After nearly 20 years, Friday’s syndicated morning broadcast of “The Bob & Tom Show” will be the final installment on Valparaiso-based WXRD XRock 103.9 FM, owned by Adams Radio Group. Because of declining ratings, management has opted to provide their own programming for the morning slot from 5-9 a.m., which will launching on Monday, reports The Chicago Tribune.
In recent years, “The Bob & Tom Show” has experienced key changes since its debut 35 years ago, including the retirement departure of Bob Kevoian from the show in 2015. Kevoian, now 68, made the surprise announcement on Nov. 5, 2015, when he joined his radio partner Tom Griswold for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame at the Museum of Broadcast and Communications in Chicago.
Griswold, who is 66, has continued the syndicated radio show using the same show name, while also relying on longtime contributors such as news anchor Kristi Lee and fellow on-air personality Chick McGee as well as adding some new younger radio talents into the show’s mix.
Today, “The Bob & Tom Show” has 2.5 million listeners according to Nielsen Media Research and is syndicated to around 100 stations compared to the one-time peak of 140 stations during the show’s heyday of the late 1990s. And now, another station will be subtracted from the syndication total.
In December 2018, national radio syndicator Westwood One announced it had granted a “multi-year” contract extension to continue syndicating “The Bob & Tom Show,” with speculation the contract spans through 2023 to mark the show’s 40th anniversary.
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