After 15 years of greeting morning listeners with his cheery brand of slightly goofy humor, Ken Matthews will no longer be the host of the popular morning show on radio station B104.
On Monday Laura St. James, program director for B104, said Matthews’ latest contract had ended and the station decided to “take the show in a different direction.”
Matthews could not be reached for comment.
St. James said Matthews’ last day on air was Friday, during which no mention was made of the change. Monday’s morning show was hosted by B104’s afternoon disc jockey Mike Kelly.
St. James said Matthews will continue to be an employee of radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications, but he will not be on air. Clear Channel, which is based in San Antonio, owns WAEB-FM known as B104, as well as local stations WZZO-FM and WHYM-AM.
“We’ve definitely enjoyed working with him,” St. James said, but declined to give details about what Matthews will be doing.
St. James said she couldn’t give any more information about B104’s new morning show but said the station would be looking for a new host. She said until a replacement is found, Kelly, who hosts the afternoon drive-time show, will fill in.
The station was number two in the Allentown Bethlehem market in the spring Arbitron radio ratings behind WCTO-FM Cat Country.
Matthews, who hosted the B-Morning Crew show for the entire 15 years he was on air, became a popular local celebrity with on-air antics like giving away pieces of bricks from the Corporate Plaza in Allentown to listeners after it was imploded in 1994.
Matthews frequently served as a host for fundraisers and was the emcee of the first Freddy Awards which are given to high school musicals. A huge “American Idol” fan, Matthews also hosted the B104 “Be an Idol” contest at the Allentown Fair and was one of three “celebrity judges” in The Morning Call’s “American Idol” coverage in the spring.
