San Francisco radio waves have lost one of their most prominent voices. Lamont Hollywood, who hosted “The Lamont Show” on 107.7 The Bone (KSAN-FM), announced Monday that his long tenure at the San Mateo-based station is coming to an end.
Hollywood worked in radio for 37 years, 35 of which he spent alongside cohost Paul Tonelli. The duo started on KSJO-FM in San Jose but moved to 107.7 in 2002, making his tenure at the station 24 years long. Their program ran from 5:30 to 10 a.m. on weekdays, with a mix of rock music, irreverent banter and call-ins from listeners.
“And there’s no way of sugarcoating that. They were pulling the show as of today, there are some contract negotiations going on for some of us, but on the Bone, there will be no more ‘Lamont & Tonelli’ show after today,” Hollywood said at the time. He returned to launch “The Lamont Show” without his former partner a couple of months later.
Hollywood announced his departure in a scathing Facebook post to his friends and listeners. He began by attributing the layoff to corporate restructuring and severe cutbacks at Cumulus, the parent company of 107.7.
“What we are all witnessing is the tragic consequence of debt-fueled media consolidation,” he wrote. “For years, giant corporate conglomerates bought up hundreds of radio stations using massive leverage, only to spend the next decade slashing real human talent, gutting local newsrooms, and replacing live voices with syndicated feeds and automated voice-tracking just to pay down interest on executive balance sheets.”
He went on to continue the vitriolic message by railing on the “suits in corporate headquarters,” condemning executive salaries and bonuses, and noting how algorithmic automation can’t replace the trust built between hosts and listeners. After several paragraphs of ire aimed at the station’s corporate arm, he went on to express gratitude to his listeners and announce that he’ll be continuing the show via an independent platform free of corporate control.
“This isn’t a final goodbye—it’s a deep, heartfelt thank you, and a promise that the best is yet to come. Keep the music loud, stay tuned, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for every single year,” he wrote.