Hours after former KROQ 106.7 FM radio host Kevin Ryder announced that he and his morning crew had been “fired” from the airwaves, the station announced the arrival of their new AM show replacements: Stryker and Klein.
“Current afternoon drive co-hosts Stryker and Kevin Klein will debut on mornings in the coming weeks, succeeding longtime station veteran Kevin Ryder,” the release sent out Wednesday afternoon by KROQ owner Entercom read.
Longtime hosts Ted Stryker and Kevin Klein will now be on air weekdays from 5-10 a.m. On-air personality Megan Holiday has been bumped to the afternoon time slot and KROQ said it is currently searching for an evening host.
Reps for KROQ told TheWrap that the change was an effort to take their station “into the future.”
“As one of the most iconic stations in Los Angeles, our commitment is to provide our consumers with the most compelling content and best listening experience that we know they expect from us. We’ve taken a deep look at our station, and have made some recent changes,” the statement read. “Today, we announced the launch of a new morning show that we believe will deliver what our fans are asking for and take our station into the future. While change is always hard, we are excited about our new programming lineup and look forward to engaging with our fans across the city. Thank you Kevin and Bean for 30 entertaining years!”
Stryker, who has been at KROQ since 1999, took to Twitter to express his “mixed emotions” on Wednesday morning and said he had “no idea this was happening.”
“I found out yesterday on a phone call that the Kevin in the Morning team was being let go … 7 seconds later I was told I’m no longer on afternoons, I’m being moved to mornings,” he wrote.
To my @kroq friends, this is what’s happening and how I feel?? pic.twitter.com/RkOSnausjx
— Ted Stryker (@TedStryker) March 18, 2020
“I had no idea this was happening…I’m feeling sad, anxious, nervous, upset and frustrated …. so many conflicting feelings. I love the relationship I have with you the listeners, we’ve been thru a lot. I 100% understand what everyone is feeling. Thank you for reading and stay safe.”
Kevin Ryder and the entire KROQ Morning radio show team were unceremoniously booted from the airwaves, Ryder tweeted Wednesday.
“Hey party people! Not sure how to say this, so here it is: Yesterday, @kroq called every one of us on the morning show and told us we were fired,” the host tweeted.
The former co-host of KROQ’s beloved “Kevin and Bean Show” went on to speculate that he and his crew were fired due to poor ratings. “Why did @kroq fire all of us on the morning show? I assume it’s the ratings, which were down,” Ryder wrote. “The economy because it’s down. But it’s a pretty crappy way to treat people. We’re humbled by you spending any time w us. THANK YOU. (Going to sleep for about a week :)”