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“The Bob & Tom Show” plans to extend its run as a Radio Hall of Fame morning show through 2027.
John Kesler, chief operating officer of the Indianapolis-based Bob and Tom Radio Network, told the IBJ that syndication company Westwood One as well as stations owned by iHeartMedia Inc. and Cumulus Media agreed to contract extensions with “Bob & Tom.”
The comedy-focused morning show, which is heard on about 100 radio stations overall, debuted on its Indianapolis flagship station, WFBQ-FM 94.7, on March 7, 1983.
“We’re going to be around, dispensing the same kind of humor that adult men first were exposed to in the seventh grade,” Kesler said.
Indianapolis listeners will continue to find “Bob & Tom” on WFBQ, a show-and-station alliance that’s continued since “Bob & Tom” switched syndication companies in 2014 from Premiere Networks to Westwood One (known then as Cumulus Media Networks).
Classic rock station WFBQ ranked No. 6 among central Indiana’s most popular stations in July, according to Nielsen rankings for listeners of all ages. WYXB-FM 105.7, an adult contemporary music station owned by Maryland-based Urban One Inc., ranked No. 1.
WFBQ is part of the Texas-based iHeartRadio network that oversees fellow Indianapolis stations WOLT-FM 103.3, WZRL-FM 98.3, Business News 97.5 (which broadcasts via FM translator W248AW) and WNDE-AM 1260.
Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold were “Bob & Tom” co-hosts when the show launched in Indianapolis 41 years ago and when the show entered syndication in 1995. Kevoian retired in 2015, shortly after he and Griswold were inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
The present cast of “The Bob & Tom Show” includes 71-year-old Griswold, Chick McGee, Kristi Lee, Josh Arnold, Ace Cosby, Pat Godwin and Willie Griswold.
Dean Metcalf, the “Bob & Tom Show” producer who initially worked as a WFBQ intern in the mid-1980s, retired this year. Metcalf’s successor is Jason Hoffsetz, who’s worked for the show since 2001.
Syndication company Westwood One is owned by Cumulus Media. Atlanta-based Cumulus Media owns six radio stations in Indianapolis: WJJK-FM 104.5, WFMS-FM 95.5, WZPL-FM 99.5, WNTR-FM 107.9, WNDX-FM 93.9 and WXNT-AM 1430.
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