Swanson Onto What’s ‘Next’

Veteran Bay Area News-Talk icon Jack Swanson is stepping down as Director of News and Programming at CBS Radio’s KCBS-AM/San Francisco, effective May 1. Swanson has been in his KCBS post since April of 2015. Before that he spent 17 years across the street as VP of Programming for Cumulus Media’s KGO & KSFO. The news of Swanson’s departure was formalized by Swanson’s wife, longtime talk radio personality Melanie Morgan, who took to Facebook and posted the staff memo from Doug Harvill, SVP/Market Manager of CBS Radio San Francisco.

The memo read, in part, “Two years ago Jack Swanson agreed to come out of retirement to become the Program and News Director for KCBS. At the time, Jack said he’d give us two years at the helm of KCBS and then head off to do whatever he wants to do next. Unfortunately for the rest of us, those two years have come and gone. Jack has decided to keep his promise to himself and move on to ‘next.’

Harvill continued, “Jack is walking away from yet another huge success in his storied career. Not that KCBS wasn’t already one of the nation’s greatest all-news radio stations when he took the helm. It was. But two years later Jack is leaving us with a news radio station that is even better at story selection, storytelling and connecting with our community. Those were the three pillars Jack agreed to build upon during his tenure and he accomplished every goal. Our product is better, our ratings are even stronger, and our successful business model is the envy of the industry.” In closing, Harvill wrote, “Jack, thank you. And dang you. Jack’s last day at KCBS is May 1. Dammit.”