So-Cal Station KROQ Fires Entire Morning Crew
Shocking news has come to the world of Southern California radio listeners as the entire morning show team at KROQ were fired on Tuesday, May 17.
Image Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Many people enjoyed listening to ‘The Kevin and Bean Show’ every morning as they got ready for work. The show consisted of a team of hosts Gene ‘Bean’ Baxter and Kevin Ryder as well as on-air personalities Allie Sharp and Jensen Karp. Also part of the crew were producer David Sanchez (aka ‘The King of Mexico’), main board operator Ruben, Jonathan Kantrowe (aka ‘Beer Mug’), board operator Destiny Lopez and DJ Omar Khan.
Gene ‘Bean’ Baxter had recently left the show to move back to his native home of London, England. After that, the show was renamed Kevin in the Morning with Allie and Jensen.
The crew were let go on Tuesday and the news became public on Wednesday when Ryder tweeted that management called “every one of us on the morning show and told us we were fired.” Ryder had been with the station for over 30 years.
Ryder continued to tweet regarding the reason behind the mass firing. "Why did @kroq fire all of us on the morning show? I assume it’s the ratings, which were down. The economy because it’s down. But it’s a pretty crappy way to treat people. We’re humbled by you spending any time w us. THANK YOU. (Going to sleep for about a week :)."
Ryder further pointed out in his tweet that the station appointed guards to escort the crew out of the building. "One last thing. There are 3 guys here to throw me out of the building. (I couldn't make this up) Not necessary. Leaving. :) Love all of you..."
Even though the crew was officially let go on Tuesday, they had the rare opportunity of going on air on Wednesday to say goodbye to their audience. Ryder took the chance to slam the station for its decision. In doing so, he referred to prior shocking staff changes including the letting go of traffic reporter Lisa May and fellow on air personality Ralph Garman.
"Along the way, the one criticism I’ve had about the station from day one is that they’ve always treated me, along with everybody else here, like we're lucky to have jobs,” Ryder said. "The management of the station uses that, at times, to be incredibly cruel to people. Some of the more higher-profile ones have been Lisa May, Ralph Garman — you guys know those stories all too well. There's a lot of people who left, because of the toxicity of what was going on here."
The station released statements regarding the decision to fire the staff including the following.
"As one of the most iconic stations in Los Angeles, our commitment is to provide our consumers with the most compelling content and best listening experience that we know they expect from us. We’ve taken a deep look at our station, and have made some recent changes. Today, we announced the launch of a new morning show that we believe will deliver what our fans are asking for and take our station into the future. While change is always hard, we are excited about our new programming lineup and look forward to engaging with our fans across the city. Thank you Kevin and Bean for 30 entertaining years!"
Moving forward, the station will be airing the Stryker and Klein show in the mornings. It will feature long time, on air personalities Ted Stryker and Kevin Klein and it will air on the station from 5-10 AM weekdays.
This is indeed shocking news for Ryder and his crew and fans and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.
