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.
Notable events
January
Date
Event
Source
1
All-newsWTOP-FM—Washington, D.C. rejoins CBS News Radio after two years with ABC, restoring a link between CBS and the station that dates back to 1932, when the network affiliated with, then purchased, predecessor WJSV.
WKVA/W262DO—Lewistown, Pennsylvania, flips from classic rock-leaning "Big 100.3" to gold-based soft AC format at the stroke of midnight. The station is now known as "Gold Hits WKVA 920 AM & 100.3 FM".
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 soft AC billed as "Pensacola’s Blend," barring any legal issues from SiriusXM over the "Blend" name.
WLGX—Louisville, which dropped their prior adult Top 40 format on November 27, 2019, in favor of Christmas music, begins two weeks of stunting leading up to a relaunch as 90s-centered adult hits WSDF on January 14.
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.
Urban One's Reach Media moved Rickey Smiley's syndicated morning show from mainstream urban 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 mainstream urban will be a new program hosted by Smiley's co-host Headkrack, starting January 6.
As a result of Rickey Smiley's move to urban AC stations, mainstream urban 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.
SportsKABZ—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."
A new format (adult album alternative) replaced the "Nash Icon" country format at WNUQ—Sylvester/Albany, Georgia, following an October 2019 purchase of the station by Tripp Morgan's Pretoria Fields Collective Media from Cumulus Media’s Mainstay Station Trust. The station is being billed as "Q102 The Queen Bee" and will take the new callsign WPFQ.
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.
TalkKKOB—Albuquerque begins simulcasting over former "Nash Icon" countryKBZU, renamed KKOB-FM (a previous KKOB-FM was renamed KOBQ in November 2019). KKOB was previously relayed over translator K233CG (94.5FM).
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.
AlternativeKDXA—Ankeny/Des Moines, Iowa flips to a simulcast of sportsKXNO—Des Moines as KXNO-FM. With the flip, the majority of KXNO's employees dismissed as part of iHeartMedia's mass layoffs two days earlier, resulting in listener and advertiser backlash and the remaining two on-air hosts no-showing in protest, were all reinstated. Rolling Stone calls KXNO "one radio station (that) fought iHeartMedia's cuts... and won".
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.
Colorado Public Radio takes over the operations of KRCC—Colorado Springs and its network of stations in the state. The NPR-affiliated news 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.
TalkWAKR/W228EL—Akron, Ohio, flips to full-service/soft AC as "Soft Hits 93.5"; sports play-by-play and the morning drive news block are retained. It is the third time WAKR has switched from talk to a music format, having done so previously in 1994 and 1999.
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.
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.
Classic country/OpryWSM—Nashville, the last clear-channel station in the United States with a music format, drops its All Nighter overnight program and a midday talk show, in addition to moving a daily bluegrass program to Saturday afternoons exclusively; this followed a change in general managers.
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".
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.
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. On July 30, less than a week into the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Athletics voided its agreement with TuneIn and signed with iHeartMedia, who will air games on KNEW—Oakland.
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.
The studios of Cumulus Media’s Atlanta cluster (CHRWWWQ, countryWKHX-FM and active rockWNNX, 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. As a result, air staffers at the three stations became remote workers.
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 Tennessee. The show eventually resumes live audiences in October.
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.
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.
The FCC denies the renewals of, and revokes the licenses for, four Greater St. Louis AM stations owned by Entertainment Media Trust: classic country/talkKQQZ—Fairview Heights, Illinois, oldiesKZQZ—St. Louis, KFTK-FM simulcast KFTK—East St. Louis, Illinois, and silent WQQW—Highland, Illinois. A prior FCC investigation revealed Bob Romanik—a convicted felon and controversial KQQZ host—was a silent partner in the purchase of all four stations from 2006 to 2012 without notifying the commission, with Entertainment Media Trust acting as a shell company. KFTK promptly signs off (translator K254CR is reassigned to KFTK-FM) but KQQZ and KZQZ defiantly continue broadcasting as de factopirate radio until April 12, 2020; Romanik hosts a final broadcast two days earlier. KZQZ's deletion also ends the history of a station which signed on in 1922 as WEB, one of the oldest in St. Louis.
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.
Adult hitsWQTX—Lansing flips to rhythmic AC "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.
Cox Media Group’s CHRWFLC—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 ordersput in place by local governments. As a result, all on-air staffers became remote workers, playing into the temporary branding, including daily coronavirus pandemic updates, along with long commercial-free stretches of EDMremixes 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.
Syndicated morning show Brooke & Jubal (based at KQMV—Seattle) is renamed Brooke & Jeffery in the Morning when Jeffery Dubrow is named as the show's new co-host. Original co-host Jubal Fresh departed Hubbard Broadcasting-owned KQMV in September 2019 and had not appeared on the show since, eventually resurfacing at KBKS-FM.
AlternativeWRDA—Canton/Atlanta switches to Spanish CHR "Z105.7", temporarily simulcast on WBZY—Bowdon, which had featured the format since October 2018.
AZ Research PPL, commissioned by the Association of Radio Operators for India, reports that radio listenership in the country has reached a figure of 51 million.
WBZY—Bowdon/Atlanta flips from a temporary simulcast of WRDA—Canton to mainstream urban as "105.3 The Beat". This completes a migration of WBZY's Spanish CHR format and air staff to the former WRDA (renamed WBZY) and a migration of WRDG—Union City's mainstream urban format and "Beat" name to the former WBZY (renamed WRDG). The former WRDG (renamed WBZW) becomes a full-time simulcast of WBZY.
KDLW—Albuquerque dropped the 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."
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 murder 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.
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.
iHeartMediaclassic rock/hot talkWAIO—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.
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 murder of George Floyd on May 26.
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.
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.
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 hitsWRBQ-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, CHRWPOI, AC WWRM, classic rock WXGL, and alternative WSUN, to also send its staffers home to do their broadcasts.
Forever Media’s rimshot Pittsburgh country outlets WOGG—Oliver (which covers the southern portion of the market) and WOGI—Moon Township (which covers the majority of the market from the western portion of the area) dropped their separate programming and becomes a simulcast, a move buoyed by a ratings increase and to become more competitive against Entercom’s WDSY-FM and iHeartMedia’s WPGB in the battle for country listeners in the market.
iHeartMedia announces that effective immediately, it will no longer use the term "Urban Contemporary" or "Urban Adult Contemporary" across their properties using the format, including its co-owned Mediabase charts. The "Urban Contemporary" outlets and "Urban" charts will now go by "R&B/Hip-Hop", while "Urban AC" will now be identified as "R&B".
Three of the six stations owned by Ed Stolz is transferred to a court-ordered receivership trust after a lawsuit brought on by ASCAP and sixteen other music copyright holders. The three outlets involved are CHRsKREV—Alameda/San Francisco, KRCK-FM—Palm Springs, and KFRH—Las Vegas. The three stations were purchased by VCY America on December 30, and will convert to non-commercial Religious programming in 2021.
Bartis-Russell Broadcasting’s talkWSMN/W237FA—Nashua, New Hampshire, fired host Dianna Ploss and cancelled her brokered pro-conservative/pro-Trump program after she posted a video on Facebook Live of her proudly displaying a series of racial harassment towards Hispanics and asking them to speak English, as well as a confrontational exchange with an African American security guard over not wearing a mask.
Just two days after ViacomCBS fired him from his hosting duties on VH1's Wild 'n Out after 15 years for failing to apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism in comments made on an episode of his YouTube show in June, when he interviewed Public Enemy's Professor Griff, Nick Cannon announces that he is leaving radio indefinitely, ending his one-year tenure at KPWR—Los Angeles.
AlternativeKLLT—Columbia/St. Louis switches to urban AC as "Majic", carrying the format over from KATZ-HD2/W279AQ—Bridgeton. This is the fifth incarnation for the "Majic" branding in St. Louis, as it originated in 1979 on 107.7 FM, then moved to 104.9 FM in 1997, and then to 100.3 FM in 2012 before being dropped two years later.
TalkWLW—Cincinnati eliminates political talk from their overnight America’s Trucking Network after an unspecified topic discussed by host Steve Sommers led to complaints directed at WLW parent iHeartMedia. Sommers is fired in early November amid a series of layoffs at iHeartMedia, ending a 36-year run for the Sommers family on WLW's overnight shift dating to Steve's father, "Truckin' Bozo" Dale Sommers.
A shuffle occurs at Lotus Communications's Las Vegas cluster as a result of the company getting the rights to broadcast Las Vegas Raiders games. KRLV—Las Vegas flips from sports betting to mostly Raiders content as "Raider Nation Radio 920 AM" as the team's new flagship station, while KRLV's former "The Game" format moves to KLAV—Las Vegas, flipping to the format from ranchero music.
Country WEBG—Chicago flips to mainstream rock as "Rock 95.5" WCHI-FM, bringing the format back to Chicago after nearly two years and to 95.5FM for the first time since 1982 (as WMET-FM).
Entercom centralizes operations of its country music and alternative stations. In the case of alternative, air talent from WNYL—New York City are voice-tracked across its stations, many of which are rebranded as "ALT" in markets where that branding is not used by another station, dismissing all local airstaff. For country stations, flagship station WNSH will originate the midday and late-night shows across all country stations, with other dayparts retaining their local hosts. The moves are being made to provide a single, unified sound across the United States for Entercom's stations.
In an extreme case of Christmas creep (breaking the previous mid-October record by several weeks), WWIZ—West Middlesex, Pennsylvania/Youngstown, Ohio, for the second consecutive year, becomes the first non-stunting station in the United States to flip to Christmas music for the entire season. WWIZ is one of several stations (others including WWRW and WVEZ) flipping to Christmas music early in hopes of hastening the end of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Entercom and Radio One swapped stations in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, the latter seeing Entercom's newly acquired IP WFUN-FM's calls and its Adult R&B format displacing CHR KNOU on the same day; WFUN's former license is sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, which flipped the 95.5 signal to Christian rhythmic Top 40 and new calls KXBS. In Philadelphia, Entercom's KYW's all-news format adds an FM simulcast via newly acquired WPHI-FM, with the mainstream urban format returning to Radio One's WRNB for the first time since August 2011.
Minneapolis-St. Paul–based Go Media, controlled by the family of Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad, sells alternative KQGO—Edina, Minnesota, and rhythmic Top 40 KZGO—St. Paul to Educational Media Foundation for $2.45 million. Both stations, branded "Go", immediately dismissed all airstaff and shifted to a jockless presentation until the sale closed on April 12, 2021; KQGO becomes the market's Air1 outlet and KZGO is subsequently divested to a third party. This sale ends the Pohlad family's run as a broadcaster, having purchased KQGO in 2007 and making it the Minnesota Twins Radio Network flagship from 2013 to 2017.
Rogers Media rebrands all-news–talk "News 1310" CIWW—Ottawa, Ontario, as "CityNews Radio", a brand extension of Rogers' Citytv network and CityNews news service. The rebrand comes with the addition of an FM simulcast via former countryCKBY-FM—Smiths Falls, Ontario, (renamed CJET-FM) while "Jack FM" CJET-FM—Smiths Falls assumes the country format (as "Country 92.5") and CKBY-FM calls. Rogers unveils plans to rebrand all of their all-news and talk stations under the "CityNews Radio" name by the following June.
Howard Stern extends his contract with Sirius XM, which includes his eponymous show and surrounding content, until the end of 2025, and rights to his archival content until the end of 2032.
Skyview Networks begins syndicating KPWR—Los Angeles' Nick Cannon's morning program, returning Cannon back to radio syndication after a 2012 health-related withdrawal. This program is withdrawn by Skyview on July 16 after past anti-Semitic remarks attributed to Cannon surfaced, resulting in him taking an indefinite leave from radio.
Radio Quarantine is launched in Kolkata, India,[144] by a group of teachers and students in response to social isolation protocols resulting from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal.
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.
Australian community radio station Stereo 974, broadcasting to Melbourne since 1978, ceases broadcasting, possibly as a result of financial difficulties.
After 40 years as a part-timer, Migala Communications signs off brokered ethnic station WCEV—Cicero/Chicago, which operated in a time-share (1–10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1–8:30 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sundays) with Midway Broadcasting's Regional Mexican WRLL—Chicago. This arrangement had been in place since 1979, replacing WVON, which surrendered its license in 1975 when owner Globetrotter Broadcasting purchased WNUS/WNUS-FM—Chicago from McClendon Broadcasting. Despite signing off, WRLL does not become a 24–hour operation until October 18, 2021, following the formal cancellation of WCEV's license on July 31, 2021.
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.
Fox Sports Radio affiliate WGL—Ft. Wayne ceased operations, due to a lack of an FM translator and the COVID-19 pandemic that made it financially difficult to continue operations. WGL has since returned to the airwaves as an adult hits station.
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.
CKOO-FM—Kelowna, British Columbia, signs off after ownership files for bankruptcy. After a contested sale in which competing owners allege the license was effectively surrendered (which the CRTC refutes) the station returns to the air one year later as CKOV-FM.
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 dropped 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 (It was replaced by "The Vibe" with Tanya Radd & EJ on May 24).
In separate moves, five AM radio stations (KZGD, KCKX, KNUI, WZBO and WCNC) go silent, all citing financial hardships and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on July 6, 2020, KNUI returned to airwaves as a country station.
WNPV—Lansdale, Pennsylvania ceased 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.
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.
American Public Media abruptly cancels Live from Here, unceremoniously ending a 46-year streak for old-time radio revival programming on the network (including the show and its predecessors A Prairie Home Companion and The American Radio Company of the Air). The cancellation is among several cuts at APM and parent organization Minnesota Public Radio, which faced a "rapid loss of revenue" and diverted its remaining resources to news programming such as Marketplace.
The Cigar Dave Show is withdrawn from syndication after 25 years. It will be replaced by two podcasts, one focusing exclusively on cigars and the other a general men's interest talk show.
Langer Broadcasting’s Boston outlets, Portuguese simulcasts WSRO/W271CU Ashland-Framingham and WBAS/W268CP West Yarmouth, and brokered mainstream urban WZBR/W251CR Dedham-Medford, sign off the air. The latter is continuing to operate as a webcaster.
Rock, Roll & Remember was withdrawn from syndication. The show had been in reruns for 16 years, following host Dick Clark's debilitating stroke and eventual 2012 death.
Blair Garner involuntarily exited Nash FM, ending a 27-year run in national syndication dating to his hosting of After Midnite. Garner's cancellation comes amid cutbacks at Cumulus Media.
Mobile, Alabama radio station owner Buddy Tucker retires from broadcasting, taking both of his stations, WMOB and WTOF, off the air. Tucker's age (over 90 years old) is the main reason for the stations being shut down.
Orion Samuelson ended his 60-year career in broadcasting. At the time of his retirement he hosted the agriculture-themed weekly Morning Show on WGN and the daily short-form National Farm Report in syndication.
Consumer advocate Clark Howard retired from his daily three-hour syndicated radio show, focusing more on his successful websites, though he continues to produce a short-form podcast and commentaries for home station WSB and WSB-TV.
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)
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)
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)
^Venta, Lance (January 24, 2020). "WAKR Flips to Soft AC". RadioInsight.com. RadioInsight. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020 – via RadioBB.
Carter, Kevin (February 23, 2020). "WAAF Rocks Off After 50 Years". RAMP - Radio and Music Pros. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
^https://zchannelradio.com/ " United Stations Network has informed us that his show is no longer available. Almost hate to pull his pic down. Have had lots of comments of sadness. Looks like a demographic thing." Retrieved October 4, 2020.