Rochester NY Radio: Line-Up Changes At iHM's WAIO

On Friday, WAIO 95.1 FM, an iHeartMedia station known as Radio 95.1, announced that Brother Wease, whose real name is Alan Levin, will move out of the 6 to 9 a.m. timeslot to host a show from 9 a.m. to noon also featuring his wife, Doreen, John DiTullio and Dale Budziszewski, aka Dale Buda.

Wease said he requested the change for a lot of reasons, reports The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. “I’ve been getting up at 4:30 in the morning for work for 38 years,” he said after Friday’s broadcast. So, he was ready for something new — but he suspects that others are, too.

Starting Monday, Sept. 18, Brother Wease will move to the 9 a.m. to noon timeslot on WAIO-FM, Radio 95.1. It is one of a number of changes the iHeart station is making to its lineup.

The coronavirus pandemic has altered every facet of life, including the morning commute to work and, by extension, morning radio, he said. “I said, ‘I would love to see what we could do later.’”

He said he feels “very badly that people who have woken up with me for many, many years. But at the same time, I have many friends and acquaintances that used to listen to my show after 9 a.m., because I used to go to 11. So, I feel bad for the morning people, but at least I didn’t retire.”

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If he had, he said he would have done a podcast with his wife, who has a master’s degree in optical engineering from the University of Rochester and once worked for Eastman Kodak.

“She’s actually quite good” as a broadcaster, he said, and has joined him on the air many times over the years dating back to his days as a morning show host on WCMF-FM (96.5). “She’ll take a lot of hate, but none of it means anything. People say Show A is so much better than Show B. But it’s just people talking. You like who you like.”

The 6 to 9 a.m. time period on Radio 95.1 will be filled by nationally syndicated “Rover’s Morning Glory,” which previously aired on the station from 2 to 7 p.m.

The noon to 2 p.m. slot will be hosted by two other iHeart personalities, Jeremy Newman, who DJs on WDVI-FM (100.5), or Country 100.5, and longtime WHAM-AM (1180) talk show host Bob Lonsberry. (Previously, DiTullio and Budziszewski had a show from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. And in early 2022, Newman briefly hosted a 9 to 11 a.m. show with Pete Kennedy.)

DiTullio and Deanna King, Wease’s former morning show partner, will be on from 2 to 6 p.m., and “News Junkie,” another nationally syndicated program, will air from 6 to 10 p.m.

The “Rizzo & Jeff Show,” hosted by Rich Deaver and Jeff Daly, was dropped by iHeart this past spring after a year on the air in a round of staff reductions, RadioInsight.com reported. The pair now hosts a podca