"Better than most...not as good as some."

That trademark phrase will not be heard with the announcement that local Los Angeles radio host, "Mr. KABC", could not reach mutual agreement on the terms of his new contract with KABC radio. Apparently, KABC wanted to carry an extra hour of a nationally syndicated show that immediately proceeded his broadcast.

I'm sorry to hear this news because his show was unique...talk radio with, "no guests, no topics, no screeners." He was the wikipedia for the radio with his show, "Ask Mr. KABC" and a precursor to Yahoo! Answers. Ask any question and there's a pretty good chance he knew the answer. (Except sports...he was "born without the sports gene.")

Why is this interesting to the non-Mr. KABC fans (or to those who have never heard of him)?

Because I find it comforting to know what the back-story is for his departure. It seems that radio (more so than any other medium) has a way of quietly changing formats or hosts without letting anyone know what happened. There is no closure... no best-of's... no count-down... no ability for the radio personality to say their good-bye's. (With the notable exception of Howard Stern.)

I have to think that this experience is terribly difficult for those who were accustomed to having a large following suddenly be cut-off from their base. Obviously, the introduction of the internet (and more recently Myspace) has made re-connecting much easier. Mr. KABC is collecting email addresses so his fans can keep in touch with him.

It won't be long until he fires up the myspace page (or more likely Rae's facebook) and starts a blog... Good Luck to you Mr. KABC. We will be looking out for you. :)