"Yesterday is Gone" by Chad and Jeremy was the final song as WKBW became a thing of the past...again. On Feb. 6, 2006 at 3pm, WKBW (WWKB) discontinued its retro rock-n-roll format as it prepared to switch to a new, liberal talk format. The classic oldies format originally aired in 2003 complete with historic jingles and classic DJs including Danny Neaverth, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong, Joey Reynolds, Tom Donahue and Steve Mitchell.
According to a inside source, the decision to end KB is part of a company-wide program to end music on AM stations across the Entercom group. The word was handed down to the KB staff at 10A after the Danny Neaverth show.
So here is to the final chapter of music on KB radio. 2003-2006.
Neaverth dropped as KB radio shifts to talk
Buffalo News 2/7/2006 (www.BuffaloNews.com)
WWKB-AM 1520 couldn't be much farther right when you look at the radio dial, but it's getting a push to the left - and pushing Danny Neaverth off the air. KB's owner, Entercom, dropped the station's oldies music format Monday in favor of what the company calls a "progressive talk" lineup.
The switch displaces Neaverth, whose time at KB dates to 1958. Tim Wenger, Entercom Buffalo's operations manager, said Monday that the station informed Neaverth that Monday was his last show on KB. Tom Donahue, a Buffalo radio veteran who was on the air daily with Neaverth, said he "definitely was surprised" when he and the rest of the morning crew were told of the changes following Monday's show.
"I was having the time of my life," said Donahue, who joined Neaverth when he returned to KB in 2003. Neaverth, through Donahue, declined to comment. Neaverth built his career during the heyday of KB and went on to become the longest-tenured on-air personality in Buffalo radio, including a run as the morning host at WHTT-FM.
By making the move to a talk format now, KB gets a jump on WHLD-AM 1270, which last week announced it plans to begin airing liberal talk programming next Monday. Wenger said the WHLD announcement didn't trigger Monday's change. "This has been in the works for in excess of a year," he said.
The station's new lineup includes a show from Leslie Marshall, who was a host on WGR-AM in the early 1990s. Marshall's show will cover local topics and take local callers, though she will be doing the show from California. The rest of the lineup consists of nationally syndicated programs, including shows featuring former CNN fixture Bill Press, Lockport native Stephanie Miller and Joey Reynolds, who remains in KB's overnight slot. Entercom also owns WBEN-AM 930, which features several hosts with conservative viewpoints.
|
