For many of the residents in the Washington DC Metro area, driving to work listening to their talk local radio station WMAL has become a daily part of their lives. Those familiar with the station, are of course avid listeners of the famous morning show duo, Grandy and Andy, aka Fred Grandy and Andy Parks.
For those of you who don’t already know, Fred Grandy is a former member of the United States congress, and perhaps more well known for his role as Gopher in the show, “The Love Boat”. His co-host to the early morning show on WMAL “The Grandy and Andy Show”, Andy Parks is a long time radio veteran and has been an important part of the show since its inception. The show has always had an obvious conservative leaning, mixed with informative news, shared opinions and daily calls from listeners. Bryan Nehman, a younger co-host has also become a more prominent part of the show in recent years.
So what happened to Grandy and Andy? On April 26th, fans of the show learned the shocking news that after over 25 years as a morning host, Andy Parks left WMAL. In a very strange twist, Chris Plante, who apparently was let go earlier in the month at WMAL, stepped in to take over as co-host to a shortly lived Plante and Grandy show. Within a week Fred Grandy left the station.
It seems that Bryan Nehman has kept his position at the station and continues to provide “Nehman’s news and notes” early in the morning. Many of the existing fans of the Grandy and Andy morning show are extremely upset at the loss of their favorite radio hosts. Browsing various Internet sources, it appears Grandy and Andy may have been axed due to cost cutting at the station.
Furious at the decision of WMAL’s executives, fans of the former show have already fiercely criticized the station and a Facebook group has been setup called: Bring Back Grandy & Andy to 630 WMAL!. According to the group, “Citadel has terminated the Grandy & Andy show and fired Paul Duckworth, and seem to be on a path to dismantle the station’s programming and loyal listener base.”
So what does this mean for the future of Grandy and Andy? It is unlikely either will return to WMAL in the near future, however there may be other possibilities of a return in the form of online radio or XM / Sirius. At this point there is no information from the former hosts, however it is very clear that they have left behind a void that will be very difficult to fill for the morning commuters in the Washington DC area!
