K-C Radio: Kevin Kietzman EXITS WHB 810 AM

Kevin Kietzman

Sports talker Kevin Kietzman couldn’t overcome the outrage stirred by comments he made about Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his family during his Monday afternoon show on WHB 810 AM, reports The Kansas City Star.

Union Broadcasting announced Friday afternoon that it had reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Kietzman, a part-owner and key on-air personality at the station who had been suspended since Tuesday.

“We would like to thank Kevin for his dedicated service over the last 22 years,” Union Broadcasting president Chad Boeger said in a statement. “Kevin has been a valuable member of the Sports Radio 810 WHB team. We wish him all the best on his future endeavors and good luck moving forward.”

On his “Between The Lines” program Monday, Kietzman said this when talking about Reid and how he has managed players’ off-field issues: “It did not work out particularly well in his family life and that needs to be added to this as we’re talking about the Chiefs. He wasn’t real great at that either. He’s had a lot of things go bad on him: family and players. He is not good at fixing people.”

Kietzman later denied that he was referring to Reid’s son Garrett, who died in 2012 at age 29 of heroin overdose, but listeners believed otherwise. Some boycotted the station, and the story quickly went national. Kietzman an apology for his comments.

With sincerest apologies to coach Andy Reid. pic.twitter.com/sVYpYBChbU

— kevin kietzman (@kkwhb) June 25, 2019

In a statement Friday, Kietzman said: “It’s been my honor and privilege to host Between the Lines for the past 22 years and I’m proud of being a founding partner of this great local company that is so committed to our community.”

Friday’s news was a stunning turn of events for Kietzman, who had been a major player in local media for decades.

Kietzman had spent a decade at WDAF-TV (Ch. 4) as a sports reporter and anchor before joining Boeger at KCTE-AM (1510 AM) in 1997.   Kietzman was part of a group of investors who bought WHB in September 1999 and converted the station to an all-sports format. Others who were part of that group included Boeger, former Royals pitcher Jeff Montgomery and outfielder Brian McRae. Kietzman quickly turned “Between The Lines” into one of the most popular radio programs in Kansas City.