Rochester NY Radio: Radio 95.1 FM Launches New PM Drive Show

An afternoon radio show that launched less than two years ago on WAOI 95.1 FM to fill the vacancy created by the firing of Kimberly & Beck hosts Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck has now itself been canceled, reports The Democrat & Chronicle.

The Earl David Reed Show, which debuted in August 2020 as The Big Show on the station, known as Radio 95.1, has been replaced by Rizzo & Jeff.   Rich “Rizzo” Deaver and Jeff Daly are the hosts of the program, airing weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m.

Rizzo & Jeff

“I guess the cat is out of the bag!!! RIZZO & JEFF in the Morning ARE NOW Rizzo and Jeff in the Afternoon on Radio 951,” they wrote early Monday morning on Facebook. “LET THE NEW JOURNEY BEGIN! Did we mention NO MUSIC AT ALL, Just us talking (that should go over well).”

Rizzo & Jeff in the Morning aired on WKHQ-FM in Charlevoix/Traverse City, Michigan, from March 2019 to March 2020. Deaver and Daly exited that station because it “wanted to go in a different direction,” they said in a statement at the time.

They also worked together at WDZH-FM in Detroit. Before that, Daly worked at WIOQ-FM in Philadelphia and WFLZ-FM in Tampa. Deaver worked at WQCM-FM in Hagerstown, Maryland; KOSP-FM in Springfield, Missouri; and WPLJ-FM in New York City.

This isn’t the only change iHeart has made recently to Radio 95.1 programming. Last week, the station launched Newman & The Mayor, co-hosted by Jeremy Newman and Pete Kennedy, weekdays from 9 to 11 a.m. To make room, the station lopped two hours off The Brother Wease Show, which long had aired from 6 to 11 a.m.   

“I’ve never done talk radio, it’s out of my comfort zone,” Newman wrote in a Feb. 28 Facebook post. “I didn’t ask for it, I was recruited, and said yes. Heck, a few months ago I thought I was done with radio, now all this. Crazy. I’m excited as I am nervous.”

In early 2020, he parted ways with WBEE-FM, where for 16 years he co-hosted its popular Bee Morning Coffee Club, after a heated on-air exchange with a listener. That station is currently owned by Audacy.

According to the latest data from Nielsen, WAIO ranks sixth in the Rochester market for listenership among people 12 and older from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday. WDKX-FM ranks first, with WBEE an extremely close second, and then WHAM-AM, WCMF and WPXY-FM.