Simpson was informed Friday that his contract would not be renewed by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp., which owns WIBC.
“We now have more empathy than ever for what the [Indianapolis] Colts went through with Peyton Manning,” said Emmis market manager Charlie Morgan. “This certainly has nothing to do with Steve’s performance. … This should not be taken in any way as our lack of appreciation for Steve’s 22 years of service at WIBC.
“He’s just not the right guy for what the role of host now requires,” Morgan added. “What we’re asking our hosts to do is offer opinion and perspective, and [Simpson] was not comfortable with that. He was more comfortable in a more traditional news role.”
By early afternoon Friday, all mention of Simpson had been removed from WIBC’s web site.
Simpson’s slot, weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., will be filled by conservative news talk show host Tony Katz, Morgan said.
It's interesting that Emmis chose to dump their only on-air, openly gay host from their line-up in the midst of last week's Indy Pride celebration. I thought the point of Simpson's morning show was to stick to the news, weather, traffic reporting and the sort during the morning drive slot rather than bombard listeners with the conservative talk radio they get more than a full dose of daily from Garrison, Rush, Dana, Chicks on the Right and Abdul. The show is called "Indy's Morning News." Maybe Steve should have added chair-throwing to his repertoire.
6 comments:
Have listened to the WIBC morning show daily for years. Had no idea that Simpson was "openly gay." As it should be. Sexual orientation should remain a private matter. We don't need or want to know everything about everybody all the time. It's so wearisome. Wish all the best to Steve Simpson in his future endeavors.
Listened to WIBC morning news since 1988. Tony Katz is not the right fit. He said this morning that he is without sin which places him with Jesus as the only people I know who lived perfect lives. He's too much. Time for me to move on.
WIBC has screwed up one of my reasons for getting up. The morning wake up should be relaxing and inform us on the happenngs of the overnight. Although I have been called a tea partier, I'm also concerned about our city and state. Garrison is your Jewish State backer. Get rid of hardline opinon stuff as I (WE) wake up in the morning. And his raspy voice is so annoying with coffee.
Tony Katz needs to go. I'll listen to Bob and Tom on Q-95 until he's replaced. I'm missing out on news either way.
Hate the new morning show, WIBC has lost another family of listeners!!!
Wish we lived back in Minnesota WCCO is a wonderful local station, sadly Indiana has nothing even close to it.
I'm a conservative but Toni Katz gets on my nerves real fast.
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