WBEN-AM is shrinking its weekday local talk roster from three hosts to two after firing afternoon host Tom Bauerle, station owner Audacy confirmed, with Joe Beamer and David Bellavia swapping time slots starting Monday.
“A New Morning with Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski” remains in place from 5 to 9 a.m. Beamer, who had been in the 1 to 3 p.m. slot, moves to an expanded 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. show. Bellavia, previously on at 9 a.m., takes the 1 to 5 p.m. block that had been split between Beamer and Bauerle.
A year earlier, his show had already been cut from drive-time length to 3 to 6 p.m. so Beamer could take a permanent 1 to 3 p.m. shift. Beamer had been viewed as Bauerle’s most likely successor or as a candidate for a longer shift. He previously co-hosted mornings and filled in across the schedule before getting his own afternoon program in July 2025. He said he is looking forward to returning to mornings while keeping the show built in the early-afternoon slot.
The shuffle leaves WBEN with two local talk voices after mornings instead of three, eliminating Bauerle’s salary and handing more hours to a younger, lower-cost host. Industry coverage has treated the firing and the leaner lineup as a cost-cutting move by Audacy, which has also restructured local management in Buffalo this year. Bauerle has said he briefly considered calling the exit a retirement, then rejected that framing and indicated he intends to compete with WBEN in a future project.