Premiere Radio comedy talker Phil Hendrie is retiring from his syndicated radio show on June 23rd, reportedly to concentrate on his acting career.
AllAccess quotes Hendrie in a Premiere press release: “I have taken my show as far as I can in the present climate of terrestrial radio. I’ve been doing these characters for 16 years and believe it’s time for me to take them from behind the microphone and present them in front of the camera.”
(UPDATE: MediaWeek has now posted a story about Hendrie’s radio retirement announcement. Premiere Radio’s press release is now here.)
In addition to a role in NBC’s current ensemble sitcom “Teachers”, Hendrie has done other pilots, and has done voice work for not only FOX’s “Futurama” and “King of the Hill”, but the puppet movie satire “Team America: World Police”. While we’re not sure if “Teachers” would last, say, more than a few episodes…there’d clearly be enough voice work for the talented Hendrie.
The backstory on this – Hendrie’s show got moved into and out of drive-time at flagship Clear Channel talk KFI/640 Los Angeles, then eventually to nights at Clear Channel sports KLAC/570 there. With the station’s sports schedule, Hendrie’s show may not have aired much in the past few months…and like Premiere stablemate Glenn Beck, we wonder if the company’s days of rabid support for Hendrie were behind him. With at least a currently regular sitcom on the air, it may have been a perfect “out” for both.
Hendrie’s show airs in Ohio at night on two Clear Channel stations – talk WKBN/570 Youngstown and sports WSAI/1360 “1360 Homer” Cincinnati, where it’s often preempted by sports as well on both stations…
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