Rochester NY Radio: WCMF's Dave Kane Announces Retirement

Dave Kane (Photo: Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrart&Chronicle)

Longtime 96.5 WCMF 96.5 FM midday host David Kane announced his retirement plans at the beginning of his show on Monday, reports the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY

"Friday will be my last day here on WCMF," Kane said at the beginning of his show. "I put in my papers for retirement and let management know last week. Now I'm letting all of my 'Workforce' friends know, too"

"The road has finally come to an end and it's time for me to hang up my headphones," Kane told listeners. "I love you and I'll be here in the studio all week."

Kane, who turned 63 earlier this month, has been with the station for 40 years. "It's not an easy decision and not one arrived at hastily," Kane told a Democrat and Chronicle reporter before making the announcement. "But for reasons both personally and professionally, the timing seems right."

Kane said he plans to take some time off to recharge before deciding what’s next, but hinted that he might return to the air in the future in a more limited role.

"The door has been left open for me to return," Kane said. 

Kane began hosting the midday show on WCMF in February 1981, and later that year was named the station’s music director and assistant program director.

Music has been Kane's lifelong passion, and he cultivated an encyclopedic knowledge of the bands, the songs, and the history of rock and roll.

Kane was honored with a “Special Merit Award” during the induction of WCMF to the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2019. He was also nominated for a prestigious “Radio Personality of the Year” Marconi Award and is a six-time nominee for Billboard Magazine’s “Music Director of the Year.”