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This Ain't No Love Song: KOST-FM Hands DJ Bryan Simmons Dear John Letter After 3 Decades at the Station
Bryan Simmons
Admit it, you have a soft spot for "Love Songs on the KOST," and KOST 103.5's adult contemporary ("soft rock") vibe. If you've given a listen to the station in the past three decades, you may have heard the voice of DJ Bryan Simmons, who was hired in 1982. Simmons, however, was given the boot after his shift last Friday, notes FishbowlLA.The DJ, who hails from Sacramento, was the first personality for their current adult contemporary format when it switched over on November 15, 1982, from a "beautiful music" (easy listening) format. Simmons spent all but one year since then at KOST; in 2001-2 he was put on sister station KBIG.
Simmons' contract was up for renewal this month, he told the OC Register, detailing what would ultimately be his last workday, tinged with awkward exchanges with station higher-ups. When his regular 2-7 p.m. weekday shift ended, so did his job at the station.
“It’s been like a death in the family and feels very final this time,” told the Register.
But will KOST still be about sending soundwaves of love, regret, and longing out to the ones you've loved or would like to love? Things could be changing at the station, according to station owner Clear Channel, whose LA rep suggested to a local membership-only radio newsletter site that the station was headed in a “different direction,” but "timing" was stopping him from revealing more.
In the meantime, you'll find Christine Martindale in Simmons' vacated slot. You'll also be hearing DJ Kari Steele back at 103.5 after spending the last 10 years at the slightly less sappy KBIG 104.3. Well, that is if you listen to those stations. (Come on, you know your dentist's office plays it.)
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