Pittsburgh Radio: 'Combative' KDKA-AM Causing Worry

Pittsburgh's KDKA Radio is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, making it the oldest commercial radio station in the U.S. Its first broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920 announced the election results between presidential candidates Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox. KDKA Radio quite literally set the standard for radio media in America.

But recent decisions by the station have caused some to question that pedigree, according to Pittsburgh City Paper. KDKA 1020 AM, has recently boosted controversial radio personalities to the detriment of public sentiment. Local officials have canceled interviews with the station and advertisers have condemned content and asked to be moved off of certain hosts’ shows.

Marty Griffin

The station has altered strategies often, but those efforts have accelerated since KDKA was purchased by radio conglomerate Entercom in 2017. Former and current employees say it's created chaos. And most recently, KDKA Radio lost one of its longtime co-hosts in John Shumway, who was forced out because he refused requests by producers to be more combative and was “too nice” for the new direction of the station, according to sources who spoke to Pittsburgh City Paper.

Wendy Bell

All of this has come during periods of lower ratings and the realities of a shrinking audience on AM radio. It makes KDKA Radio’s future difficult to predict. And it doesn’t seem to be sitting well with many Pittsburghers. A current KDKA Radio employee, who agreed to speak to CP on the condition of anonymity, says the station has been inundated with emails and letters criticizing the station’s content and controversial hosts like Wendy Bell and Marty Griffin.

The employee has noticed the station shifting to the right, and embracing more fringe conservative rhetoric. But beyond that, the employee and others in the Pittsburgh media world are worried about the station losing any sense of the community news reporting it has traditionally championed. The current employee worries the legacy of the storied radio station may already be tarnished beyond repair.

“KDKA radio has a legacy and it has a history. And all of the sudden the station that built the media in this town, doesn't hold the standard,” said the current employee. “KDKA Radio set the standard and now it doesn’t.”

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