Bender, Bill & Shelly On The Loose
• As you read this, iHeartMedia Top 40 KBKS (Kiss 106.1)/Seattle — now billing itself as “106.1 Kiss Is Dead” — continues to stunt into Halloween week, running jockless and airing spooky effects and drops between songs.
While the company has yet to announce its plans for the station, we did confirm that 18-year morning personality Bender has indeed left the building. We expect a new morning show to be announced soon. In the meantime, Bender (pictured here looking to the future, which appears to be to his immediate right) can be reached at getbender@gmail.com.
• Yesterday we also shared the news that SummitMedia Classic Hits WJSR (Star 100.9)/Richmond had flipped to Adult Hits as 100.9 Jack FM. RAMP has confirmed that, concurrent with the flip, longtime Richmond morning vets Bill Bevins and Shelly Perkins have exited.
The news of the duo’s departure was posted on the Facebook page of the now former Star 100.9, which read, in part, “Many have asked about our sweet friends Bill & Shelly, who are both outstanding people and broadcasters, serving the Richmond community for many years. While our time working with them has come to an end, we wish them nothing but the absolute best.”
“As a lot of you have discovered I am no longer on the radio,” Bevins wrote on Facebook Wednesday. “It took 48+ years, but it looks like that’s it.” Perkins posted, “While this was not my decision, I want you to know that I was treated with kindness and respect when I was let go. I want to say what a pleasure it has been for me to serve you and the Richmond community for the last 20 years.”
Bevins and Perkins had spent nearly 18 years on the air together, starting at Clear Channel AC WTVR (Lite 98) until the end of 2013. Six months later, the pair was hired by SummitMedia to do mornings on former Soft AC WHTI (Easy 100.9), which transitioned to Classic Hits as Star 100.9 in January 2016.
While Perkins said she looks forward to sleeping later, Bevins will continue to have a local media presence, co-hosting Virginia This Morning for Tribune’s WTVR-TV (CBS 6), which covered the news of the duo’s departure.
