I’m going Around the Horn looking back at 2025 in honor of the show canceled by ESPN in May after 23 years. It was a sad year, losing Gary Burbank, Bob Trumpy, WEBN-FM founder Frank “Bo” Wood, NPR “founding mother” Susan Stamberg and such Hollywood favorites as Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Rob Reiner, Loni Anderson and George Wendt.
And all public broadcasters lost their federal funding which already had been appropriated by Congress.
On the other hand, 2025 brought us a new home for Cincinnati Public Radio’s WVXU-FM and WGUC-FM, and a terrific documentary about King Records. Here’s my year in review from A to Z.
A is for anchors away
As usual, there were lots of changes on TV newscasts this year. Main news co-anchor Craig McKee and weekend anchor Bret Buganski left Channel 9. News anchors Amber Jayanth, Jessica Schmidt and Payton Marshall, and meteorologist Frank Marzullo left Channel 19, along with NOW in the ‘Nati host Abby Urban. (Marzullo returned to TV six months later to co-anchor Channel 9’s Good Morning Tri-State in September, not long after former Fox 19 morning anchor Lauren Minor joined Channel 9 from Lexington.) Weekend sports anchor Olivia Ray left Channel 5 in March before giving birth to her first child.
B is for Marty Brennaman’s broken bronze statue
Seven weeks after the Reds honored the Hall of Fame announcer on Sept. 6, a 13-year-old boy was charged with vandalism for allegedly breaking the microphone off the artwork.
C is for CBS canceling Stephen Colbert’s Late Show
CBS announced that Coblert’s Late Show was canceled effective May 2026 for financial reasons, and that the network was ending the late-night franchise dating back to David Letterman’s premiere in 1992. The word came shortly after Colbert criticized parent Paramount’s $16-million settlement with President Donald Trump over his complaint about the editing of Kamala Harris’s 60 Minutes interview in October 2024. Many suspect the cancellation decision was political to appease Trump.
Trump also used his Truth Social account to celebrate Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC in September and call for his cancellation. (Kimmel recently was renewed until May 2027.) Trump also attacked late-night host Seth Meyers, writing on Nov. 17 that “NBC should fire him IMMEDIATELY!”
D is for actors Diane Keaton and Diane Ladd
Keaton, who died in October at 79, won an Academy Award for Annie Hall from four nominations (Reds, Marvin’s Room, Something’s Gotta Give). Ladd, who died in November at 89, was nominated for three Oscars (Rambling Rose, Wild at Heart, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) and won a Golden Globe for TV’s Alice sitcom.
E is for the ever-expanding ESPN
Disney’s all-sports programming giant launched a direct-to-consumer ESPN+ service in August; bought the NFL Network, RedZone Channel and NFL Fantasy; and acquired the rights to sell MLB.TV’s out-of-market streaming service.
The new MLB Network deal for 2026 Sunday Night Baseball shifts from ESPN to NBC; gives ESPN a weeknight TV game; and gives Netflix the Home Run Derby, an Opening Night exclusive game telecast, the World Baseball Classic in Japan March 5-17, and the Aug. 13 Phillies-Twins “Field of Dreams” game.
But wait, there’s more media madness!
F is for the feeding frenzy by media companies in 2025
Media companies expecting a loosening of broadcast ownership rules by the Trump administration were wheeling and dealing: Nexstar, the nation’s biggest TV station owner, wants to buy the 64 stations owned by Tegna (formerly Gannett). Sinclair, which owns WKRC-TV, wants to buy Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps, which owns WCPO-TV.
Paramount, owners of CBS, was sold to Skydance Media. Netflix has offered $83 billion to acquire half of Warner Bros. Discovery, to get the film/TV studio, programming archive and HBO Max streaming service, but not its cable channels. Meanwhile, the new Paramount Skydance Corp. made a $108 billion offer to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN, TNT Sports, TCM, Food Network, Home & Garden and other cable channels.
Comcast split into two companies, keeping the NBC network, Universal Studios, Universal theme parks and Peacock while spinning off its cable networks (MSNBC, now known as “MS NOW,” USA, CNBC) into the Versant Media Group. Shortly after Netflix got baseball’s Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams game, YouTube acquired rights to the 2029 Academy Awards, which have aired on ABC since 1976.
Got all that?
G is for Gary Burbank
Burbank’s Gilbert Gnarley, Earl Pitts, Synonymous Bengals and other crazy characters were silenced Aug. 28 when the retired WLW-AM afternoon host died at 84. To me, Burbank was the funniest, most creative and prolific personality in Cincinnati radio. He came here in 1981 expecting to return to Louisville, but stayed until retiring in 2007. And his fans loved every minute. Some of his WLW-AM coworkers and fellow musicians will gather for a celebration of his life Jan. 24, 2026.
Other local broadcasting passages: Retired sports anchor/sportswriter Greg Hoard. WXIX-TV film critic and Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival artistic director tt stern-enzi. UC football analyst Jim Kelly. Fr. Rob Jack, host of Sacred Heart Radio’s afternoon Driving Home The Faith. Former WKRC radio reporter and TV assignment editor Terry Donald. And pianist Lee Stolar. (See the letter “W” for Frank “Bo” Wood.)
H is the Steve Horstmeyer
Cincinnati’s longest-tenured meteorologist, retired in August after 48 years of forecasting for Channels 5, 12 and 19. WXIX-TV promoted him with two words: “Trust Steve.” And we did. When the weather turned bad, we turned to the former junior high school math teacher who started in broadcasting with WLWT-TV’s legendary meteorologist Tony Sands, Cincinnati's original “Weather Authority,” and later worked for WKRC-TV's Tim Hedrick. Spanning six decades, Horstmeyer’s career intersected with many Cincinnati TV icons: Channel 5’s Jerry Springer, Sands, Norma Rashid, Bill Myers, Tom Atkins, Pat Barry, George Vogel and Bob Braun; Channel 12’s Glenn “Skipper” Ryle, Hedrick, John Lomax, Nick Clooney, Cammy Dierking. Bob Herzog and Rob Braun; and Channel 19’s Tricia Macke, Rob Williams and Jack Atherton.
Before Horstmeyer left, Fox 19 had lost meteorologists Ashley Smith, Ethan Emery and Marzullo, and replaced them with forecasters Brad Maushart (previously at Channel 12), Erin Ashley and Anna DuVall. New chief meteorologist Stephanie Roberts from Florida debuted here in November.
More changes in the weather: Channel 9 gained KJ Jacobs and Mark Stitz and lost Brando Spinner. Channel 5 hired Sabrina Bates and lost Katie Donovan.
I is for Donald Trump’s insults and invectives
Trump verbally attacked female journalists who were just doing their job asking questions the president didn’t want to answer. He said: “Quiet piggy,” to Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey; “You’re a stupid person” to CBS’ Nancy Cordes; “A third-rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out” to New York Times reporter Katie Rogers; “A terrible person and a terrible reporter” to ABC’s Mary Bruce; “Always stupid and nasty” to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins; and “You’re the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place... You are an obnoxious — a terrible reporter” to ABC’s Rachel Scott. How presidential!
J is for actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner
The Cosby Show, Malcolm & Eddie and The Resident actor who drowned in July at age 54 while on a family vacation in Costa Rica was one of many TV stars who passed away this year. We also lost Loni Anderson. Loretta Swit, George Wendt, Michelle Trachtenberg, Cincinnati native Kelley Mack (Walking Dead), Ruth Buzzi, June Lockhart, Richard Chamberlain, Polly Holiday, Jay North, Anthony Geary, game show host Wink Martindale, Food Network chef Anne Burell, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and wrestler Hulk Hogan.
K is for King Of Them All
The documentary by Cincinnati writer-director Yemi Oyediran premiered on PBS nationwide in October. The film, nine years in the making, introduced the U.S. television audience to Syd Nathan’s small record factory on Brewster Avenue in Evanston where “The Twist,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and many James Brown hits were first recorded.
L is for Live from New York, It’s George Clooney!
At age 63, the Oscar-winning actor/producer made his Broadway debut as legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow in the stage adaption of his 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck. The play closed in June after it aired worldwide on CNN. Clooney, who grew up around his father Nick’s live Cincinnati variety shows and WKRC-TV newscasts, demanded the live telecast so his father could see the play since Nick “was too old to travel” from Augusta, Ky., to New York, George told Esquire magazine in October.
M is for Mike McConnell
Mike McConnell retired in April after 50 years in radio, most of them on Cincinnati airwaves. He hosted WLW-AM’s popular Midday show for 25 years, then left for Chicago’s WGN-AM in 2010. He returned to the station and took over mornings in 2015 when Jim Scott retired. “I never saw myself as a morning guy. I’m glad it worked out and I was successful,” he told me. “It’s been a fabulous ride . . . a fun place to work.” Thom Brennaman, who lost his Reds TV job in 2020 for making a homophobic slur, took over WLW-AM’s morning show.
N is for network news comings and goings
Nora O’Donnell left the CBS Evening News anchor desk before Skydance bought parent Paramount and installed controversial writer and editor Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Evening News anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois left after she arrived.
Newsroom tensions heightened in December when Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes story critical of Trump’s immigration practices at the last minute.
Tony Dokoupil takes over the Evening News on Jan. 5 with a two-week tour of America, including a broadcast from Cincinnati on Jan. 15.
At NBC, Hoda Kotbe left the Today show and Lester Holt stepped down from the NBC Nightly News. Tom Llama took over the NBC weeknight newscast in June.
Broadcast journalists who died this year include Pulitzer Prize-winning war reporter Peter Arnett (CNN and AP), Aaron Brown (CNN and ABC), Mark Knoller (CBS) and NPR’s “founding mother” Susan Stamberg.
O is for Ozzy Osboune and other rockers
Ozzy Osbourne died at 76 in July shortly after his onstage reunion concert with Black Sabbath. We also mourned the loss of musicians Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Chuck Mangione, Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), Roberta Flack, Connie Francis, Sly Stone, Lou Christie, Bobby Sherman, Mark Vollman (The Turtles), Steve Cropper (“Green Onions,” “Soul Man”), Tom Shipley (Brewer & Shipley), Rick Davies (Supertramp), Sonny Curtis (“I Fought The Law”), jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayes and Buster Poindexter (born David Johansen).
P is for WVXU’s podcast Backed Up
Local Government Reporter Becca Costello and Cincinnati Public Radio Podcast Coordinator Ella Rowen teamed up for an award-winning audio series about Cincinnati’s sewer problems that got national attention. In 2025, Backed Up was mentioned on Stephen Colbert’s CBS Late Show after being named one of The Atlantic’s best podcasts of 2024.
Q is for the quick return by Tony Pike
Pike’s coworkers at WLW-AM/WCKY-AM iHeartMedia shook their heads in disbelief when the midday WCKY-AM sports talk host and fill-in University of Cincinnati football analyst was let go as part of nationwide iHeartMedia budget cuts on Oct. 8. “Somebody sees a number on a spreadsheet and (thinks) that number doesn’t work, so out they go,” coworker Mo Egger told listeners on WCKY-AM about his friend Pike the next day. But the decision was reversed within two weeks , and Pike returned to his Cincy 360 noon show on Oct. 20.
R is for Robert Redford and Rob Reiner
Redford was an actor, director and creator of the Sundance Institute which championed independent films. He was the star, director or producer of many iconic films, such as The Sting, All The President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Natural, Ordinary People, Out of Africa, Quiz Show, The Electric Horseman, The Way We Were, The Candidate and The Old Man & The Gun, his last acting role, filmed in Greater Cincinnati in 2017.
Reiner was an actor, director and co-owner of Castle Rock Entertainment whose credits include When Harry Met Sally, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, A Few Good Men, Seinfeld, Stand By Me, This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, The Green Mile, The American President, Honeymoon in Vegas, Best in Show, Miss Congeniality, The Polar Express and, of course, “Meathead” Michael Stivic on All In The Family.
Other notable film deaths this year: Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, Michael Madsen and David Lynch.
S is for stop the presses!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stops printing a daily newspaper on Dec. 31, making Atlanta the largest U.S. city without a daily paper. The Star-Ledger based in Newark, N.J., ceased printing to go digital only Feb. 2.
T is for Bob Trumpy, Cincinnati’s original 'Trump'
The Bengals receiver turned nightly Sports Talk host essentially invented sports talk on Cincinnati radio in the late 1970s on WCKY-AM (when WLW’s boss rejected Trump’s pitch). "Trump" jumped to WLW-AM in 1980, and commanded the airwaves weeknights, and did NFL games for NBC Sports on Sundays. In 1990 he handed off his radio gig to Cris Collinsworth to work full-time for NBC doing football, golf and Olympics. He died in November at 85.
U is for Bob Uecker
The beloved Milwaukee Brewers radio voice for 54 years, “Uke” was the Milwaukee equivalent to Cincinnati’s “Nux” — the pitcher-turned-broadcaster Joe Nuxhall. Except Uecker had a national following from his many Tonight Show appearances, Mr. Belvedere sitcom and Miller Lite commercials.
V is for the vanished Voice of America
For 80 years the VOA beamed programming around the world — delivering the truth to nations whose totalitarian regimes censored free information — until President Trump shut it down in April claiming it produced radical propaganda with a liberal bias. Trump, in addition to insulting reporters and their employers, also banished the Associated Press from the White House pool because it won’t call the Gulf of Mexico by his preferred name, the Gulf of America. He saw most of the Pentagon press corps leave the building when asked to pledge not to report unauthorized information.
W is for the new home for WVXU-FM and WGUC-FM
Cincinnati Public Radio’s stations moved from the WCET-TV building Downtown into the new $32-million headquarters at 2117 Dana Ave., Evanston, in April. The two-story Scripps Family Center for Public Media has 11 studios plus a podcast studio; a large audio and video performance studio; and a first-floor gathering space which already has hosted concerts, award ceremonies, dinners and other events.
X is for Michael Xanadu
The radio alter-ego for Frank E. “Bo” Wood III, who founded WEBN-FM in 1967, took Greater Cincinnati residents on a fun ride to the “lunatic fringe” of FM rock radio. He died in July at 83.
From Wood’s fertile imagination came the request to Rozzi’s fireworks to synchronize music to the pyrotechnics in 1977, for the station’s 10th birthday, which evolved into the annual end-of-summer WEBN-FM Riverfest. He also gave us the fictional day-long Fools Day parade broadcast for decades on "March 32"; the WEBN-FM Frog mascot; Jerry Springer’s first broadcast commentaries on WEBN-FM in the late 1970s; clever commercials for Tree Frog Beer, Negative Calorie Cookies and other wickedly funny fake Brute Force Cybernetics products.
He also launched the broadcasting careers of his sister Robin Wood, Eddie Fingers, Jay Gilbert, Craig Kopp, Dennis “Wildman” Walker, Brian O’Donnell, Jaqui Brumm, Tom Sandman, Geoff Nimmo, Curt Gary, Tony Tolliver and others.
Y is for Yellow Springs
Former resident Rod Serling was honored with an Ohio Historical Marker in October. After earning a degree at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Serling started his professional writing career at WLW in 1950 which would produce The Twilight Zone, Requiem For A Heavyweight, Planet of the Apes, Patterns, O’Toole from Moscow and Night Gallery.
Z is for zero
For the first time since 1967, the federal government is not spending any money on public broadcasting. At Trump’s request, Congress in July approved legislation cancelling $1.1 billion in funding previously authorized for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which provides support for National Public Radio, TV’s Public Broadcasting Service and more than 1,500 local stations, including WVXU-FM, which hosts this blog.
But we’re still here! And we plan to be for a long, long time thanks to your generous support. And we thank you!
