Fresno Radio: Skippy Exits News/Talk KMJ

Former KMJ radio personality Frances “Skippy” Echeverria offered a little more explanation Wednesday to her departure from one of Fresno’s top radio stations.

A 20-plus-year veteran of radio, she had spent nine years hosting mornings at New Rock 104.1 in Fresno before joining KMJ's afternoon line-up in 2019 with Philip Teresi.

On Friday she announced her retirement from radio, reports The Business Journal.

“The station has meant more for me personally that I can ever explain,” Echeverria said during the final minutes of the show, as reported by The Fresno Bee.

The Bee report also noted that Echeverria’s name had been removed from the 2-6 p.m. show’s intro and Teresi had not mentioned her absence at the start of the show Monday.

Frances “Skippy” Echeverria

In a blog post on the website Medium Wednesday, Echeverria offered an explanation about what is a common practice in radio.

“As for my departure, it was not abrupt, and it certainly was not with any ill will. But the truth about radio is that one minute you’re there, and the next your gone,” she wrote. “…radio does move on the minute you’re gone. It’s not an industry that looks back. So there was nothing strange about my existence being wiped clean by Monday. It’s nothing personal or nothing dramatic. It’s not good, or bad, it just is.”

She also wrote about a special goodbye she received in the parking lot at Fresno’s “Radio City” office building that houses Cumulus Radio, owner of KMJ and several other stations.

“I walked out Friday to find one of my absolute most amazing friends in the parking lot, blasting Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance’ from her car. Fitting even more so because that was also one of the songs my high school played at our graduation,” she wrote.