A number of months shy of his 50th anniversary on Cincinnati radio, Chris O’Brien, in addition to his spouse Janeen Coyle, are hanging up their headphones.
The favored couple of WGRR-FM’s Married with Microphones morning present introduced Monday they are going to retire on Friday, Dec. 22.
“We have determined to unplug the headphones and flip off the mic change for the final time at 12 months’s finish,” Coyle posted on Fb about 9 a.m. Monday.
“It is about time to sleep in,” mentioned O’Brien, who turned 72 in June.
They’ve co-hosted the WGRR-FM (103.5) morning present since 1995. The identify “Married with Microphones” got here from the Enquirer headline on my story about them beginning to work collectively for the primary time in October 1995. Tempo part copyeditor Lisa Sullivan, spouse of sports activities columnist Tim Sullivan, wrote the headline.
“If it wasn’t for her, we would be doing the Janeen & Chris Present. We owe her!” Coyle informed me Monday.
They determined to retire earlier this 12 months, as O’Brien marked his 60th anniversary in radio and approached his 72nd birthday in June. O’Brien began together with his personal 30-minute present as a highschool junior on slightly AM station in his hometown of Florence, S.C. He debuted in Cincinnati on March 4, 1974, doing afternoons on WKRQ-FM as a part of Randy Michaels’ in style Q102 staff, which included Pat Barry, Jim Fox and Mark Sebastian. He left for Chicago briefly (1977-79), then returned to co-host the vastly in style Q Morning Zoo in 1979 with Fox, Jim “Squirrel” Stadtmiller and information anchor Scott Shively.
Coyle, a Greenhills native, joined Q102 in 1979. They married in 1985, however did not work collectively till WGRR.
She began in radio as a College of Cincinnati freshman on campus station WFIB. She first labored at Covington’s tiny WCLU-AM, then WKRQ-FM, WKRC-AM and WLW-AM. She was co-hosting WKRC-AM mornings with Jerry Thomas in 1995 till becoming a member of WGRR-FM.
Their station has been No. 2 within the Nielsen radio scores most of this 12 months. So why retire now?
Successful the Marconi Award final 12 months for greatest large-market radio persona of the 12 months from the Nationwide Affiliation of Broadcasters wasn’t a consideration, O’Brien informed me Monday morning.
“Retirement possibly was at the back of our thoughts (a 12 months in the past), however we did not actually begin excited about it extra till earlier this 12 months,” he mentioned.
“When individuals used to ask me years in the past after I was going to retire, I believed possibly at 70. Issues had been persevering with to go nicely, and I simply wasn’t fairly prepared but. However as I approached 72 (in June), we began speaking about it. And naturally, Janeen is way youthful than I’m.
“A lot youthful!” Coyle injected.
O’Brien continued: “She’s not certified for Social Safety but, however I’m. So we simply got here to the choice that it was about time in any case these years, and in June we informed Keith,” which means their boss Keith Mitchell. He is WGRR-FM program director and operations director for the Cincinnati Cumulus stations.
They informed their bosses in June, and all agreed to announce the information a few months earlier than their final present.
The couple, who reside in Mason, credit score their longevity to their loyal listeners “who’ve been so nice to us,” O’Brien mentioned.
“The best praise we now have frequently obtained is ‘you sound identical to us!’ Thanks for letting us inform our tales and for making us part of your loved ones,” O’Brien mentioned.
Jim Fox and Chris O’Brien throughout their Q Morning Zoo days within the WKRQ-FM studio within the WKRC-TV constructing.
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Courtesy Brinke Guthrie
Coyle, who calls Cincinnati “one of the best radio market within the USA,” mentioned she’s been blessed to work 45 years in her hometown.
“We can’t even start to thanks, our listeners, on your loyalty…lots of you following us since our Q102 days of the ’70s and ’80s,” Coyle mentioned on Fb.
Coyle mentioned she’s at all times excited about the listener, “whether or not I am speaking to them on the cellphone, out in public or in my thoughts’s eye. I deal with that one individual as they drive to work or repair a cup of espresso of their kitchen, to carry fun, a smile, or a reminiscence.”
Mitchell praised the husband-and-wife morning staff as “a part of the material of Cincinnati, waking us up with laughter each morning. However their attain goes past the radio with their charity efforts and work in the neighborhood. SPCA Cincinnati, Disabled American Veterans and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are simply three of the quite a few charities they’ve labored with to attract consideration and far wanted funding … They may at all times be remembered for his or her affect on Cincinnati radio.”
Jon Laing, Cumulus Cincinnati vice chairman and market supervisor, mentioned in a media launch that “other than their apparent chemistry, (Chris and Janeen) are each extremely gifted professionals and I am honored to have had the chance to work with them. The Married with Microphones morning present is a radio custom recognized and liked by many on this city, and it is one of many distinctive issues that makes Cincinnati the hometown of all hometowns.”
Coyle and O’Brien informed me they sit up for journeys throughout the U.S. to see nationwide parks, to discover Europe, and revisit Liverpool, England.
“We take pleasure in touring, and now we will go just about once we wish to,” O’Brien says. “I feel one of many first stops might be spring coaching, with out having to work for a change. As a result of we had been at all times sending stuff again to the station.”
After I requested Mitchell if his precedence for a brand new morning staff was somebody recognized to Cincinnati or one of the best entertainer he replied: “Hopefully each.”
Coyle ended her Fb submit these phrases:
“We’ll miss you, however we’re not achieved but. Our final present might be Friday, December twenty second. Be happy to purchase me a going away Christmas present.”
