Rich Valdes has departed the nationally syndicated show America at Night. He’s now speaking on why he left the Westwood One program.
On his This Is America podcast, Valdes shared insight into why he’s no longer with the show.
“My contract was nearing an end with Westwood One at the end of the year,” said Valdes. “It’s over, and we just couldn’t reach an agreement on me sticking around in the right situation, the right financial situation, the right support, the right ability to do other things that made sense for them and make sense for me. I’ve opted to come in this direction.”
Valdes said that he is in the midst of working a new project that he hopes to announce in the coming months.
“I’m going to call it a video project, a show idea that’s in the works for January,” he shared. “I can’t talk about it now because of the legality of things. There’s confidentiality and stuff that I can’t discuss.”
He added that he plans to continue hosting episodes of his This Is America show, with the idea of trying to hone in on the “right length of it”. In the past, he had hosted roughly 35-minute episodes.
Rich Valdes became the host of the 9 PM-12 AM ET in the aftermath of the death of longtime host Jim Bohannon. He helmed the program from the days following Bohannon’s death until the show was relaunched in 2023 with new branding, utilizing the America at Night name.
Earlier this month, Westwood One announced it would replace Valdes on the show with McGraw Milhaven, who will take over the program on Monday, December 1st.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
I want to listen to Rich Valdes
I loved Rich’s voice and his spicy combacks to not so nice fans…..I don’t think I’ll listen to the new guy…..the show won’t be the same…..guess I’ll just go to sleep….theres nothing worth staying up for.
You echo my sentiments completely. Yes, he responded very calmly to even the nastiest callers and with respect to even those who came across something less than articulate.
👍
Westwood made a mistake letting Rich get away. Rich Valdes is one of the three best late night hosts I’ve listened to during the past five decades. He really is THAT GOOD. I looked forward to those three hours with Rich every chance I could. Rich was the voice of reason on every subject he covered.
what the he’ll. rich was great. this is stupid
Westwood one made a mistake letting Rich Valdes go. The new guy just is not my cuppa tea.
Yeah, but now there are a lot more commercials, so they are very OK with that.
I am sad to see him go . I enjoyed listening to Rich over the years! I always looked forward to his program at night. Can’t wait to see what happens in January! I will be tuning in. I wish him nothing but the best.
this is a huge mistake, there’s no replacing Rich I am 78 years old, he’s the best I ever listened to I listened on KDKA in Pittsburgh,he has a huge following in this city, the first radio station 50,000 wats.
You fools made a bad choice , i will not be tunning into your station in the future ! You had a great voice WITH Rich,so now you can just suck it up.
I so looked forward to hear Richs voice filled with grit and no nonsense slant that I so admired.His guests were so informative and thought provoking.Am so sorry that Westwood is letting this happen. Hopefully another company will pick him up.Rich was proudly conservative which was the attraction for me.He was just a great and decent voice of reason! Rich [;ease tell your listeners where we can find you!
Rich was great! I can’t believe they let him go. Great loss…
Bad move…
I thought during Thanksgiving he took a break. Not so. As with everyone: I am truly disappointed. Rich could not have presented anything better than each night we listened. He had the perspective of millions of Americans. He prepared for his guests. He listened. He brought out so much information and inspired us to expand our experiences and be informed and involved. Now I have to wonder if Soros being able to purchase 232 radio stations that he would not want someone who presented facts on the air.
I work late every day and was honored to be a listener every night for the time he was on the air (9 pm to 12 midnite). He seemed clearly to love his listeners — every single one he addressed “mi amigos” and other endearments. My favorite is his teaser “17 miles from Madison Square Garden” . His many homages to Jim Bohanan and Larry King and their America at night routine was gold, pure gold and showed respect for the late night rulers of the past. I tried to listen to the new guy but the “college radio” author seemed kidnegarten or pre-school level compared to the filet mignon steak Valdez served up every night. Rich had flaws which he freely admitted to, which made him even more popular and decent.
I also work late and i loved listening to Rich V. He kept me up on all issues going on. I really enjoyed his show. I pray he comes back in another show. We love you Rich. Please find a way to get back hosting a show at night.
I just listened to the new guy for a few minutes and nearly threw up.Clearly a liberal demoncrat.Had to turn it off.Will go find something reasonable to listen to.
hoping rich gets a daily show or pod cast
am 80 and have been a fan of the show for years
Larry, Jim,rich.
jim was great him and I service in the u.s. army
almost the same time
.he left vietnam in April 68 I was on the same base in Jan 1969 alway was fun when talked a little about it. I could say hay I remember that
rich was a good replacement
Sorry to learn that Rich Valdes will no longer be on radio station WMAL at night.
Miss Rich very much. He was polite, like Jim Bohannon — perhaps better, and even grew up in the same NJ neighborhood as me. I tried listening to McGraw Milhaven. He laughs with some sidekick, indicating that he’s just filling air time. Little substance. Changed stations, or just turned on music.
I so miss Rich V as I posted in my previous comment. I truly hope Rich V comes back in another time slot. In my opinion Westwood One made a huge mistake by not keeping him on. The new guy seems to be too much of a liberal. I gave it a full week just not cutting it, so now I will tune to music.
I liked Rich’s conservative political and social philosophy. His show ran on a delayed time in Milwaukee starting at midnight; so his only competition was George Noory. So, except for some exceptions, there wasn’t much choice but to listen to Rich. I’m not interested in aliens from Mars. I have to admit, though, that Rich’s voice was beginning to grate on me and his guests were getting stale. His voice didn’t match Bohannon’s in appeal to me, though I wasn’t always Bohannon’s biggest fan. Milhaven has a smoother, more pleasing voice, and his guests appear to be interesting and intriguing. I wish Rich well, but I guess radio can be brutal. I assume his ratings must have been a factor.
I want to listen to Rich Valdes. He always had interesting guests, had a pleasant demeanor and discussed very relevant topics. I liked his bumper music cadence as well! The replacement is a big disappointment.
So happy he’s gone…all he ever did was kiss Stumps a**…didn’t acknowledge that there was another political party that had some good ideas…his followers are pathetic…they think that insulting people and calling them names is okay or can be ignored…I think that it’s good that his replacement doesn’t make everything about Dopey Don but talks about other stories…thank you for replacing placating Rich
I will not be a listener to the new show. I miss Rich and will attempt to find him wherever he may land. Their loss to lost him. An avid radio listener, Rich held my interest every night he was on. Good luck
Sally, you’re a moron and Steve, you’re an idiot. The new guy couldn’t fill one of Rich’s shoes let alone both of them! He had the most soothing voice, great guests and a great intro—I have been listening to conservative talk radio for 45 yrs. I can tell the difference between a great host and dog crap. There’s a reason that liberal talk radio hasn’t worked and WILL NEVER work-they’re all bat s—t crazy and they SUCK-The End
Can someone out there please enlighten me—how in the hell did that evil SOB Soros buy up over 200 radio stations- I was under the impression that a single person could not have a monopoly of any type of media- for instance buying numerous newspapers etc. The Great One was speaking about this some time ago, but I never heard anything more about it-Isn’t it against the law or the laws of the FCC-did Soros bribe somebody at the FCC-please someone tell me!!
Sally, you’re a moron and Steven, you’re an idiot. The new guy couldn’t fill one of Rich’s shoes let alone both of them. He had the most soothing voice, great guests and a great intro-I have been listening to conservative talk radio for 45 years and I think I know the difference between a great host and dog crap. There’s a reason that liberal talk radio hasn’t worked and it will NEVER WORK- they’re bat s—t crazy and they SUCK- The End!
I was unaware of the change until last night. I tuned in to listen to Valdes and figured he must have the night off and there was a sub. I listened for about 10 minutes and thought the sub was horrible. Then at the news break they announced him as the name of the show and I looked to see what happened to Rich. Very disappointing. I won’t be listening to WLS much anymore. Hannity is on in that time slot on WIND – I don’t really like to listen to him that much but his show is infinitely better than whoever this Milhaven guy is.
The key feature was his time on here, which started around 2am (my work hours)….another host was on then who switched to mornings and now i can only get her on podcast because station wouldn’t replay hers like they used to, but does replay a local host i’m less interested in…
Way toooooo many commercials/ads with the new host. He interviews people constantly having to go to commercials. The same with his call-in hour!