After 35 years as a team, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou will no longer be teamed at iHeartMedia Talk 640 KFI Los Angeles.
Chiampou will retire from the station on Wednesday, December 6. Kobylt will continue on with the show. KFI claims that the duo are the longest running team in talk radio history noting that January would have been their 36th anniversary.
John & Ken have been teamed together since 1988 when they both joined 1400 WOND Atlantic City NJ from competing stations in Elmira NY. After a stint at 103.7 WMGM Atlantic City and then launching “New Jersey 101.5” WKXW Trenton NJ in 1990, the duo would join KFI as afternoon hosts in 1992. After a brief stint in syndication, the duo would jump to mornings at 790 KABC in July 1999 until their firing in May 2000. The following year they would return to their afternoon slot at KFI during which time they were briefly simulcast at KNEW San Francisco and WOR New York. Earlier this year, their show was moved to 1-4pm.
Very sad to hear that Ken is retiring although I wish him all the best and thank him for the many years of enjoyment he brought to his listeners. I started listening in their syndication days back in the 90’s and have employed a variety of methods to continue listening here in Vancouver, Canada. Discovering that their show had started producing podcasts was a revelation and I was a feed subscriber from the very beginning. Best of luck Ken and Vancouver still awaits even though the real estand ate prices are even more insane, we’d love to have you as a neighbour.
I used to listen to them when I lived in Atlantic City, and we moved out here at the same time. I will miss him, I hope John keeps up the much needed work