Morning Host Joel Riley is Out at WTVN-AM/Columbus

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Joel Riley

Longtime veteran Columbus morning host Joel Riley is out at iHeartMedia's Talk WTVN-AM after 26 years -- in what is thought to be a cost-cutting move. A longtime fixture in Columbus' morning radio news, Riley, told Columbus Business First he was called in after his show ended Monday morning and was "fired." Brandon Boxer will replace Riley, moving up from afternoons on co-owned Country WCOL-FM. He'll continue hosting PM drive on WCOL.

"Today was a tough one for some of my colleagues & very sad," Boxer wrote in a post on Twitter. "I feel very weird announcing this, but tomorrow I begin a new journey hosting mornings on [610 WTVN]. It's extremely bittersweet & I'm scared to death, but here we go."

"I will miss the listeners," Riley told CBF. "They made that job special every day."

Additionally, WTVN producer Tom Schmid also no longer works at the station as of Monday, he told CBF.