After 40 years in the Rochester NY market, Alan ‘Brother Wease’ Levin announced that today is his final show ahead of a format change at Hot Talk “Radio 95.1” WAIO Honeoye Falls/Rochester to Rock “Rock 95.1“.
The 78 year-old Wease has been a staple in the Rochester market since joining 96.5 WCMF in 1985, while at times also syndicated to 92.9 WBUF Buffalo and hosting a weekend show on WNEW New York. After failing to come to terms on a new contract, he exited WCMF at the end of 2007 and would join iHeart’s 95.1 in November 2008 following the end of his non-compete. The station would evolve from Classic Rock “95.1 The Fox” WFXF to “95.1 The Brew” WQBW in 2012 before flipping to Hot Talk in September 2014. Wease would remain in mornings until September 2023 when he slid down to the 9am-12pm timeslot.
As he made the announcement on-air, he noted that the station offered him a weekend show but he couldn’t do it as he did not want the headline in the radio industry trades to read “Brother Wease To Host Weekend Morning Music Show”. He was also offered a two hour Sunday night Liberal Talk show on 1180 WHAM. Instead, he and his son Jake will launch a podcast in January 2026.
Also exiting WAIO is afternoon co-host Deanna King. King joined WAIO in 2015 as a co-host on Wease’s morning show and has been co-hosting afternoons with John DiTullio since the September 2023 schedule revamp. Prior to joining the station, King worked as a reporter and social media producer at multiple Rochester television stations.
“Rock 95.1” will continue to feature “Rover’s Morning Glory” in mornings. Current 12-3pm host Jeremy Newman and DiTullio will host afternoons. Newman will also move from afternoons on sister “Country 100.5” WDVI to middays. DiTullio will also host a show at “Fox Sports 1280” WHTK.
More coming…
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com