Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla are among the producers who have spent years crafting a multi-part docuseries chronicling the history of influential Los Angeles alternative radio station KROQ — and five years ago, they seemed to have a proper (albeit, depressing) ending to the story. As reported at the time by Variety, the once-“world famous” KROQ had collapsed in both ratings and reputation as the station lost its two-time Hall of Fame morning show “Kevin & Bean,” while simultaneously blowing up its familiar playlist. “It’s the End of the World Famous KROQ As We Know It,” the Variety headline read.
And yet, five years later, there appears to be a bit of a recovery happening at the legendary radio outlet. In October, KROQ posted a 5.8 share in its key adults 25-54 demo — making it No. 2 in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest marrket. That’s quite a change from even just a year ago, when the station was still pulling a fairly tepid 2.6 share (No. 16 in the market).
KROQ is also experiencing a tremendous boost in the mornings, where the “Klein.Ally.Show” hit its best-ever numbers last month — after having struggled to gain traction during its first four years on air.
“We have a great frickin’ story here,” says KROQ senior VP of programming Kevin Weatherly. “It was dark times at this station. Many people thought would never come back. A lot of people thought KROQ was dead, and it was dead to a lot of our listeners. But now here we are, five years later. Not only have we come back from that, but we’re back bigger in terms of ratings success, than we’ve been in 15-plus years.”
Per KROQ’s monthly ratings trends, that rebirth really took off this past spring — and it’s probably not a coincidence that the listenership skyrocketed after the return of ex-morning host Kevin Ryder. With his former “Kevin & Bean” partner Gene “Bean” Baxter, Ryder spent 30 years at KROQ until March 2020 — when he and co-hosts Allie Mac Kay and Jensen Karp (Baxter had departed in November 2019) were fired over the phone during the pandemic.
Ryder returned to the KROQ in afternoon drive this past April 1, a little over five years after being axed — and soon after, another KROQ vet, Doug “Sluggo” Roberts, also returned to the station for regular shifts after a long absence. (During that time away, Ryder and Roberts hosted an afternoon show together on L.A. classic rock outlet KLOS.)
“I think Kevin Ryder coming back had the halo effect of really benefiting the radio station from a ratings standpoint,” Weatherly says. “Because it did give people permission that were pissed off, that didn’t want anything to do with KROQ, to go, ‘OK, if he’s coming back, it’s cool for us too.’”
Jed “The Fish” Gould, the pioneering Los Angeles DJ who spent 34 years on influential Los Angeles alternative radio station KROQ-FM as “Jed the Fish,” died early Monday morning. He was 69; the cause was lung cancer, of which he had only recently been diagnosed.
Gould first joined KROQ in 1978, when it was still a tiny, struggling FM station in Pasadena, breaking punk rock, alternative and new wave bands before anyone else — and continued there for decades, departing in 2012 after years as its afternoon jock.
“He is one of the kindest, funniest and the most unique people that I’ve ever met,” said good friend and current KROQ DJ Megan Holiday. “He was so inspiring and endlessly creative, and he had an infectious energy. He could light up an arena. I just loved him very much and was grateful for the time we got to spend together.”
After his time at KROQ, Gould spent time at noncommercial California State Northridge AAA station KCSN, where he did shifts until last fall. After a short stint at KLOS, he also then briefly returned to KROQ, as a host on the station’s HD-2 “Roq of the ’80s” feed.
“My decades at KROQ are the core of my radio experience,” he wrote on his LinkedIn page. “Right place at the right time. We were leading the way but had no idea. Looking back, it’s plain the influence of this powerhouse reached beyond radio. TV, movies and now the sorts of attitudes and intensities displayed online owe much of their processes to KROQ… Any music lover who grew up in SoCal will tell you KROQ was their buddy for much or most of their lives. You can tell I now take pride in what I did. But I really tried not to while I was doing it… I did have some terse and morally contradictory episodes at KROQ, but I was treated well by executives and colleagues alike. I found very little feedback would stick in my head better than the other way. [Program director] Kevin Weatherly helped me be a better me. This vast experience raced by like all good things. Driving to work, at least 10 times a month, I would remember how lucky I was; that this could all be over any minute. Like the end of the Sopranos.”
Born Edwin Jed Fish Gould III in 1955, in more recent years Jed the Fish spent his time as a visual artist, working in mixed media, sculpture and other forms. Before KROQ, he worked at stations including KIQQ, KEZY and KORG. During his KROQ run, he briefly left for modern rock KQAK and AOR KRQR San Francisco before returning.
But he’ll forever be best known for his legacy at KROQ, where he won multiple honors, including the Billboard Modern Rock Personality of the Year award twice, as well as the Radio & Records Local Modern Rock Personality of the Year. He also appeared as himself in films including “Surf II” and “Night Angel,” as well as the doc “Mayor of Sunset Strip.”
As Jed the Fish, Gould’s on-air personality was known for a wicked, off-beat sense of humor and a variety of loud, cackling laughs.
“It took me years of imitation before I learned the simplicity of being myself on the air,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Turns out this was a wacky position to take, but people seem to like the honesty behind it. The laugh? People would often say, ‘Jed, do your laugh!’ I would glibly reply, ‘Say something funny.’ They often would, and even now, if they do, they get what they want. But what goes unrealized is the laugh is actually over a dozen laughs I subconsciously culled from family members in early childhood. The lingering devil laugh was Uncle John. The low chuckle was my mom’s dad. The wheezy one, my own dad. The giddy ‘hee hee’ from my first stepfather. I have a gentle, stuttering laugh which came from Eileen S. Hall, mom’s mom and a tremendous influence on me. The extended, energetic, open-throated ‘ha-haa’ that scares people seems to be my own, or perhaps a hybrid of the above. I highly recommend laughing whenever possible.”
On Monday afternoon’s Kevin Ryder show, icons from KROQ past and present gathered to remember Jed the Fish, including Richard Blade, Freddy Snakeskin, Doug “Sluggo” Roberts, Jay “Lightning” Tilles, Tami Heide, Kat Corbett, Andy Schuon and many others:
Five years after KROQ fired Kevin Ryder and his morning team at the start of the pandemic, Ryder is returning to the station. Ryder spent 30 years at KROQ as one half of the “Kevin & Bean” duo, and was inducted into two radio halls of fame for the legendary run.
Ryder will take over the afternoon drive slot from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., while Megan Holiday, who currently holds that slot, will shift to nights. Ryder first showed up on the air on April 1 — and listeners were left wondering if it was an April Fool’s Day prank, something “Kevin & Bean” used to regularly due during their heyday.
“We were going back and forth and they said, ‘when do you think you can start?’ and I said, ‘April Fools would be hilarious,'” Ryder said of his new one-year deal at the station, with the option for a second.
Variety had the chance to sit in with Ryder on Tuesday, where he revealed that the deal to come back to KROQ came down to the wire — on Sunday night it was looking official, and he finalized the pact on Monday, with the goal of quietly showing up on the station on April Fool’s Day.
“It’s really bizarre in that this is where I spent half my life,” Ryder said Tuesday of being back at the station for the first time in five years. “Because it feels like home and it also feels like the craziest, weirdest outer space thing in my life. What a strange situation, pulling up to the building and looking at it in the parking lot and remembering where the ticket thing is and where I need to get it punched and all of that. I love doing this. I remember beng in college and I used to play a Rick Dees Top 40 countdown on the radio, and I remember thinking to myself, wow, it would be amazing to work in Los Angeles one day and getting on a cool station.”
Later in the show, Ryder included a comedy bit from another former “Kevin & Bean” partner, Ralph Garman, who called in to voice the character “Linus,” who would show up on “Kevin & Bean” over the years as “Kevin’s assistant.” And Ryder also took calls from listeners, giving impressions in order to win Coachella tickets.
Of course, in Kev-Dogg fashion, at one point he accidentally said the call letters “KLOS” instead of “KROQ.” Ryder was indeed back!
I still think quite a bit about listening to radio on the way to work on 9/11 and hearing Ralph Garman and Boyd R. Britton "Doq on the Roq" on KROQ; Big Boy on Power 106; Mark Wallengren on KOST; Ellen K on KIIS-FM and others as I scanned the dial that morning. For Variety I talked to them and NY's Elvis Duran Show about having to pivot from jokes to news on air that day:
Elvis Duran still recalls the phone-in topic on his morning radio show the day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “We were talking about whether you’re cheating on your significant other if you’re flirting with someone else in an online chat room,” Duran says. “And then playing a song.”
Back in 2001, Duran’s top 40 WHTZ-FM “Z100” was located in Jersey City — just across the Hudson River from Downtown Manhattan. The “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show” team had a direct view of the World Trade Center from their 40th floor studio, and it was their phone screener who first fielded reports of smoke from one of the towers.
“It started with rumors a helicopter hit it,” Duran recalls. “Around the time we found out it was a commercial airline plane that hit it, that’s when the second plane hit the other tower. And we immediately knew, this isn’t what we think it is, this is something that we don’t understand.”
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, morning hosts were just arriving to start their shifts. “We’re having our pre-meeting off air before we jump on air live,” remembers Big Boy, who was then based at hip-hop KPWR-FM “Power 106.” “One of my guys comes in and says, ‘Man, some fucking idiot just crashed his plane into the World Trade Center.’ So we go into our office. And as we’re sitting there watching it live, the second plane comes in, boom.”
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks kicked the nation’s TV and radio news organizations into high gear, as they quickly went live to cover the unfolding events. But also on air that day were drive-time radio personalities who suddenly had to drop the jokes, stop spinning records, and instead pivot to becoming somber lifelines as listeners looked for information and solace.
“We got on the air and started answering calls,” says Ellen K, who back then was Rick Dees’ partner on Los Angeles top 40 KIIS-FM. “I was over seven months pregnant, and my baby in my belly, my son — who’s now almost 20 — was kicking and punching wildly because of the stress reaction I was having. I remember I couldn’t breathe very well, so I had to sit down and calm myself while we’re answering these phone calls.”
K remembers no music being played that day on KIIS. “It was just constant calls, and we stayed on the air way past 10 a.m., when we would usually sign off. We were on until almost 2 p.m. People were taking turns, coming on, crying. We were also giving information as fast as we could get it. So we had our producers calling out, we were calling friends in New York City. We were also reaching out to everyone we knew to get on the air.”
At Los Angeles alternative KROQ-FM, the hosts of “Kevin & Bean” were on vacation, so the station was replaying “best of” clips from previous shows. Just a skeleton crew were in the offices: Sidekick Ralph Garman and news anchor Boyd R. Britton (known as “Doc on the Roq”), who were originally only there to contribute a few live segments in between the repeats.
“By the time I had gotten to the studio, the news had just broken that the second plane had hit the second tower,” Garman says. “And it was only then that it dawned on us that this was not an accident. And the station didn’t know what to do. I was in there, Doc was in there. We had a board op. But the decision eventually was made: We can’t ignore this; we have to go on the air with something. And here I am, this baby broadcaster. I had done voices and stuff for the show but I’d never really taken on a larger role than that. And they said we have to go live, so we just turned on the mics and started broadcasting.”
In an unconventional move, Britton and Garman — normally two contributors who never interacted on “Kevin & Bean” — were suddenly co-anchoring coverage on KROQ.
Longtime KROQ DJ Kat Corbett is the latest voice to exit the iconic L.A. alternative radio station — and although she’s not ready to reveal her next stop just yet, she hints to Variety that several possibilities are on the horizon.
“I am talking to some folks that I can’t say just yet,” said Corbett, who also continues to host a daily show on SiriusXM’s Lithium channel. “I think the audio sound space is so amazing right now. Podcasting, fiction podcasting, this stuff is blowing my mind. How I would love to put some of my stories in that arena.” Corbett also hopes to release her debut novel before the end of the year: “They’re rough drafts but I wrote two books during COVID. I was like, what else am I gonna do?”
Corbett had most recently served as a weekend and fill-in DJ for KROQ, in addition to her signature, weekly show “Locals Only,” featuring unsigned and up-and-coming L.A. bands. From 2005 to 2020, Corbett was KROQ’s midday DJ, following the famed “Kevin & Bean Show.”
But “Kevin & Bean” ended its run at the end of 2019, following the departure of Gene “Bean” Baxter. Co-host Kevin Ryder continued until March 2020, when KROQ fired him and co-hosts Allie Mac Kay and Jensen Karp over the phone, in the middle of a pandemic.
More recently, Ted Stryker, co-host of the current morning show, “Stryker & Klein,” also departed the station. The loss of KROQ’s signature stars, coupled with a dramatic shift in the station’s music mix over the past year, has led to several pieces — including one in Variety — dissecting the station’s current choices, ratings plummet and its future.
Corbett, however, had been pondering an exit at KROQ for some time, even prior to the recent departures and changes. She had actually planned to leave, with another show lined up, last year until the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.
“I was ready to go then because, frankly, I reached the top of my game, and I never thought I’d be somewhere for 20 years — like that’s crazy, let alone KROQ,” said Corbett, pointing to the decision to leave the midday gig. “I’m somebody who really likes to work, I like being creative, and again it’s like, what else was there for me to do? I was never one of those people where I was, ‘I’m going to retire at KROQ.’ That’s not a thing. You grow out of the demo. I knew that there would always be a time. It was definitely happening right before COVID. And then, obviously, everything fell apart and so I already had a home so it was kind of like, [why not ride it out] while I was still there.”
A year after KROQ veteran Ted Stryker and radio partner Kevin Klein moved to the station’s A.M. slot — in a hasty shift after the station fired morning hosts Kevin Ryder, Allie Mac Kay and Jensen Karp — Stryker is departing the show.
Stryker announced the news on his Twitter account: “After more than 22 years at KROQ, I can proudly say with infinite gratitude that I will be leaving my full time position and stepping away from Stryker and Klein,” he wrote. “What’s next for me? I’ve got a lot of things planned on the horizon (stay tuned). In the meantime, my Out of Order show will continue to air on weekends on KROQ and around the country. I’ll also be filling in on the station when needed. The love and support that I’ve gotten from this community over so many years have meant and continue to mean the world to me. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your world.”
The post-"Kevin & Bean" saga continues, as Kevin Ryder returns to the Los Angeles radio airwaves on Thursday. As I wrote in Variety:
A year after KROQ owner Entercom shocked the radio biz by yanking the station’s morning program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen” (the successor program to three-decade staple “Kevin & Bean”), host Kevin Ryder is prepping a return to the Los Angeles airwaves.
Ryder announced this morning that he’ll be joining Doug “Sluggo” Roberts to co-host the afternoon drive shift on crosstown rival KLOS, owned by Meruelo Media, starting this Thursday. The daily 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. shift will be in addition to the new daily show he launched last month with Mike Catherwood, “Great News! With Kevin & Mike,” which will continue to be produced weekdays as both a YouTube video and podcast.
“I’m excited, I’ve known Sluggo for 33 years, so we’ve always been friends,” Ryder said. “[He] was one of the first people to call me when I was let go.”
The pairing of Ryder and Roberts is a KROQ reunion of sorts, as Roberts spent decades doing shifts at KROQ (as “Doug the Slug,” “Sluggo” and various variations of his persona) while Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter joined KROQ in the mornings at the start of 1990. “Kevin & Bean” eventually led as No. 1 in the L.A. market during part of the 2000s, and the duo was inducted into both the NAB Hall of Fame and Radio Hall of Fame.
"Kevin & Sluggo" will air weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KLOS starting Feb. 18.
Former KROQ “Kevin and Bean” colleagues Gene “Bean” Baxter and Allie Mac Kay have reunited to launch a new podcast, “A Cup of Tea and a Chat with Allie & Bean.”
The show, which will post episodes three days a week, comes nearly a year after Baxter left “Kevin and Bean” and moved to London, and six months after KROQ yanked the successor program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie and Jensen,” off the air.
Baxter and Kevin Ryder hosted “Kevin and Bean” on KROQ for nearly 30 years — since the start of 1990. After Baxter left, Ryder continued with Mac Kay (who had been with “Kevin & Bean” since 2015) and Jensen Karp, who joined in 2018.
But new KROQ management decided to pull the plug in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic got underway, and the station took a ratings and public relations hit as a result.
Since moving to London, Baxter has been hosting interviews and doing voice tracking for digital broadcaster Podcast Radio. Mac Kay and Baxter remained in contact, and she said she broached the idea of reteaming soon after KROQ ended “Kevin in the Morning.”
“We were fired in March, I believe I started pestering Bean in April,” Mac Kay said. “‘Hey Bean you ever thought about doing a podcast with an old friend that lives in Los Angeles?’ I think I probably mentioned it only about four or five times, really. And it would just kind of be in passing because if Bean doesn’t want to do something, he’ll totally change the subject. He won’t answer, and he wasn’t really answering and he was changing the subject. So I kind of let it go.“
Baxter said it took a bit of prodding, and hearing from “Kevin and Bean” fans.
“I didn’t think it was a bad idea, it just took me a long time to realize that it was a good idea,” he said.
Well, Shirley Halperin and I thought we'd make some waves with our lengthy, in-depth look at the woes facing KROQ, but didn't expect this: KROQ was trending in LA and nationwide last night as people discussed what happened to the legendary station. The decision to fire "Kevin in the Morning" is still raw, and fans are still angry. Meanwhile, new program director Mike Kaplan is implementing a change in the station's music mix that, honestly, I think is necessary. (Please, no more Red Hot Chili Peppers!) But he lost what ever benefit of the doubt that listeners might have given him and the station when Kevin Ryder and crew were yanked off the air, right at the start of the pandemic.
A funny thing happened the week of March 8. Iconic Los Angeles radio station KROQ, long known for showcasing the top names in alternative rock, programmed a pop hit, Post Malone’s “Circles,” into power rotation. On March 1, the song hadn’t registered a single spin. Seven days later, it had 32 plays. By the end of March, it was averaging 65 a week — and over the last three months it has become the station’s second most-played track behind Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” and ahead of Shaed’s “Trampoline.”
Post’s arrival came amid several major exits for the station: longtime program director Kevin Weatherly, who left in late February after 28 years — on the heels of a proposed pay cut (in the ballpark of 30% according to an insider) — for a position at Spotify (he starts in September); and the March 18 firing of morning host Kevin Ryder after three decades on the job.
The decision to blow up the morning show brought severe consequences. In the past two months, according to Nielsen’s most recent L.A. report, KROQ has dropped more than a share point among listeners age 6 and up (from a 2.5 to a 1.4 share of the market) — placing the Entercom-owned station far behind its alternative rock competitor, iHeartRadio’s KYSR-FM Alt 98.7 (at a 2.2 share). What’s more, according to one metric, KROQ lost half of its listenership in the weeks following the decision to yank “Kevin the Morning with Allie & Jensen” off the air.
When I first arrived to Los Angeles in 1996, I immediately began listening to KROQ in the morning. Being a radio junkie, I had heard about "Kevin & Bean," and wanted to finally check it out for myself. I've listened to plenty of morning radio, and had just lived in both Washington, D.C., and Chicago, where the morning radio shows I heard were... all right. But missing real personality.
"Kevin & Bean" had personality. It wasn't trying to force sophomoric gags on you or unearned laughs. By the time I started tuning in, Kevin and Bean had been doing the show for six years, while Jimmy Kimmel had already been there for two — so I missed the early trials and errors. By 1996, the elements had all come into place. Kimmel was scripting fantastic bits and providing sports reports. Adam Corolla would join in, mostly in character. Lisa May chiming in on traffic, Doc on the Roq on news. Kevin and Bean orchestrating it all.
As Kimmel left and Ralph Garman joined the show, "Kevin & Bean" climbed to even greater heights, including many ratings books at No. 1. The show's bits were even further honed, and took full advantage of Ralph's voice skills and improv abilities. They not only referenced the top news and pop culture stories, they gave sharp commentary on them via satire and parody. "Kevin & Bean" had plenty of sophomoric stuff, but it was funny — and balanced by some really smart takes on the world. At one period of time, "Psycho Mike" Catherwood provided even more voices and takes, and the show was on fire.
Lisa and Ralph were eventually let go, and the way both of those exits were handled were unfortunate. Mike went off to pursue other things. But in came Allie Mac Kay, who gave the show new energy and a fresh perspective. Other players, including Johnny "Beer Mug" Kantrowe stepped up. A year and a half ago, Jensen Karp joined the show, another sharp writer and producer who injected the show with more original ideas.
After 30 years, "Kevin & Bean" had been inducted into both the NAB Hall of Fame and Radio Hall of Fame. Bean, who had done the show remotely for the last 20 of those years, departed at the end of 2019. "Kevin & Bean" was reborn in 2020 as "Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen," but apparently the station's new management wasn't patient. And opted to throw away 30 years of history, just like that, on Tuesday. "Kevin & Bean" is no more, and now "Kevin in the Morning" is no more either.
Which is a shame. Especially during this coronavirus crisis, we need all the virtual human connection we can get, and "Kevin in the Morning" was family, a group we heard from and interacted with every morning over the airwaves (or on the podcast). Kevin Ryder, in particular, had developed those relationships with KROQ listeners over 30 years. To be so cavalier with its listeners shows a great amount of disrespect by the KROQ and Entercom management. That's truly a slap in the face, and extremely short-sighted by them.
I'm heartbroken. And yeah, quite a bit angry at KROQ and Entercom. But also grateful for having had "Kevin & Bean" and "Kevin in the Morning" in my life for the 24 years I've been out here. Part of what made my lengthy commute so bearable all these years was knowing I had a full hour and a half of the show to accompany me on that drive every day.
But even more important, I'm grateful to having known the "Kevin & Bean"/ "Kevin in the Morning" team personally. Ruben and Destiny. Beer Mug is truly one of the good guys. Omar created two different openers for my podcasts over the years. Christine was so kind to invite me to see Local Natives at the KROQ Sound Space just a few weeks ago, after seeing me post a pic of their album on Instagram! Dave Sanchez, the man who kept the K&B/KITM ship floating for these past several years as producer, thanks for always having me on, especially in November, when I got to spend the entire day with the team. Jensen, you were a fantastic addition to the show this past year and a half. Allie, you brought a fun evergy and an important voice/perspective to the show every day.
And Kevin, after 30 years, you and Bean are radio legends. KROQ can't take that away. Grateful to have had "Kevin & Bean"/ "Kevin in the Mornings" in my life, and to have even unleashed "Bruddah Mike" on your listeners. Thanks to you and the entire team for everything.
LA radio stations owned by Entercom, iHeart, Meruelo Media and others all went silent for one minute, eight seconds at noon today in tribute to late Lakers icon Kobe Bryant. If you moved across the dial at that time today, you heard mostly silence -- except on the iHeart stations, which cheated a bit by playing ambient sounds of birds instead of silence (above). (As others noted, iHeart went with the white noise in order to still register on Nielsen personal people meters).
Entercom stations, including KROQ, KRTH "K-Earth" and KAMP "Amp Radio" played a pre-taped tribute to Bryant, before the silence. After the minute of silence (or, "silence"), here's what the stations played:
KROQ: Green Day, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
K-EARTH: Eric Clapton, "Tears in Heaven"
ALT 98.7fm, Real 92.3, KIIS-FM: Puff Daddy [feat. Faith Evans & 112], "I'll Be Missing You"
A definite bucket list item, as KROQ's "Kevin & Bean Show" (now, sadly, minus Bean) asked me to join them on Monday, Nov. 25, to fill in for the vacationing Allie Mac Kay. Allie usually does the "What's Happening" entertainment reports near the top of the hour, so I fashioned my own reports -- featuring news such as the American Music Awards and Baby Yoda. I also got to play with hosts Kevin Ryder and Jensen Karp on other segments, such as "Great News."
But most importantly, they got ahold of tape from when I was a kid, dreaming to one day be a radio DJ. (And yes, they also found one of my KCSN "Bruddah Mike" shows.) It was quite the morning. Listen below!
For months, Gene "Bean" Baxter's co-hosts on KROQ's "Kevin and Bean Show" have jokingly quipped "R.I.P. Bean!" to their departing colleague — and listeners have gotten in on the act as well. Bean isn't dying — he's leaving the show after nearly 30 years — and exiting the United States all together, moving with his wife, Donna, to England, where he was born as a military brat.
Being a fellow brat, that's one of several things I have in common with Bean — perhaps most notably, a love of radio. From the time I was a kid, I dreamed of being a radio DJ, and I was obsessed with the Billboard charts (something Bean also geeked out over the years).
Bean not only grew up wanting to be in radio, but he made it happen. And not only did he make it happen, but he wound up co-hosting one of the longest-running and most iconic morning radio shows in Los Angeles history. He and co-host Kevin Ryder have already been inducted in the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (I happened to be there, and took the video below), and on Friday they'll next be inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame.
Thursday is Bean's final day on KROQ and "The Kevin and Bean Show." And when his fans and colleagues joke "R.I.P. Bean," it's not really a joke. Bean's not dying, but for fans of "The Kevin and Bean Show," to lose a trusted voice and a part of your daily routine say goodbye after 30 years — it's tremendous blow. Like many in Los Angeles, I'm stuck in a car for hours each day, and "The Kevin and Bean Show" is my lifeline to sanity. Thanks to the show's podcast, I can listen to the full 4-hour broadcast, condensed into an hour and a half without music and commercials, every day as a result.
KROQ was already a legendary station when Kevin and Bean began there; as a kid, I read Billboard magazine and poured over the radio coverage so much that I was familiar with major-market stations, particularly on the west coast, like KROQ and KIIS. Funny enough, a 1989 Billboard I still own even includes a "Vox Jox" column announcing the hiring of Kevin and Bean on KROQ.
The first time I actually heard KROQ was in college at Northwestern in Chicago. One of my dormmates was from Southern California, and I asked her to record a cassette of KROQ when she was home for Christmas break. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1996, I knew of the station and Kevin & Bean and began sampling them — while, coincidentally, also listening to a lot of 103.1 "Groove Radio," programmed by former KROQ DJ the Swedish Egil. Mornings on Groove Radio were also handled by a KROQ alum, Jim "Poorman" Trenton, and I would flip back and forth between the two. But soon I was listening to Kevin and Bean full time. I headed to Warehouse Music that fall to buy Kevin & Bean's annual Christmas cassette, which was produced by "Jimmy the Sports Guy," some Brooklyn-sounding dude named Jimmy Kimmel. (I have almost every KROQ Christmas cassette and CD , until they stopped releasing them in the mid-2000s.)
Jimmy left and became a superstar, and Ralph Garman brought an arsenal of voices and improv that turned "Kevin & Bean" into a comedy treasure trove in the 2000s. The supporting team has changed over the years, but the Kevin and Bean formula remains: It's not a "morning zoo" with hyper DJs trying too hard over a dance music bed; it's an irreverent, often satirical and always self-deprecating look at entertainment, the culture, and what it's like to navigate the world around us.
Well-versed in pop culture, history, trivia and minutia, Bean often took lead on interviews, and his ability to hyperfocus on what needs to be asked and answered will be missed on the show. It's a skill that remains surprisingly rare on radio or TV. Listening to his interviews over the years, I think, influenced how I interview various performers and celebrities on my own podcasts.
I had written occasionally about KROQ and Kevin & Bean over the years for Variety and Franklin Avenue. But I really got to know the team thanks to social media. Twitter may be a cesspool, but it does have a useful function when it comes to bringing people together. It was through early Twitter that I conversed with Bean, and started getting invitations to talk TV on the show. Bean would always keep me on my toes, and I knew to brush up on information, as well as bring notes, to make sure I could answer his questions. It was a treat to see them at Comic Con annually, and stop by the studio a few times each year.
It's impossible to convey how impressive a 30-year run is, especially in radio — where formats, and lineups, change at the drop of a hat. There's no constant in radio, with a few exceptions. "Kevin and Bean" has been one of them. So much has changed since 1990 (I was still a junior in high school, for one thing!). And "Kevin and Bean" has evolved quite a bit since those early days, yet they still are able to keep up with the times and reflect, to this day, what's happening in pop culture and with their listeners.
As Bean heads to London, I look forward to seeing how the next chapter of his career unfolds; he promises that he's not retiring, and still hopes to find a new radio home overseas. As for "The Kevin and Bean Show," it will maintain that title for a while longer, perhaps until the end of the year. But beyond cosmetic changes, like a new title, not too much will change: The rest of the cast, including Allie MacKay, Jensen Karp, producer Dave "the King of Mexico" Sanchez, production whiz Omar Khan, jack-of-all-trades Johnny "Beer Mug" Kantrowe and assistant producer Christine Fung remain.
And thank goodness for that. R.I.P. Bean, but for the rest of you, I'll be tuning in on Monday!
Thanks to KROQ — specifically Dave "The King of Mexico" Sanchez — for allowing me to partake in another fun Almost Acoustic Christmas concert. Night two of the annual event took place on Sunday night at the Forum, highlighted by headliners Florence and the Machine (above) and others. Besides her powerful voice and a set list with plenty of KROQ favorites, Florence also brought down the house by asking the crowd to put down their phones. And the Forum crowd obliged!
The real highlight for me was earlier in the evening, however, when Chvrches performed. From its synthpop sounds to Lauren Mayberry's voice, they're phenomenal live. And yes, I followed up their performance by embarrasing myself in front of them later in the Forum club. Turns out blurting "Hey Chvrches!" and then waiting for them to respond wasn't the best way to get them to talk, but it was a great way to get them to look at me weird.
Mike Posner, who ended his set... with beat poetry.
Dr. Drew Pinsky wasn't ready to give up the nationally syndicated radio show "Loveline," even though he hasn't been paid a salary in over a year.
But when co-host Mike Catherwood departed at the end of March, Pinsky knew it was time to finally pull the plug. After 32 years of dispensing relationship and health advice five nights a week, Pinsky will host the final episode of the call-in advice show on Thursday night.
"It's been strictly pro bono for a year, and virtually pro bono for two years," Pinsky said. The host agreed to eliminate his salary in order to keep the show alive. "I took a profit share, whatever was left over. And there was nothing. My feeling was that it was something I enjoyed, something I was deeply committed to."
Pinsky said he also valued, as he aged, the ability to keep his "hand on the pulse, hearing in real time what's going on with young people in this country. I would hear everything first. I'm going to really miss that, knowing what's going on in young people's lives today."
Still, after Catherwood exited last month, "it wasn’t clear that [Los Angeles flagship radio station] KROQ was terribly interested in continuing the program five days a week," he said. "I thought, rather than drive this thing into the ground, it was time."
KOST-FM continued to enjoy a Christmas halo in January.
The station's annual all-Christmas format was a huge hit during the holidays, pulling a staggering 12.1 share of all Los Angeles radio listeners at the end of December. Christmas may be long gone, but listeners were still tuning into KOST way into January, giving it the No. 1 slot among listeners over the age of 12 (with a 5.9 share).
According to Nielsen's January radio ratings, top 40 KIIS-FM was No. 1 throughout the day with listeners 18-34 (8.0 share) and adults 25-54 (5.4 share).
In morning drive, Spanish-language KLVE's Omar y Argelia won overall, while KROQ's Kevin & Bean were tops in the key 25-54 demo. What's more, KROQ's Internet stream of Kevin & Bean also posted strong numbers -- so much more, that if you add the show's over-the-air and web numbers together, the show would be No. 3 overall (with a 4.5 share), and command an even more dominant 6.9 share with adults 25-54.
In public radio, our friends at KCRW led everyone with a strong 2.2 share.
Here are the top radio stations in January among listeners 12+:
1. KOST-FM (5.9 share)
2. KRTH-FM "K-Earth" (4.7)
3. KIIS-FM (4.6)
4. KBIG-FM "My FM" (4.5)
5. KLVE-FM "K-Love" (4.4)
6. KTWV-FM "The Wave" (4.2)
7. KRCD-FM "Recuerdo" (3.5)
tie. KCBS-FM "Jack FM" (3.5)
9. KNX-AM (3.3)
tie. KFI-AM (3.3)
Here are the top stations in morning drive among listeners 12+:
1. KLVE-FM "K-Love"/Omar y Argelia (5.3 share)
2. KOST-FM/Ellen K. (4.7)
3. KFI-AM/Bill Handel (4.4)
4. KIIS-FM/Ryan Seacrest (4.1)
5. KRTH "K-Earth"/Gary Bryan (4.0)
6. KNX-AM/Dick Helton and Vicky Moore (3.8)
tie. KROQ-FM/Kevin & Bean (3.8)
8. KTWV "The Wave"/Pat Prescott (3.6)
tie. KBIG "My FM"/Valentine (3.6)
10. KSCA "LA 101.9"/"El Bueno, La Mala y El Feo" (3.1)
Kevin & Bean asked me to call in to today's show to talk about underrated TV -- the shows that the critics love, but not a lot of people are watching. Listen to the K&B podcast below:
Here are some of the shows we talked about:
The Carmichael Show (NBC)
The Americans (FX)
American Crime (ABC)
Catastrophe (Amazon)
You’re the Worst (FXX)
Angie Tribeca (TBS)
The 100 (The CW)
Playing House (USA)
Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)
Thanks to Dave "the King of Mexico" Sanchez and the "Kevin & Bean" crew for inviting me to this year's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show (can you believe it's already the 26th year?). I headed down to the Forum for Saturday night's show, and was treated to sets from KROQ favorites like Weezer and Silversun Pickups (featuring Maria's former Rhino co-worker Nikki on bass).
Silversun Pickups sounded great, and played their crowd favorites.
Now, this was a first: the drummer for Twenty One Pilots, "drum surfing" the crowd.
Yep, literally playing the drums over the crowd.
Kevin and Bean -- plus Allie Mc Kay, Chip, Dave the King of Mexico and Christine, along with the new Miss Double-D -- intro Weezer. And good news: Bean stayed on the stage!
More K&B crew
Weezer does their thing, playing many of their biggest hits.
"What's with these homies, dissin' my girl?"
"Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be!"
Some serious confetti at the end of the Weezer show.
According to Nielsen's November radio ratings, KRTH "K-Earth 101" has now extended its lead as the No. 1 radio station in Los Angeles for the fourth month in a row. KRTH has also extended its dominance to mornings, where Gary Bryan's show was No. 1 in the daypart among listeners 12 and older (and in the key listeners 25-54 demo).
Meanwhile, top 40 KIIS-FM was No. 1 throughout the day with listeners 18-34 (8.1 share) and KBIG "My FM" (104.3) with No. 1 with adults 25-54 (5.6 share).
It was also a strong month for our pals at KCRW, which jumped ahead of competitor KPCC for the first time in recent memory (1.9 share vs. 1.8 share).
In morning drive, here are the top shows among listeners 12+:
1. KRTH "K-Earth"/Gary Bryan (5.7 share)
2. KLVE "K-Love"/Omar y Argelia (5.0)
3. KFI-AM/Bill Handel (4.8)
4. KBIG "My FM"/Valentine (4.6)
5. KIIS/Ryan Seacrest (4.5)
6. KROQ/Kevin & Bean (4.1)
TIE. KNX-AM/Dick Helton and Vicky Moore (4.1)
8. KOST/Ellen K (3.9)
9. KTWV "The Wave"/Pat Prescott (3.6)
10. KCBS "Jack FM"/Music (3.4)
School's back, which means more people on the road-- and listening to morning drive radio. Big beneficiaries included KIIS-FM's Ryan Seacrest and KROQ's Kevin & Bean, both of which saw strong gains in their key listener demos.
According to Nielsen's September radio ratings, KFI's Bill Handel was No. 1 in the morning among listeners 12 and older (mostly thanks to the strength of listeners over 54), tied with KLVE's Omar y Argelia. But in top demos, it was Ryan Seacrest (No. 1 in persons 18-34, leaping to 9.2 share from a 7.9 in August) and Kevin & Bean (No. 1 in persons 25-54, jumping to a 5.6 share from a 5.0 in August) that experienced healthy moves.
In overall listenership (6 a.m. to midnight), KRTH "K-Earth 101" was No. 1 for a second month in a row with a 5.1 share of the listening audience age 12 and over.
Meanwhile, top 40 KIIS-FM was No. 1 with listeners 18-34 (9.2 share) and with 25-54 (5.5 share).
It was also a strong month for KCRW, posted its highest numbers in at least a year.
In morning drive, here are the top shows among listeners 12+:
1. KFI (5.1 share)
TIE. KLVE "K-Love" (5.1)
3. KRTH "K-Earth" (4.9)
4. KIIS (4.6)
5. KROQ (4.0)
6. KNX (3.9)
TIE. KBIG "My FM"(3.9)
8. KTWV "The Wave" (3.4)
9. KLYY "Jose FM" (3.3)
TIE. KOST (3.3)
