Long-time San Diego radio staple Chris Cantore, whose morning show on KZBT was cancelled this week, posted comments about his future on Instagram the day after his departure from local airwaves.
Tuesday-morning drive-time listeners wondering why they were hearing somebody else DJ'ing FM 949's broadcast instead of the Cantore + Woods show had concerns confirmed on Facebook when Cantore replied to a post with the single word "Fired." Later in the day, Woods posted his employment status at Entercom, the station’s owner, as "left job."
On Wednesday, Cantore upped a video to Instagram saying that he'd been brought to tears after dropping his kids off at school for the first time in years (presumably due to his work schedule) and alluded to this future plans.
"Got a lot happening, a lot in motion," Cantore said, in part. "All will be revealed. Unfortunately, right now it's in the hands of people who wear suits. And as soon as they figure stuff out: Game on. Until then, I can't say anything else, but, man, I love you and thank you."
Another cryptic comment was tweeted out by the Cantore + Woods account: "While local media chirps, we'll give the real deal soon. Thank you for your patience. We love you, you know that."
The show's cancellation is the most recent change in a string for FM 949. Last year, the station unveiled a redesigned logo and abandoned its long-running "It's about the music" slogan. Entercom counts more than 125 stations under its belt -- including 19 sports-only stations -- which is worth noting because KBZT has also signed up as the new San Diego Padres broadcasting partner.
A day after the news broke, the cause for the programming change is still unknown. For his part, Cantore -- a former SoundDiego contributor -- maintained in comments on Facebook that the show's ratings were solid. On Tuesday, the All Access Music Group trade website published a statement about the situation that it attributed to FM 949 program director Kevin Callahan: "We wish them the best and hope they land on their feet soon. We are looking for a ratings winning morning show and we know there are some killer options both locally and nationally. Applicants can send materials now to SDJobs@Entercom.com."
Local
The move on Tuesday at FM 949 came in the wake of the departure of another local radio fixture, Michael Halloran, who suddenly left his role at 91x just weeks ago as the program director and DJ.
SoundDiego reached out to FM 949 on Tuesday but has yet to receive a comment.
