Carson Unplugs From Daily Radio

Multimedia personality Carson Daly surprised a few folks yesterday when he announced on the air he was leaving his first love — radio, as he has stepped down from his morning show at CBS Radio Top 40 KAMP (97.1 AMP Radio)/Los Angeles. No replacement has been named yet. But fear not — Daly, who first sprung to national fame as host of MTV’s landmark afternoon show TRL, still has a bunch of other jobs to fall back on — he’s host of The Voice, co-anchor of the Today show and host of Last Call With Carson Daly. Oh, and still does that syndicated weekend radio show, the Daly Download.

In making his on-air farewell announcement, Daly, who has done mornings on AMP since January 2010, cited his hectic work schedule as a factor, saying, “I’ve made the decision that something has to give with all of these jobs and the truth is, the reason I’m going to stop doing radio for now. And I love radio, it’s what I’ve always done — and this is the honest-to-god truth, is that I just want to have breakfast with my kids.”

Speaking candidly about his lifelong love affair with radio, Daly said, “Radio is where I feel most myself and most comfortable. It’s the thing I’ve done since I [was] 18. It’s really all that I am. I’m a radio DJ. I’m really nothing else. All this other stuff comes and goes, but this is it for me. This is the only thing I know how to do. It’s the only thing I’m semi-good at!” In conclusion, Daly paid tribute to CBS Radio and his co-workers, as he said, “These people here at this radio station are my family. For me to be on every morning in my hometown, to be able to talk to you guys, it’s literally been the greatest.” Daly’s farewell announcement is posted on the AMP Radio website.

CBS Radio also released a statement, which read, “Carson is a valued member of CBS Radio and we support and appreciate the difficult decision he made to strike the right balance for him and his family. While mornings on 97.1 AMP/Los Angeles are no longer possible, we are thrilled to continue our long-standing relationship around his highly successful, syndicated weekend countdown show, Daly Download, and look forward to other creative collaborations in the future.”