Quick update: Kevin Ryder returns to the ROQ

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It wasn't an April Fool's joke, as some actually thought. Kevin Ryder, half of the legendary KROQ morning team of Kevin and Bean (Gene Baxter) has returned to the station in afternoon drive. Here's the official press release from Audacy:

LOS ANGELES, CA – April 2, 2025 – Audacy’s World Famous KROQ (KROQ-FM) welcomes back Radio Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Ryder. Listeners can tune into his new show on KROQ, weekdays from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. PT. Megan Holiday will now host evenings. 


“Kevin Ryder is a Radio Hall of Fame Broadcaster who spent most of his adult life waking up SoCal with his former partner Bean,” said Kevin Weatherly, Senior Vice President of Programming, KROQ. “Their authentic and irreverent morning show is legendary, and I’ve had the privilege of having a front-row seat for the majority of it. Kevin’s return to KROQ in afternoons is a full circle moment in the best way possible.”


“I spent half of my life with my fellow favorite weirdos, helping to make KROQ an iconic radio station and a global destination to foster and nurture musical groups,” said Ryder. “It was also a home for many LA listeners, and with my old boss back programming KROQ, I’m excited to be speaking my own version of the English language again at the station I love.”


Ryder began his career at KROQ on January 2, 1990, alongside Gene “Bean” Baxter on “The Kevin & Bean Show.” Together, they became the number-one show in the Los Angeles market and the longest-running morning show in the country. Their influence earned them an induction into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2019. From 2021 to 2024, Ryder co-hosted afternoons at KLOS-FM in Los Angeles. 


Listeners can tune in to KROQ in Los Angeles on air and nationwide on the Audacy app and website. Fans can also connect with the station on social media via X, Facebook and Instagram.  


Ryder is indeed an actual Hall of Famer, having been inducted in to the NAB Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Radio Hall of Fame in 2019, as half of the iconic "Kevin and Bean" morning drive program for thee decades. 


When Bean left for London in 2019, Ryder continued mornings in a reconstituted show, "Kevin in the Morning with Allie (Mac Kay) and Jensen (Karp) which lasted about a year. Ryder then teamed up with Doug (Sluggo) Roberts for afternoons at KLOS, until the team was fired due to budget cuts last September. He hosted a podcast / YouTube entited "Great News with Kevin & Mike (Catherwood) which ceased posting new material in 2022 but can still be viewed online.


More details when available.



P.S. A new column -- for real -- coming soon. Please stay tuned.


ayodaradio@gmail.com

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