OKC radio icon Ronnie Kaye announces firing after on-air comment
Editor's note: In an exclusive interview with The Oklahoman on Sunday, Ronnie Kaye confirmed what he said on air that cost him his job at KOMA-92.5. What follows is the original story on his firing from Saturday.
Long-time radio DJ Ronnie Kaye announced in a Facebook post on Saturday morning he's been let go from Oklahoma City radio station 92.5 KOMA.
Kaye, who has been on radio and television airways for more than 60 years, said his "career has been terminated" after a comment he made on Oct. 9, which was Indigenous Peoples Day or Columbus Day.
Kaye, 84, did not specify in the Facebook post what comment he made.
"I had no intentions of offending the Native American Heritage," he wrote in the post. "I would have preferred to do this on air but I wasn't given the opportunity to do so. Thank you, listeners."
The note was signed "Mr. Rock and Roll."
Kaye, inducted into the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004, entertained generations of listeners with mixes of music, special guests and more. His first radio station job was at KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas, doing play-by-play for a county basketball tournament while still in high school in the mid-1950s.
After stints in Arkansas and Lawton, he began a 19-year run on WKY in Oklahoma City.
"His 65 share in 1963 was the highest rating ever achieved in radio," his biography on the association's website states.
From 1966 to 1974, Kaye also hosted a hugely popular dance show, "The Scene," which was modeled after Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." At one time it was syndicated and played in other markets like San Diego and San Francisco and featured stars like Ray Charles, Harry Chapin, Jerry lee, Mitch Ryder, Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson.
He took a break from radio to work at TV station KOKH in the 1980s but returned to radio in 1991 when he joined KOMA.
During his career, he played music ranging from early rock 'n' roll to disco to country. In recent years, he played the 1970s and '80s "oldies" on KOMA.
His listing as a "radio personality" had been removed from the KOMA website by Saturday afternoon.
The radio station's locally-owned management company Tyler Media has not responded to requests for comment.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ronnie Kaye, OKC radio icon, announces firing after on-air comment
