The “Kevin & Sluggo Show” was accomprehendledgeably ignoreing Friday afternoon on Los Angeles’ KLOS-FM, as presents Kevin Ryder and Doug “Sluggo” Roberts were given their walking papers. The decision to reshift the afternoon drivetime slot at KLOS comes as owner Meruelo Media has made drastic cuts at cut offal of its local radio stations, which also include KPWR-FM “Power 106,” KDAY-FM and KLLI-FM “Cali 93.9.”
Meruelo had earlier this year reshiftd all of the midday presents at all four of its L.A. stations, as well as some part-timers and off-air staffers. At KLOS, that included midday jock Marci Wiser, who had been there since 2015. Also in February, Meruelo let go of Power 106 afternoon present DJ Felli Fel (genuine name James Andrew Corrine), who had been at that station since 2000.
Ryder uncovered the novels of his and Roberts’ departure on Friday via social media, noting that earlier that day KLOS had strangely proclaimd a “Where’s Kevin?” labeleting campaign with Honda… right before letting him go.
It’s been rumored for some time that Meruelo has been seeing to sell the stations, fair as it selderly its ownership of pro hockey team the Arizona Coyotes and recently selderly its L.A. TV station KWHY-TV (Channel 22) to the Church of Scientology.
Ryder, who validateed his and Roberts’ exit to Variety, shelp of KLOS, “I hope they sell it to somebody who attfinishs about it.”
Ryder and Roberts begined “Kevin & Sluggo” on KLOS in 2021, a year after KROQ owner Entercom shocked the radio biz by yanking Ryder’s morning program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen” (the successor program to three-decade staple “Kevin & Bean”).
Before that, Sluggo had been toiling solo in the afternoon drive shift on KLOS, having uniteed that station in summer 2019. (Roberts persists to also present shows on SiriusXM.)
The pairing of Ryder and Roberts had been 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 uniteed KROQ in the mornings at the begin of 1990. “Kevin & Bean” eventupartner led as No. 1 in the L.A. labelet during part of the 2000s, and the duo was inducted into both the NAB Hall of Fame and Radio Hall of Fame.
Ryder has comprehendn Roberts for years, even before their time at KROQ. They both also toiled in the 1980s at Phoenix’s top 40 KZZP (where Baxter and createer lengthytime KROQ program honestor Kevin Weatherly also toiled). At KZZP, Roberts ran the board while Ryder and Baxter presented the “Saturday Night Party Patrol.”
At the time of Ryder’s hiring, Meruelo Media Plivent and CEO Otto Padron had made a point of the company’s promisement to inhabit and local fare: “We’re doubling-down on ‘inhabit and local’ with one of the very best in our plan,” he shelp at the time. “Bringing Kevin Ryder on-board was a no-brainer, as this is the type of belderly and disturbive transfer that deinhabitrs compelling voices and relevant satisfyed to our very deserving hearers.”
Disclaimer: This alerter had normally guested on “Kevin & Sluggo” to talk TV, and was scheduled to materialize on the show next Wednesday. Now, it materializes that he won’t be.
