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Showing posts from November, 2023

A Thanksgiving Day edition of short takes

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  Dave and Ken:  Long time L.A. radio veteran Dave Williams  interviews another veteran, Ken Chiampou  on his departure from the "John and Ken" show next month (click on the artwork). Here's what Williams wrote about the interview, now available on both YouTube and Apple podcasts: KEN CHIAMPOU and John Kobylt electrified Los Angeles with their brash, clear-spoken brand of talk radio when they arrived at KFI 36 years ago and they haven't stopped. Wildly popular in Southern California, theirs is the longest-running talk show in radio history and changed the direction of the talk radio industry. In this exclusive conversation, Ken tells Dave Williams why he's retiring and looks back on 40 years of friendship with John, and the lightning they've held together in a bottle. L.A. radio will never be the same. Chiampou's last day on KFI is December 6. Who needs a used alarm clock?:   Speaking of Dave Williams (yeah, that's a cliche of a segue), he's announ

Update: Ken Chiampou is retiring

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  The longest team in major-market talk radio history is ending. Ken Chiampou , half of the midday KFI duo with John Kobylt , is retiring after 35 years of the "John and Ken Show." Chiampou is leaving after a radio career of over four decades. A native of Brentwood, New York, he graduated from the University of Buffalo, eventually becoming a certified public accountant. He met Ken at WKAD, and eventually the two moved on to Elmira, New York. John did mornings at WENY, while Ken decided to become a disc jockey, joining a competing morning team at WELM. The pair teamed up at WKXW-Trenton on January 11, 1988 before arriving at KFI. While there, the duo gained attention for their constant criticism of then-Governor Jim Florio for passing what was then the largest tax hike in U.S. history.  The John and Ken show arrived at KFI in 1992, to succeed former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates , who himself was preceded by controversial host Tom Leykis . Kobylt and Chiapou began their