Radio and podcast giant iHeart Media has canceled the evening talk show \u201cLater, With Mo\u2019Kelly\u201d on KFI-AM (640), as the latest wave of job cuts sweeps the radio industry.<\/p>\n
Morris \u201cMo\u201d O\u2019Kelly had hosted the program for nearly three years. Previously, he anchored KFI\u2019s weekend \u201cMo Kelly Show\u201d for more than a decade after joining the historic Los Angeles station in 2011. <\/p>\n
O\u2019Kelly\u2019s last night on the air was Oct. 6. <\/p>\n
\u201cI gave it everything I had,\u201d O\u2019Kelly said in an interview Tuesday, adding that he was proud that his show \u201cwas a true representation of what I wanted talk radio to be. … I wanted to bring voices of people less often heard, viewpoints less often expressed and communities less often featured.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear how many people KFI cut beyond O\u2019Kelly, his producer and a marketing manager. Host Chuck Dizzle also announced on Instagram<\/a> that he\u2019d been cut after 10 years from iHeart\u2019s Los Angeles hip-hop station KRRL-FM, which brands itself as \u201cReal 92.3.\u201d <\/p>\n News reports<\/a> suggest the layoffs were part of larger company-wide restructuring<\/a>. <\/p>\n Separately, Karen Sharp, host of \u201cLove Songs on the Coast\u201d at sister station KOST-FM (103.5), retired Friday after 38 years playing love-song dedications<\/a> \u2014 once a sweet spot for radio programmers. \u201cYou shared your breakups with me, wedding proposals, the passing of a family member,\u201d Sharp told listeners in her final sign-off. \u201cMost of all, you shared your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n The Los Angeles division president of iHeart Media referred The Times\u2019 query to the firm\u2019s New York corporate office, which did not immediately comment.<\/p>\n The moves comes nearly a year after iHeart Media gutted KFI\u2019s newsroom<\/a>, laying off more than half of the newsroom, including the station\u2019s longtime news director. <\/p>\n It\u2019s troubled time for local media as newspapers, TV and radio stations grapple with a dramatic loss of advertising revenue amid consumers shifting to digital media, including YouTube and podcasts. <\/p>\n Public radio was hard hit this summer after Congress eliminated $1.1 billion<\/a> that had been previously allocated for this year and 2026. Local stations LAist\/KPCC-FM (89.3), KCRW-FM (89.9) and PBS affiliates KCET and KOCE saw millions of dollars of expected funds vanish.<\/p>\n