Los Angeles classic rock station KLOS-FM (95.5) has fired afternoon hosts Kevin Ryder and Doug “Sluggo” Roberts.
Ryder confirmed the duo’s ouster Friday on social media, making sardonic references to a marketing initiative the stations recently launched. “Ironic time to start a ‘Where’s Kevin???’ campaign,” Ryder posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In an Instagram video Ryder posted, several people, including one man looking under a desk, are shown asking, “Where is Kevin?” The video then cuts to Ryder, pulling a pint of ice cream and other goodies out of the freezer. “Well, I’m not there anymore,” the host says to the camera. “KLOS fired me.”
Direct messages to Ryder and Roberts were not returned, and a representative for KLOS or its parent company could not immediately be reached.
Ryder has been a fixture of the local radio airwaves for decades. He was previously with KROQ-FM (106.7), where he helmed the morning program “Kevin and Bean” for roughly three decades with his longtime on-air partner, Gene “Bean” Baxter.
After Baxter retired in 2019, “Kevin & Bean” was renamed “Kevin in the Morning With Allie & Jensen,” after his new co-hosts Allie Mac Kay and Jensen Karp.
But in March 2020, Ryder and his team were abruptly fired from the station.
Ryder made his comeback the following year with his hiring by KLOS, where he joined Roberts, who arrived at the station in 2019.
Burbank-based KLOS-FM has been on the air since the 1960s. It sold to investor and entrepreneur Alex Meruelo’s Meruelo Media in 2019, paying $43 million to the previous owner, Atlanta-based radio giant Cumulus Media.
Meruelo’s holding include several other local outlets, such as hip-hop stations KDAY-FM (93.5) and KPWR-FM (105.9) “Power 106.”
Terrestrial radio, while long a signature feature of L.A.’s heavy commutes, has come under serious financial pressure in recent years, thanks to competition from streaming music services and podcasting. Earlier this year, Meruelo Media made cuts to its Los Angeles stations, eliminating midday hosts.
Speaking to Variety, Ryder made reference to rumors that Meruelo is looking to unload its radio properties, including KLOS. “I hope they sell it to somebody who cares about it,” he told the trade publication.