L-A Radio: Mo'Kelly OUT At iHM's KFI

iHeartMedia, a major radio and podcast company, has canceled the evening talk show “Later, With Mo’Kelly” on KFI-AM (640) amid widespread job cuts in the radio industry. 

Host Morris “Mo” O’Kelly, who joined KFI in 2011 and hosted the show for nearly three years after a decade anchoring the weekend “Mo Kelly Show,” had his final broadcast on October 6. “I gave it everything I had,” O’Kelly said, emphasizing his goal to amplify underrepresented voices and communities in talk radio.

The extent of KFI’s layoffs, which included O’Kelly, his producer, and a marketing manager, is part of a broader iHeartMedia restructuring. Separately, Karen Sharp, host of “Love Songs on the Coast” on sister station KOST-FM (103.5), retired after 38 years, sharing an emotional farewell with listeners who connected with her through life’s milestones.

Local media faces challenges as advertising revenue declines with audiences shifting to digital platforms like YouTube and podcasts. O’Kelly highlighted the industry’s instability, noting that AM radio’s reliance on outdated technology, like 50,000-watt transmitters, is fading as listeners access content via Bluetooth. Industry journalist Garrett Searight pointed to KFI’s recent ratings drop as a troubling sign for a station once considered a Los Angeles radio powerhouse.

iHeartMedia owns eight Los Angeles stations, including KFI, KOST, KLAC-AM (570), and KIIS-FM (102.7). Since O’Kelly’s departure, fill-in hosts have taken over his slot. iHeartMedia, led by former MTV and AOL Time Warner executive Bob Pittman, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, reducing its debt from $16.1 billion—stemming from a 2008 private equity buyout—to $5.75 billion.

In August, iHeart reported a 5.4% decline in quarterly revenue to $545 million for its multiplatform unit, which includes the company’s more than 800 radio stations. Total revenue was $934 million.