Simon Conway Show Raises Funds for Childhood Cancer
The Simon Conway Show’s Pinky Swear Radiothon raised $238,293 to support the families of kids with cancer in the five-and-a-half-hour event last week. Pictured above with WHO, Des Moines-based talk host Simon Conway is James, who as a baby was diagnosed with cancer. Now, he is a healthy eight-year-old about to take part in his first swim meet. Conway says, “I always say I have the best audience in talk radio and every year they prove me right, but with the very short amount of time we had, this fundraising effort was truly astonishing.”
listeners describing his recent skin cancer diagnosis. Benson detailed his diagnosis, removal, and treatment process of a melanoma while emphasizing the importance of regular dermatology visits and self-checking for skin abnormalities. 
“Hi, there, everyone – Greg Papa here, host of KNBR The Sports Leader’s “Papa & Silver” and voice of the San Francisco 49ers. I want to share some personal news with Bay Area sports fans and my friends and colleagues. I have been diagnosed with cancer and am currently undergoing treatment. As I fully focus on my treatment and work toward a full recovery, I’m stepping away from my broadcasts but look forward to returning soon. In the meantime, I am handing The Sports Leader broadcast ball to my co-host and friend Greg Silver, and I know he and his guest co-hosts will keep our listeners entertained and informed – and I’ll be among them; I’ll be listening! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and good wishes as I begin this fight. Go Niners!!” Photo: KNBR The Sports Leader
Dick Gregory once told me, ‘Don’t let fear get in the way.’ Thanks to early detection and proton treatment, my cancer went into remission for a long time. Unfortunately, earlier this year the cancer resurfaced. With the unwavering support of my wife Sherry, my family, and the incredible team at SiriusXM, I was able to continue our daily broadcasts. However, upon preparing to return from the Thanksgiving hiatus my health took an adverse turn, making it challenging to host a four-hour live show every day. Currently, I am taking time to focus on my well-being. During this time, SiriusXM will continue to air ‘Madison Classics’ at our regularly scheduled time. I am sincerely grateful for your outpouring of well wishes and support. Sherry and I are spending the holidays with our children and grandchildren. We ask for privacy during this period and extend our warmest wishes to you all for a blessed holiday season.” 
The message, “In an ordinary instant – cancer has taken LARadio.com,” is posted on the publication’s site – a reference to the writings of author Joan Didion. Barrett was profiled by the LA Daily News last month after he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. 
for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was also an important endeavor. I knew personally how cancer affects the lives of the patient and their families. It has been a passion and I’ve been blessed with many years of good health. I didn’t expect in 2023 that we would be having this conversation. After feeling lethargic, exhausted and experiencing some strange weight gain I had blamed it on a recent change of medication. Instead my blood work showed tremendous blood loss and levels of iron and hemoglobin that were dangerously low. We still believed that it would reveal an ulcer or a stomach tear that was being irritated by the new medication causing the bleed. We scheduled a short hospital stay to have all my tests in one day. It’s 76ers playoffs and I needed to get back to work quickly! The colonoscopy revealed the cancer and a subsequent CT Scan has given us some optimism that this cancer journey will end successfully. I have a great support system within the walls of Beasley Broadcasting from the Executive Suite to the interns. I feel blessed that everyone has already rallied behind me at ‘The Fanatic’ to make sure I succeed in this battle. My sponsors have always shown me such loyalty and support. I’m going to do my best to continue to deliver for them. I work with an excellent team on ‘The John Kincade Show’ and I’ve asked them to do everything possible to keep things as normal as possible. With our crew, normal is of course up to interpretation.” 
standard in audio, and it’s an honor to join a brand creatively steeped in sports storytelling. Not unlike the Savannah Bananas, I’m prepared to push the limits of sports talk. I’ll deliver for Jimmy in Tucson, Arizona just as much as Joe in Marshall, Texas. And for every groundbreaking Los Angeles Lakers trade, there’s a Boston College linebacker who survived cancer. You’ll hear the same fire and heart for each. We’re going to create something special; I promise you that.” Cumulus SVP sports/content & audience Bruce Gilbert comments, “Drake represents exactly what we’re building – a modern, interactive sports experience that is driven by personalities and fueled by fans – programming that breaks away from the predictable and formulaic. Drake’s ability to entertain, connect, and innovate makes him the ideal voice for mornings on Westwood One.”
reporter in 1974 and became an anchor in 1979, beginning a 35-year run as a morning drive and sports anchor. Countless Philadelphians came to know Donahue’s voice as he brought the news, traffic, weather, and much-longed-for snow days over the airwaves in his time at the station. He was also a fixture in the city’s sports radio scene, doing play-by-play for the Philadelphia Stars — the city’s USFL team in the 1980s — and was the TV and radio voice of Temple football and basketball for more than two decades.” Donahue retired from KYW in 2014 and was promptly inducted into the KYW Newsradio Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
WTOP, Washington is announcing that its business reporter Jeff Clabaugh died last Thursday at the age of 63 after a yearlong battle with cancer. WTOP says that Clabaugh, “whose steady-paced voiceconversationally delivered money news to the D.C. region for three decades,” was “a master of consumer business news” who “gave reports twice an hour on WTOP’s airwaves and wrote punchy, popular stories for WTOP.com.” WTOP director of news and programming Julia Ziegler wrote to the staff, “Jeff Clabaugh made WTOP’s Business Reports what they are today. His work ethic was incredible. And his voice was so smooth. He was one of the best storytellers in the WTOP newsroom.” 
of Atlanta. And raised an event record of more than $2.1 million. WSB director of operations Ken Charles says, “95.5 WSB has the most generous listeners in the country, without them this is not possible. I am blessed to work with the most passionate, dedicated and hardworking team in the business. I couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved over these incredible and inspirational 38 hours.”
Duffy is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, who co-hosts “FOX & Friends Weekend” alongside – until last week – Pete Hegseth. FOX put out the following statement per Duffy’s departure: “Sean Duffy provided valuable insights and analysis in co-hosting the FOX Business Network program, ‘The Bottom Line.’ As Duffy departs FOX News Media effective today (11/18), we wish him the best of luck in his return to Washington. Moving forward, ‘The Bottom Line‘ will continue with Dagen McDowell joined by rotating co-hosts.”
Raising Awareness All Year Long. Nationally syndicated, Nevada-based TALKERS Heavy Hundred personality Dr. Daliah Wachs (pictured) never stops teaching and promoting health causes that lead to everything from prevention awareness to blood drives. 
She tells TALKERS, “Where breast cancer awareness happens every October but education around this common disease needs to continue year-round. Mammograms save lives and I’m grateful to Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging for helping make my mammogram and ultrasound testing easy and painless.” The Steinberg facility has been serving South Las Vegas outpatients for more than 30 years.
WTOP Reporter Evan Haning Succumbs to Cancer at 74. Veteran news reporter Evan Haning, whose 50-year radio career included almost a decade as an anchor and reporter at WTOP, Washington, DC has died at the age of 74 after a long battle with cancer. Haning’s career began well before his stint as a reporter at WTOP, from the early 2000s through 2011, and showed his flexibility as a broadcaster. Born in 1950 in Sydney, Iowa, Haning’s radio career began in 1970, shortly after graduating from Simi Valley High School, in California. Haning was in Los Angeles for the Boss Radio boom. In 1973, Haning joined KRLA Radio as a disc jockey. “He came to Washington when he joined WJOK in 1983,” his daughter said. Long before Comedy Central, WJOK was the first all-comedy radio format in the country. By the mid-1980s, Haning became the production director at WWRC, the talk radio station featuring hosts like Joel A. Spivak, Bob Kwesell, and the morning duo of Bruce Alan and Ed Walker. Haning is survived by his wife Melissa, daughter Amber, son Garrison, and two grandchildren, Matilda and Seneca. Memorial arrangements are pending.
SRN to Present Special Christian Series. Salem Radio Network (SRN) is presenting a special series this week spotlighting Dr. Erwin Lutzer (pictured above left). In interviews with SRN News correspondent Lori Tradup (pictured above right) Lutzer— Pastor Emeritus at Moody Church in Chicago—exposes what SRN describes as “the heart of America’s cultural crisis as it impacts pastors in pulpits nationwide.” In the series, Dr. Lutzer advises Christians to stay rooted in Biblical truths as they grapple with challenges including abortion, transgenderism and other topics. His newest book is titled The Eclipse of God (Harvest House, 2024)
media producer and host of WCPC’s “Arts Beat” and “On The Mark” serves as producer and host. Auerbach, who survived simultaneous kidney failure, a massive heart attack, and complicated surgery in the last year, tells TALKERS, “As I fought to get back on my feet, friends and total strangers reached out to tell me how they had coped, survived, and moved on. Thanks to great healthcare people and friends, I’m here to tell my story and share others’ stories. We can learn and be inspired, as we see people conquer what appears impossible.” “Survivor Stories,” premiers this Friday, November 15, at 7:00 am on Westfield Community Programming, 89.5 FM WSKB, Southwick Community TV, and Agawam Media. It will be archived on YouTube under WSKB Community Radio.
65 after a battle with cancer. Burns hosted a show on WGDJ from 2012 through 2014. After leaving her radio show, she became director of operations at Veterans Miracle Center, where veterans and military personnel could get new items they need at no cost. 
The 33-year (1975 – 2008) radio voice of the NBA Houston Rockets, Gene Peterson, died this past Wednesday (7/24) succumbing to cancer at the age of 83. “How sweet it is” was Peterson’s signature victory call and – as noted on a Rockets’ Facebook page post – that catch phrase, “spanned across many franchise moments that will forever live in the hearts and minds of Rockets fans.” Peterson once told The Houston Chronicle, “I’ve watched the Rockets’ family grow, and I’ve watched my own family grow through it all; I know I’ve been blessed to live this life.” Team owner Tilman Fertitta comments, “We say goodbye to my friend and broadcasting legend, Gene Peterson. Gene devoted his life to the Rockets and brought passion and energy towards creating timeless memories for countless fans, including myself. I am forever grateful for the time I knew Gene and for the invaluable contributions he made to our city and franchise for over three decades. My thoughts are with his [family] during this difficult time.”
stations mostly for classic hits and adult contemporary music formats. Prior to syndication, Kent worked on the air and in programming at legendary Top 40 stations including WLS, Chicago; KLIF & KFJZ Dallas-Ft Worth; WIBG Philadelphia and more. On the passing of Tom Kent, TALKERS founder Michael Harrison states, “He was a quintessential practitioner of one of America’s great forms of audio art – top 40 radio. The disc jockey, in that now almost completely extinct genre, was a uniquely specialized vocal performer akin to being a singer or musical instrument deftly inserted within the hyper-dynamic backdrop of a symphony known as a radio format. Art Vuolo’s video captures not only the superb talent possessed by Kent in executing this amazing audio choreography – but amply displays his passion for excellence and behind-the-scenes pride. When Kent seamlessly hits the posts on driving rock intros of songs with which he is intimately familiar and pumps his fist with glee when pulling it off, it unleashes an adrenaline rush similar to a pro basketball star landing a slam dunk and swinging that extra second from the rim.