Today marks the one year anniversary of beloved Phoenix radio morning host Bill Austin passing away after battling cancer.

Austin was partnered with Beth McDonald in the morning on 99.9 KEZ for nearly 20 years and announced retirement at the age of 55 in February of last year.

This morning Beth McDonald played tributes in remembrance of Bill Austin. Please click here to see the Bill Austin tribute page on KEZ999.com.

This of course holds no bearing with the Ghost of Phoenix Radio Christmas Music’s Recent Past.

This morning at 7, Beth McDonald kicked off the Christmas music on the Valley’s original Christmas music station this time of year, 99.9 KEZ. For a couple of days, she had been teasing listeners on Facebook about when she will begin the music and taking guesses as to when it would start.

Clear Channel Phoenix National Sales Manager Patti Graham has been named as new GSM.

Painting by artist and listener Brian Brooks, in celebration of Radio Free Phoenix's 6th birthday and depicting founder Andy Olson.

Radio Free Phoenix (RadioFreePhoenix.com), the free-form internet rock radio station based in the Valley, turns six years old this week.

Founded by Phoenix radio veteran Andy Olson in 2004, Radio Free Phoenix has continued to gain a loyal group of listeners that grow each year. The station prides itself on being free-form and on the internet. The on-air lineup is made of terrestrial radio veterans– a majority being from the Phoenix market–who have made the transition into the world of internet radio.

Some Radio Free Phoenix names that longtime Valley radio listeners would remember include Andy Olson (KSTM, KSLX, KZON), Liz Boyle (KOOL, KDKB, KESZ), Dave Cooper (KZON, KYOT, KJZZ), and Angela Allen (KOOL).

Austin has been a part of the Beth and Bill morning duo for nearly twenty years in Phoenix, and has been a Channel 12 TV weatherman prior to 99.9 KEZ.

After dealing with some health issues and turning 55, Austin decided to announce his retirement on-air in February.

Sources say Austin passed away due to bladder cancer.

Beth McDonald, Austin’s morning show partner, tweeted this morning, “It’s with a heavy heart but yes our Bill passed away this morning hope heaven has room for really loud colored shirts. Love ya big guy RIP.”

Beth and Bill have been a staple of Valley radio throughout much of their two decades together, including local television news presences in the mornings, a television show of their own– “Cooking with Beth & Bill”– billboards, books, community events and more.

99.9 KEZ will air a “Tribute to Bill Austin” Friday morning 6-10am.

ABOVE: Circa 2002. Courtesy: Archive.org / KEZ999.com

See Marty Manning’s video footage of Bill Austin’s announcement below:

One question asks,
“WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE MORNING DJ(s)?”

Options (and percentages as of 5:45 this evening):
Ankarlo (Darrell Ankarlo), KTAR
2%
Barry Young, KFYI talk radio
2%
Ben and Matt , KNIX
30%
Beth and Bill, KEZ
5%
Dave Pratt, formerly of KMLE
31%
Doug & Wolf, KTAR
1%
Holmberg’s Morning Sickness, KUPD
4%
Howard Stern, Sirius Satellite Radio
2%
Johnjay and Rich, KISS
21%
Tim and Willie, KMLE
2%

You can place your vote here.

PhoenixAirchecks.com Analysis:
- Where’s everybody else? Surprised to not see Chris & Amy. What about JR & Mary? And why not Tom & Maria? Dave Pratt is still an option, yet it’s been fifteen months since he’s been on the radio. (Yeah, but he also blogs for AZCentral.)

- Speaking of Dave Pratt, Pratt is beating Holmberg’s Morning Sickness over septuple! (that means times seven)

- Johnjay and Rich seem to be the ones most pushing for their followers on Twitter to vote for them on this one. So far it’s gotten them to 21%.

- Why can AZCentral never spell Willy’s name right?

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.

Click here to Send Your Best to Bill (KEZ email address)

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.

What are your thoughts? Please comment below!