Report: Owens to Retire from KGO/San Francisco

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, September 24, 2012 | 4:51pm CT

After almost four decades at KGO-AM/San Francisco, early midday host (9am-noon) Ronn Owens is set to retire in the coming months, probably in December, reports 415 Media's Rich Lieberman. Owen's contract expires on January 1, 2013, in a deal inked in 2006 under former owner ABC Radio. Lieberman says Owen's deal at the time, a little over one million, made him the highest-paid Bay Area media personality.

Through a variety of media sources, Lieberman reveals that Owens and current KGO owner, Cumulus, are ready to move on, probably at the end of December. There had been speculation that Cumulus was ready to buy out Owens' existing last months and hire a new morning host. Word is that KGO is set to fill Owen's slot with more news, a format it switched to completely (except weekends), when it dumped News/Talk altogether in December, 2011.

Either way, Owen's imminent departure from the 810 AM dial figures to be a culture shock for Bay Area radio listeners, added Lieberman.