Buckley Radio/Bakersfield Conservative talker Ralph Bailey resigned without warning 2/21 from his afternoon show on KNZR-AM, among the top-rated stations in the market. Buckley Radio GM Mary Lou Gunn confirmed with The Bakersfield Californian that Bailey resigned after nine years at the station: “He was a huge part of the success of the radio station. He will be hard to replace.”
Bailey’s Facebook posting: “It was with a heavy heart that I tendered my resignation to Buckley Radio today. However, future opportunities and challenges make it virtually impossible not to seek out new adventures. I would like to thank Steve Darnell, Kathy Baker and posthumously Rick Buckley. To my colleagues, I hope I was a team player who made the station and the client top priority and someone who grasped the concept of pulling on one side of the rope. To my sponsors, I hope I played a small role in your success and thank you for your support! And to my listeners, (and you know I’m blubbering like a baby, by now) you gave me a voice in this community! I pray you will travel with me wherever I go!!! Thank you all!! It’s been an incredible ride!!!!”
Shortly after 3 p.m., at the scheduled start of Bailey’s show, fellow KNZR radio host Jaz McKay and producer Tony Whitnack announced to listeners that Bailey was no longer with the station, before handing hosting duties off to station producer Chris Squires and Kern County Republican Party chairman Dean Haddock, who addressed the news of Bailey’s sudden departure several times during the broadcast. Listeners immediately took to social networking sites and the phones, inundating the station with their questions and concerns. The comments posted on Bailey’s Facebook conveyed a mix of shock, disappointment and well wishes for the radio host.
Bailey’s most recent public appearance was Wednesday night at Cal State Bakersfield, where he served on a panel discussion of gun violence. Bailey said he “hates guns” but maintained that it was important that citizens retain the right to own and possess firearms. He appeared to be in good spirits and gave no indication that he might be leaving KNZR.
McKay, whose noon-to-3 p.m. program served as the lead-in to Bailey’s show, said he noticed a change in his colleague’s demeanor in the last week or so and noted Bailey missed two shows last week.
“Ralph and I have not been close. Never been close,” McKay told the paper. “I have no animosity toward Ralph and wish him the best. I got the feeling he didn’t like me from day one. I got the feeling it was because he felt he was top dog and I think he might have resented when I came along and the success I got.”
McKay speculated that Bailey might be poised to change careers or could be headed to arch-rival radio station KERN, owned by American General Media.
AGM President Rogers Brandon said only “no comment.”
As for Bailey’s replacement, McKay is hoping for a local voice and floated the name of a radio professional who worked for years at KERN: Inga Barks.
“She’s on the air in Fresno from her home studio. I would probably go after Inga in the interim. Or put (syndicated host) Mark Levin on. He’s broadcast live at 3, but we tape-delay him until 6.”
See The Bakersfield Californian story here
People in town were all abuzz over this news….
Goodbye Old friend
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