Forty-three years ago, he began his career at a Class A FM at 92.7 MHz serving Nassau County, N.Y., and parts of New York City with a mix of rock and punk music that would eventually coalesce under leadership that built a radio station that “Dared to Be Different.”
He later made waves as the man who preceded Howard Stern in overnights at a station that previously featured Jay Thomas in mornings that just couldn’t shake its association with Disco.
For the last 18 years, he’s been running a Class A Adult Alternative FM based in Maryland’s state capital.
Now, Bob Waugh is ready to say farewell.
“It’s been a pretty wild ride, and definitely a satisfying career,” said Waugh, who started out in 1978 at WLIR-FM in Garden City, N.Y.
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, that ride will conclude, with Waugh hosting his final program on WRNR-FM 103.1 in Annapolis, Md. He’s been with WRNR, as Operations Manager and Program Director, since joining the station owned by Steve Kingston in 2004.
“I am so grateful for all the relationships I’ve had and still have with some of the most influential people in the industry, and for the opportunity to forge friendships with a wide range of artists from Brandi Carlile to Elvis Costello,” Waugh commented. “It was always my love of music that drove me to radio… never the other way around.”
As part of the WLIR staff, the station under Program Director Denis McNamara would earn a cult following as the New York-area equivalent of KROQ, but with a much-smaller signal and with financial and ownership woes that would eventually transition WLIR to WDRE. In 1985, Waugh departed WLIR, and took the overnight slot at Infinity’s new Classic Rock station that put Howard Stern in morning drive: WXRK “92-3 K-Rock.”
Six years later, in 1991, Waugh joined an air staff known for hosts such as “Weasel” by taking the Music Director and Asst. Program Director at WHFS-FM 99.1, serving Baltimore and Washington, D.C. It was a pivotal move for Waugh. On Feb. 14, 1992, the Top 40 format disappeared in the Nation’s Capital as Emmis completed its sale of WAVA-FM to Salem, which put a Christian Full Service format on the former CHR/Pop station. The void left many younger, non-ethnic radio listeners to discover WHFS just as the “Grunge” movement was taking off. WHFS would eventually reach No. 1 in the Washington, D.C. Arbitron ratings, but eventually dip in the ratings due to changing tastes and audience demographics.
By 2004, Waugh was at WRNR, a station with no signal in Washington, D.C., that fancies itself as a Baltimore market station. Even with the limited signal, WRNR has its fans. Its online stream helps extend WRNR beyond Annapolis, bringing artists new and classic in the progressive and Adult Alternative arena to listeners.
Now, Waugh reveals he has “some important family obligations” he needs to focus on. He also wants to take some time off to travel with his daughter before she begins college in August.
After a short hiatus, Waugh expects to “return to the fold in a new broadcast and media capacity of which I am very excited.” Thus, this is not a retirement but the end of an era for WRNR, for its owner Steve Kingston, and for Waugh. “This is surely not the end of my radio career but rather the beginning of a brand new chapter,” he says.
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: We wish Bob all of the best as he transitions to the next stage in his long, wonderful career, which our Editor-in-Chief has enjoyed since those days on Jones Beach with the big boombox, taping WLIR on 90-minute cassettes so he could enjoy the music and air talents such as Waugh back in the Hudson Valley, where stations like WLIR couldn’t be easily heard. Later, in Washington, D.C., we’ve enjoyed Waugh on WHFS and at WRNR. At K-Rock in New York, our Editor-in-Chief’s Dad listened to Waugh each Monday before Howard Stern arrived while driving from Fulton Fish Market to State Fish Corp.’s main plant with the fresh seafood for customers to enjoy across the week. We very much look forward to Waugh’s continued success wherever he decides to land.
Bob Waugh can be reached at [email protected]
