[BC] Changes: Howard, Bob on the way out.

[Reader]

Howard Stern leaves Infinity today ... ... Bob Grant leaves WOR.


Bob Grant Out At WOR
By JOHN MAINELLI
NEW YORK POST

Legendary talk-radio titan Bob Grant is leaving WOR next month by 
what is said to be a "mutual agreement," The Post has learned.

In a move sure to shock fans who made him New York's top-rated 
afternoon gabber for decades, Grant will do his last show of the year 
today, then take three weeks vacation and return for a final seven 
shows beginning Jan. 5.

The station had planned to announce his departure after his vacation. 
WOR (710 AM) will replace Grant with chef Rocco DiSpirito, who was 
the central figure in NBC's star-crossed reality show, "The 
Restaurant," and who currently does "Food Talk" in the late morning.

The move appears to be more about money than ratings.

Grant has WOR's highest share of daytime audience, and DiSpirito 
nearly the lowest, but food shows -like the other specialty shows WOR 
carries - fetch premium rates from sponsors who target specialized, 
if smaller, audiences.

"It's been a great almost-10 years, and I've really enjoyed it," 
Grant, 76, told The Post, indicating that retirement is an option.

"I've been doing the 'Bob Grant Show' since 1963, and since 1970 in 
New York," he said. "Who knows. Maybe I'll write a book. Maybe I'll 
move to Florida.

"Maybe somebody will make me an offer I can't refuse."

The feisty and controversial Grant, who was mentored by rowdy-talk 
pioneer Joe Pyne at L.A.'s KABC, has been heard on all of New York's 
big talk stations - WMCA (twice), WOR (twice) and WABC, where he was 
fired in 1996 soon after making light of Commerce Secretary Ron 
Brown's death in a plane crash.

DiSpirito and WOR execs declined comment.


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