ABOVE: Circa 2002. Courtesy: Archive.org / KEZ999.com
Bill Austin of the “Beth & Bill” morning show on Clear Channel’s 99.9 KEZ announced his retirement this morning. Austin reasoned that he turned 55 this year, had been considering the benchmark for a couple of years, and has had nearly 40 years spent in the broadcast industry.
Close to 20 years has been the amount of time the “Beth & Bill” morning show has existed. Austin came over to KEZ in June of 1990 from News Channel 12, and Beth and Bill in the mornings were quickly a hit.
They have been a staple of Valley radio throughout much of this time, including local television news presences in the mornings, a television show of their own– “Cooking with Beth & Bill”– billboards, books, community events and more.
Austin’s announcement this morning came on his last day on the show. Beth McDonald is scheduled to go solo March 1.
See Marty Manning’s video footage of Bill Austin’s announcement below:
Visit Beth and Bill’s blog on KEZ999.com by clicking here for more info, photos, and memories.
Tuesday morning power outages in the Valley have not only left an estimated 18,000 people without electricity, according to APS spokeswoman Jenna Henry, but also briefly knocked out several major Phoenix FM radio stations.
Several– if not a majority– of the FM stations went to static around 10:27am. The static lasted for a minute or two before broadcasts returned on-air. A few others, like KOOL-FM, went from static to silence for a few moments more.
A second occurrence reportedly occurred just minutes shy of 11am, that affected Bonneville’s KPKX and KTAR-FM. Since both stations returned just before the noon hour, we presume the hour was used for transmitter work. Both are located on South Mountain, which supports a majority of Phoenix FM radio station transmitters.
99.9 KEZ (KESZ) has said goodbye to the syndicated nighttime request and dedication Delilah show. KEZ is filling the new opening in the evenings, bringing Lori Bradley on-board for 7pm to midnight, weeknights.
When will we get some Christmas music on the radio? 99.9 KEZ, or how about 94.5 KOOL-FM? You can find the question asked on websites such as Yahoo! Answers.
It’s late November and we had no shortage of Christmas music this time last year. In fact, no shortage of it on Halloween. The season hasn’t seen the light of day so far in 2009.
As of this morning, the Christmas music lovers’ eagerly awaited wish has finally come true. KEZ kicked off all-Christmas this morning at 8am.
KOOL has yet to flip to all-Christmas– as the website hints that it may play Christmas here and there, it also provides a station on KOOLradio.com to be streamed that plays only Christmas music. It could be a holiday race not chosen to venture, unlike last year’s excitement and spirit.
Last year we got an early Christmas music battle between 99.9 KEZ and 94.5 KOOL-FM.
KEZ, the “Holiday Station” of many years, has yet to flip to all-Christmas music this season. Rumor had it that the flip was to occur November 1, but word got out too early on the Phoenix Radio-Info.com boards. The date also drew national attention in Radio-Info’s newsletter by Tom Taylor. Several days later, a new date was disclosed by the same anonymous informant on the Phoenix Radio-Info board as being November 16, which is today.
During the weekend, new all-Christmas competitor, KOOL (since flipping to all-Christmas last year on Halloween before the doorbells even rang), began advertising Christmas to happen, and to listen Monday (today) at noon.
Considering the KEZ Christmas rumor to be true, and imagining the KOOL Christmas date for today as being a reaction to it, today is a potential day for an all-Christmas music showdown, balk, or tease– and what better day than on a Monday?
We should soon witness which Phoenix radio station sits on Santa’s lap first.
Liz Boyle tells us that John Giese and Bill Andres (KDKB’s John & Bill) are planning to reunite at the AMEHOF benefit concert, Sept. 6. Also emceeing: Wonderful Russ (KDKB), Marty Manning (KESZ), and Jim West (KNIX, KMLE)!
When will we get some Christmas music on the radio? 99.9 KEZ, or how about 94.5 KOOL-FM? You can find the question asked on websites such as Yahoo! Answers.
