FM” for Alternative as “Planet 93.9.” That branding returns to the market after two decades, when it was last used at KORB during its run in the 1990s. [65]

May
Date Event Source
1 Top 40/CHR WNFN Nashville rebrands from “i106.7” to “Hot 106.7”, which coincided with its signal upgrade to 15,000 watts, allowing the station to cover the Nashville metropolitan area. [66]
3 Honolulu adds its third AC outlet, as KPOI-FM exits a two-way Alternative battle with rival KUCD to become “105.9 The Wave”, joining the already established KSSK-FM and KRTR-FM. [67]
4 WBZY Atlanta flipped from simulcasting Spanish CHR sister WRDA to Mainstream Urban, branded as "105.3 The Beat", with the format, branding, and air staffers moving from WRDG to a better frequency and a much larger signal coverage (at 61,000 watts) albeit covering the Atlanta Metropolitan area from the southwestern portion of the market. WRDG would reunite with WBZY and simulcast the Spanish CHR format. [68]
KDLW Albuquerque dropped the Top 40/CHR format and began stunting with sweepers coinciding with Cinco de Mayo (May 5), leading up to a flip to Regional Mexican as “Zeta 106.3.” [69]
18 Southern Minnesota picked up an Adult Top 40 as former Classic Country KRRW St. James-Fairmont relaunched as “Emoji 101.5” and new calls KEMJ. [70]
20 KRZD/K298CI Springfield, Missouri dropped travelers information for Mainstream Rock, billed as “Z107.5.” The flip adds to an already crowded battle in the Ozark region for Rock listeners as they take on a trio of full powered rivals: Mid-West Family Broadcasting Rock KQRA and Classic Rock sibling KKLH, and iHeartMedia’s Classic Rock KXUS. [71]
22 Jackson picked up its third R&B/Hip-Hop outlet, as iHeart Media’s WJDX-FM drops Adult Hits, branding itself as “Real 105.1” after declining ratings with the former format. It will take on Alpha Media’s dominant market-leading WJMI (which was once owned by iHeart predecessor Clear Channel) and Roberts Radio’s WRBJ-FM for listeners in the Mississippi state capitol and largest city. [72]
KFCO Denver shifted directions from a Hip-Hop leaning Rhythmic Top 40 back to Top 40/CHR, and revived the “Hot 107.1” branding. The new direction will continue to have a Rhythmic lean, but will feature broader uptempo Rhythmic and Dance pop currents that will distinguish themselves from Mainstream rival KPTT and Rhythmic rival KQKS. [73]
After a three-year run with Classic Rock, KTSR Lake Charles, Louisiana flipped to Adult Top 40, branded as “92.1 The Bridge.” [74]
28 WODS Boston drops Top 40/CHR after 8 years and flipped to adult hits, branded as "Big 103, Music Unleashed". The new format features a playlist focusing on music from the 1980s through the 2000s, and is utilizing a "2 Minute Promise" to keep commercial breaks to that length; concurrent with the change, Entercom requested a call sign change to WBGB. [75]
The facilities of regional Mexican KMNV/K239CJ Minneapolis-Saint Paul is among the buildings that were destroyed in a series of riots amid protests of the officer-involved death of George Floyd on May 26, and whose Third Precinct station where the officers were assigned to was set on fire during the evening that later spread to other buildings in the vicinity of Lake Street and 27th Avenue South. The AM had been off the air since March for repairs but the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed work on the equipment. The owners announced that the station will be off the air until further notice. By the next week it returned to the air with the assistance and use of the facilities of community radio station KFAI. [76]

June
Date Event Source
1 After a four-year run of the "Frosty, Heidi & Frank show", Radio broadcaster Frosty Stillwell leaves the AOR station KLOS since after taking a leave from the station in late March. [77]
2 Just one day after being placed on administrative leave after making insensitive comments about the Black Lives Matter movement in a tweet to former Sacramento Kings Center DeMarcus Cousins, Grant Napear, who handles play by play for the aforementioned NBA franchise on NBC Sports California, announces his resignation from both the organization and the network, and at the same time was also fired from Kings flagship radio outlet KHTK by parent owner Bonneville International, who were upset over his remarks and not making an sincere apology. Napear had called Kings games on either television or radio since 1988 and had been a part of KHTK’s lineup in various roles since 1997. [78]
3 Abilene picked up its fifth Country outlet, as KORQ dropped Top 40/CHR for hybrid Farm/Classic-centric “Q Country 96.1,” joining current-based sibling KABW, Cumulus Media’s KBCY, Townsquare Media’s KEAN-FM and KSLI, the latter having flipped from Classic Country to Red Dirt Country in February. [79]
iHeartMedia Classic Rock WAIO in Rochester, New York fires afternoon hosts Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck following comments made on their June 2 show, in which the duo were discussing the ongoing protests in the city over police brutality and racism. Kimberly asked if a group of men beating a couple with a 2×4 were acting “N-wordly”, while Beck followed “If you look like a thug, act like a thug and you have three people beating a white woman with a 2x4, by god, you’re a thug.” The discussion also including asking whether they were allowed to call people “N-wordish”. The comments sparked outrage from listeners and community leaders, including morning host Deanna King (who threatened to quit if the duo remained on air). This is the second time that Ray and Beck were fired from a Rochester station for making insensitive remarks, after being fired from their morning show at Entercom Adult Hits WBZA in 2014 for hateful comments against the transgender community. [80]
4 A pair of Piedmont Triad Top 40s, Dick Broadcasting’s Mainstream WKZL and Entercom’s Rhythmic WJMH, paired their respective morning shows, Jared & Katie in the Morning and 3 Live Crew, together for a simulcast to discuss the continuing conflict involving police brutality against minorities, ongoing protests, and systematic racism that has spilled over into the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem Metropolitan area since the killing of George Floyd on May 26. [81]
5 Republic Records announced that it will no longer use the word “Urban” from describing departments, employee titles, and music styles. The move comes as the term, made famous in the late 1970s by Frankie Crocker when he used it to describe the Urban contemporary format at WBLS New York City, has lived out its usefulness with radio stations in the genre moving to distance themselves from the name altogether. [82]
6 Dance/EDM WZFL Miami acknowledged on its Facebook page that it had terminated afternoon host Jordan Sanchez over insensitive remarks he made on his social media pages in April, when he was placed on suspension. [83]
15 The studios of two Tampa-St. Petersburg radio properties are quarantined after its personalities tested positive for COVID-19. Three air staffers from Beasley Broadcasting Group’s Rhythmic Top 40 WLLD’s Orlando and The Freak Show, PD/host Orlando Davis and co-hosts Broderick “Buckwheat” Scott and Jose “Joey Franchize” Alvarado, all announced their positive tests on social media, resulting in Beasley closing its facilities to all but essential personnel and having its staffers at Classic Rock WPBB, Business Talk WHFS, Country WQYK-FM, Classic Hits WRBQ-FM, and Spanish Top 40 WYUU broadcast from home until further notice. Hours later Cox Media Group follows suit after Hot Talk WHPT morning host Mike Calta and his co-host Anthony “Spanish” Polichemi confirmed their results on-air during their show, resulting in its sister stations, Adult Standards WDUV, Top 40/CHR WPOI, AC WWRM, Classic Rock WXGL, and Alternative WSUN, to also send its staffers home to do their broadcasts. [84][85]

Scheduled future events

July
Date Event Source
6 WJJL Niagara Falls, New York will abandon its longtime oldies format and take on the call sign WEBR, flipping to adult standards. [86]

Debuts
Date Event Source
January 27 Skyview Networks syndicates KPWR Los Angeles' Nick Cannon's morning program to Top 40/CHR, Rhythmic Top 40, and R&B/Hip-Hop stations domestically and internationally for weekday and weekend 'best of' airings. The move returns Cannon back to radio syndication after his 2012 health-caused withdrawal. [87]
April 13 KRIX Port Isabel, Texas launches with Classic Rock targeting the lower Rio Grande Valley, which comes on the same day as rival KFRQ Harlingen’s shift to the aforementioned format from Active Rock just hours earlier. [88]

Endings
Date Event Source
January 16 Australian community radio station Stereo 974, broadcasting to Melbourne since 1978, ceases broadcasting, possibly as a result of financial difficulties.[24] [89]
January 20 After 40 years as a part-timer, Migala Communications signs off brokered ethnic station WCEV Cicero/Chicago, which operated in a time-share (1-10p.m. Monday through Friday, 1-8:30 p.m. Saturday and 5a.m.-10p.m. on Sundays) with Midway Broadcasting's Regional Mexican WRLL Chicago since Globetrotter Broadcasting surrendered the license for WVON in 1975 after purchasing Gospel WGRB and R&B/Hip-Hop WGCI from McClendon Broadcasting. Midway is expected to take over the remaining hours of WCEV, pending Migala's surrender of the license. [89]
February 22 WAAF Westborough/Worcester/Boston ended 50 years under various hard rock formats changing with industry trends, as Entercom sold the station to Educational Media Foundation, which converted the station to its K-Love network. WAAF's displaced format continues on the HD2 sub channels of WWBX and WEEI-FM, and online at Radio.com, with the WAAF calls warehoused on the former WBZU in Scranton, with other warehousing moves to take place to avoid the WBZU calls being confused with the various WBZ stations in Boston. [90]
March 17 Entercom Alternative KROQ-FM Los Angeles cancels Kevin in the Morning, ending a 31-year run for Kevin Ryder, who confirmed that he was fired on March 18, along with co-hosts Allie MacKay and Jensen Karp. Ryder’s former partner Gene ‘Bean’ Baxter left KROQ in November 2019 to move back to his native England after announcing his retirement from broadcasting. [91]
March 22 Fox Sports Radio affiliate WGL Ft. Wayne ceased operations, due to a lack of an FM translator and the coronavirus pandemic that made it financially difficult to continue operations. [92]
March 24 Religious outlets WPFR-FM Terre Haute ceased operations, due to the passing of its owner in January. [93]
March 31 NBC Sports Radio ceased operations. [94]
Christian preaching outlet WHVN/W232BP Charlotte ceased operations, citing the 2014 passing of its owner and financial difficulties. The station’s 8.1-acre transmitter site was recently granted rezoning approval by the Charlotte city council to be developed with up to 12,500 square feet of medical office space and up to 25 residential units by Flagship Healthcare Properties. [95]
April 10 Peter ‘Kane’ Deibler was let go as host of the Premiere Networks syndicated The Kane Show (based out of co-owned iHeartMedia’s WIHT Washington, D.C.) after 15 years, and is rebranded as Your Morning Show effective April 13; sister station WFLZ-FM Tampa would drop the revamped show the same day in favor of local content after negative feedback from listeners. His departure also ended his weekend Top 40/Dance program Club Kane, whose social media accounts were eliminated and the list of affiliates removed; the final installment aired May 3 under temporary hosts. [96]
April 12 In separate moves, five AM radio stations (KZGD, KCKX, KNUI, WZBO and WCNC) go silent, all citing financial hardships and fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. [97]
April 30 WNPV Lansdale, Pennsylvania will cease operations. The nonpolitical talk radio station with some hyperlocal content serving the North Penn Valley had struggled to maintain its audience and suffered from an ongoing industry-wide advertiser exodus away from talk radio. [98]
May 1 After 66 years, Guam’s first radio station, KUAM, ceased operations. The station’s Chamorro music and information format moved over to its online platform. [99]
June 30 WLNZ, the Lansing Community College radio station, will cease operations. It ceased original programming March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. [100]
September 26 Only a Game will end production and syndication as part of a series of cuts to flagship station WBUR. [101]

Deaths

January
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
January 2 Marian Finucane 69 Irish broadcaster (host of Liveline and The Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1) [102]
January 7 Larry Gogan 81 Irish disc jockey (host of The Golden Hour on RTÉ Gold). Also worked at RTÉ 2fm. [103]
Stephen Clements 47 Northern Irish presenter (BBC Radio Ulster) [104]
January 10 Harold Burson 98 American public relations executive and former reporter on American Forces Network during World War II and the Nuremberg trials [105]
Wolfgang Dauner 84 German jazz pianist and radio composer [106]
January 17 Grant Goldman 69 Australian radio announcer (2GB) [107]
January 19 Sunanda Patnaik 85 Indian classical vocalist, began her career on All India Radio in Cuttack [108]
January 23 Calder Prescott 88 New Zealand jazz musician and broadcaster (Otago Access Radio) [109]
January 28 Harry Harrison 89 American disc jockey (WMCA, WABC, WCBS-FM) [110]
Bob Nave 75 American musician (The Lemon Pipers) and broadcaster (WVXU) [111]
Nicholas Parsons 96 British actor and broadcaster (host of Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4) [112]
January 31 Anne Cox Chambers 100 American media proprietor (Cox Enterprises) [113]
Mary Higgins Clark 92 American writer (radio work included Portrait of a Patriot) [114]

February
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
February 4 Ljiljana Petrović 81 Serbian singer, former Eurovision contestant [115]
February 5 Kirk Douglas 103 American actor (radio appearances on Suspense, Lux Radio Theatre and Screen Directors Playhouse) [116]
February 7 Bal Kudtarkar 98 Indian radio personality [117]
February 8 Robert Conrad 84 American actor and radio host (was with Cable Radio Network from 2008 to 2019) [118]
February 14 Reinbert de Leeuw 81 Dutch composer, pianist and conductor (Dutch Public Radio) [119]
February 23 Zoran Modli 71 Serbian aviator, journalist and radio disc jockey, host of Modulacije [120]
February 26 Lionel D 61 French radio host and rapper [121]

March
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
March 12 Pete Mitchell 61 English radio DJ and presenter (BBC Radio 2, Virgin Radio) [122]
March 28 Kerstin Behrendtz 69 Swedish radio presenter [123]
Jan Howard 91 American country singer and songwriter (member of the Grand Ole Opry) [124]
March 29 Joe Diffie 61 American country singer and radio host (aired a daily show on KXBL from 1997 until his death, member of the Grand Ole Opry) [125]
March 29 Manuel Adolfo Varas 76 Ecuadorian radio journalist, founder of Radio Caravana 750 AM [126]

April
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
April 5 Peter Walker 84 English cricket commentator and presenter [127]
April 15 Willie Davis 85 American football player (Green Bay Packers) and broadcaster (founder of All Pro Broadcasting, the parent company of WZTI/WLUM-FM Milwaukee and KHTI Riverside-San Bernardino; former owner of KACE Los Angeles and KZDG Denver) [128]
April 17 Robin Seymour 94 American DJ at CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, WKNR in Detroit, and American Forces Network [129]
Gene Shay 85 American DJ at Philadelphia stations WXPN, WDAS-FM, WMMR, WIOQ and WHYY-FM [130]
April 20 Ronan O'Rahilly 79 Irish-born media entrepreneur (Radio Caroline) [131]
Mike Elliott 82 American air personality, program, and music director at WTMJ Milwaukee from 1973 to 1985. [132]
April 21 Mike Anderson 67 American anchorman, reporter, and commentator, began radio career in Birmingham [133]
Darrin Arriens N/A American DJ, MD, programmer, and executive (WLNK Charlotte, KSKS Fresno, WGYL West Palm Beach, KKMG and KKFM Colorado Springs, KHYT Tucson, WKLQ Grand Rapids, WJIM-FM Lansing, WRIF Detroit, and WLZR-FM Milwaukee) [134]

May
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
May 6 Barry Farber 90 American conservative talk show host and author (WINS, WOR and WMCA New York) [135]
May 15 Nancy Froelich N/A American radio personality, programmer, and media journalist, known on air as “Kandy Klutch” (WIOQ Philadelphia, KSLZ and KHTK St. Louis, WLUM-FM Milwaukee, WKSS Hartford, SiriusXM, All Access Music Group) [136]

June
DateNameAgeNationality and notabilitySource
June 3 Jimmy Capps 81 American country musician, member of the Grand Ole Opry house band, The Nashville A-Team and The Wilburn Brothers [137]
June 10 Tyra Womack 57 On-air personality at WEAA Baltimore [138]
June 17 Dan Foster 61 American DJ who worked at U.S. stations Urban One, WWMX Baltimore, WTBN Pinellas Park, Florida, as well as Nigerian stations Cool FM and Classic FM 97.3 [139]
June 26 Arnie Ginsburg 93 American DJ and executive in the Boston market [140]

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See also
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