In 1984, he joined a Top 40 radio station serving Western New York and has been there ever since, successfully navigating a 1987 format change to Country. Now, this host, who holds the afternoon shift at the station, will be feted on Friday by Audacy Inc. and “The Bee Morning Coffee Club” with a special on-air celebration saluting his 40 years in Rochester, N.Y.
It puts the spotlight on Billy Kidd, with morning hosts TJ, Bo and “Producer Hope” inviting Kidd to join them on the May 24 pre-holiday weekend edition of their program.
Kidd’s career began in 1984, when the station competed against WHFM-FM 98.9 and, to a larger extent, WPXY-FM 98.5, under the WMJQ-FM call letters. On April 2, 1987, WMJQ’s time as a Top 40 station ended, with the station going Country just as WHFM had done — unsuccessfully — in 1985 before switching to Classic Hits in 1986.
For WMJQ, the call letters moved to a Buffalo station as WBEE-FM was born at 92.5 MHz. Kidd, an intern on the morning show, moved up from roles as a board operator and as a morning show producer for News/Talk sibling WBBF-AM 950 (today Sports Talker WROC-AM/W239BF “95.7 The Fan”). Kidd then landed the evening shift at WBEE-FM, in 1997, and later became its Music Director.
Today, he’s the Assistant Brand Manager for WBEE in addition to its afternoon drive.
Thanks in part to his on-air performance, WBEE-FM was honored as Radio Station of the Year at the 2024 ACM Awards.
“Billy is not only the beloved familiar voice that our listeners hear every day on the radio, but he’s also a major part of the heart and soul of our staff,” said Sue Munn, Senior Vice President and Market Manager for Audacy Inc. in Rochester, N.Y. “He is a huge team builder at our company, and over the years has helped launch many careers of the superstars you hear today on WBEE. We’re honored to be alongside him to celebrate his 40th year in radio and look forward to the next 40.”
Kidd added, “My radio career started at Burger Middle School when I convinced the principal to let us play records in the cafeteria during lunch class. I’m still playing records these days, just to a much bigger audience. I’ve never had any interest in moving from city to city chasing a radio career, and frankly, I’ve never had to because it all happened here at home in Rochester. I’m surrounded by people I love, playing the music I love and hopefully putting a smile on people’s faces, even if it’s just for a few minutes on their ride home from work. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living. I am so blessed.”
Billy Kidd is not to be confused with WBEE-FM’s first Program Director, Tony Kidd. He was hired by Heritage Media, which at the time owned the station. It was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group in July 1997, and quicky resold to Audacy predecessor Entercom in a transaction announced in January 1998.
Learn more about Billy Kidd by clicking here:
https://www.audacy.com/wbee/hosts/billy-kidd
