After 35 years on the air together, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou will no longer host their show on iHeartMedia Talk 640 KFI in Los Angeles.
Chiampou announced that he will retire from the station on December 6th, while Kobylt will continue to host the show. According to KFI, the duo holds the distinction of being the longest-running team in the history of talk radio. It is worth noting that January would have marked their 36th anniversary.
Kobylt and Chiampou have been working together since 1988, when they joined 1400 WOND in Atlantic City, NJ, after leaving competing stations in Elmira, NY.
They worked at 103.7 WMGM in Atlantic City for a while before launching “New Jersey 101.5” WKXW in Trenton, NJ, in 1990. In 1992, the duo joined KFI as afternoon hosts.
In July 1999, the duo shifted to mornings at 790 KABC after a short period in syndication. However, they were fired in May 2000.
The following year, they resumed their afternoon slot at KFI, and for a brief time, they were simulcasted at KNEW San Francisco and WOR New York. At the beginning of this year, their show shifted to the 1-4 pm slot.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
Very sad to hear that Ken is retiring although I wish him all the best and thank him for the many years of enjoyment he brought to his listeners. I started listening in their syndication days back in the 90’s and have employed a variety of methods to continue listening here in Vancouver, Canada. Discovering that their show had started producing podcasts was a revelation and I was a feed subscriber from the very beginning. Best of luck Ken and Vancouver still awaits even though the real estand ate prices are even more insane, we’d love to have you as a neighbour.
They have got to be muli-millionaires. I would say, get out and enjoy your hard earned $.