{"id":621359,"date":"2026-04-21T12:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621359\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:30:08","slug":"popular-ct-radio-personality-out-of-dream-job-fans-lamenting-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621359\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular CT radio personality out of dream job. Fans lamenting loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s been massive outpouring of support for a popular Connecticut radio voice who was laid off after two years at iHeartMedia\u2019s \u201cThe River\u201d 105.9 WHCN-Hartford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allison Demers<\/a>, the midday voice at the radio station for nearly two years, made the announcement on social media<\/a> on April 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonday was my last day on-air. Due to budget cuts, iHeartMedia has been laying off staff all across the nation and here in CT for some time now. I\u2019ve watched it happen to many friends and colleagues who work for other companies too,\u201d said Demers, who has been on the airwaves in Connecticut for decades. \u201cI just want to thank everyone for listening. I will miss the personal interactions, the interviews, hosting events, the music and all of the amazing people I met and worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demers. 56, noted in the post that she started in radio when she was 22 and has been blessed to do the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, I was very sad, but I know God has more plans for my life as he does for everyone. I just need to be still and trust him. Remember how he was there for you in the good times, and he will be there for you in the bad times too,\u201d Demers posted. \u201cThank you for listening and for all the love. I\u2019ll let you know where I land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The community responded with nearly 500 comments on her Facebook post announcing the news.<\/p>\n

Demers worked mornings for 23 years at Lite 100.5 WRCH and most recently at 1320 WATR (WOW Radio) in Waterbury before taking the job at WHCN in June 2024 after the departure of Renee Dinino.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sending you so much love and keeping you in my constant prayers,\u201d Dinino said in a social media post. \u201cHaving been by your side when you landed this role, I truly understand the mix of emotions you\u2019re feeling right now, but I want you to know how incredibly proud I am of you. This is just a brief pause before your next great chapter. You are so talented and resilient, and I have 100% confidence that you\u2019re going to bounce back even stronger. I\u2019m already excited to see where your journey leads next! You\u2019ve got this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, Demers also had radio stops at KC101, WTIC 1080 and WJMJ, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill processing the news today,\u201d a listener posted. \u201cIt\u2019s always tough to see the best people involved in these types of cutbacks. You really are an amazing talent, Allison. Any company would be fortunate to have you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou show so much positivity to people, like me whom you have never met,\u201d another listener posted. \u201cI have enjoyed your interviews and listening to you on the radio. The encouragement you show to others is so kind and inspiring. Now that encouragement is extended to you. Such talent will be rewarded. A ray of sunshine on a cloudy day! Look forward to what you do next! God bless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWill miss listening to you, can\u2019t wait to hear about your next chapter, their loss for sure,\u201d another listener posted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve touched so many lives through your work, Allison. Can\u2019t wait to see what\u2019s next for you,\u201d another person said on the Facebook post.<\/p>\n

Demers said in a phone interview with the Courant on Monday that she was touched by the responses from co-workers, listeners and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, receiving that love was so overwhelming. I just cried and cried and cried. I guess I didn\u2019t feel worthy. I felt like I was little old Allison who grew up in Waterbury, and I was just blessed and fortunate to be able to do this work or ever have to move out of the state. But I never considered myself a talent. I never put myself in that category. I always thought I was lucky,\u201d Demers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a nice personality and I was responsible, but I didn\u2019t consider myself as talented to the point of people were complimenting me. It was a huge blessing to feel that love,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Demers worked six days a week at the radio station. On Monday through Friday, she worked 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the air and she worked Acoustic Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon. She was also the station\u2019s public service director and did 50 to 75 appearances a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought being the public service director, and with all of my other responsibilities, I thought I had a little job security. I thought I had all of this to do. They can\u2019t get rid of me. Who\u2019s going to do this? But people who are doing this in other markets were let go. I loved being on the air playing Journey, AC\/DC and Van Halen. It was such a huge blessing,\u201d Demers said.<\/p>\n

Demers said four years ago she went through a divorce and wasn\u2019t working at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to leave my home. I had one child in college and the other was married so I moved into another place and my heart was broken. I just sat on a bed and cried. I said, \u2018Lord, can I please have a new home?\u2019 The other thing I said, \u2018Can I please go work at The River?\u2019 Then I got a call from (then-iHeartMedia Hartford\/New Haven area president) Steve Honeycomb and he said that Renee (Dinino) is going to retire in six months. We would love to have you,\u201d Demers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere I was divorced and not in the home I raised my children in and just sad and heartbroken. The last two years I was doing everything I ever loved in an industry where there were no jobs and it seemed like there was no way, God made a way when there seemed no way,\u201d she said. \u201cAt this moment, I\u2019m sad that it\u2019s over and I was even mad because I thought I had more time. I\u2019m still trusting God because he did it for me before and he will do it for me again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demers said she and two others on staff were laid off on the same day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big bosses came in and literally said, \u2018Today is your last day. There are budget cuts. You will be paid on the 17th, and HR will be getting in touch with you about severance.\u2019 You just look at him. I had not experienced that. But I know people that have three or four times, and they said \u2018Welcome to the club, Allie,’\u201d Demers said. \u201cIn that moment, I was in complete and utter shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demers said \u201cit broke her heart\u201d that she didn\u2019t get to say goodbye on the air to her listeners but was thankful she could share the news on social media.<\/p>\n

Demers said she is actively looking for another full-time job at a radio station in Connecticut but noted that there aren\u2019t many openings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just grateful that I got to go everywhere I wanted to go and meet everyone I wanted to meet. I never expected to do any of that when I was a child growing up. I was just so blessed,\u201d Demers said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s been massive outpouring of support for a popular Connecticut radio voice who was laid off after two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,28165,2275,134,258852,228552,12871,2289,228553,136,44,1195,301255,301256,301254],"class_list":{"0":"post-621359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-connecticut-news","11":"tag-ct-news","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-hartford","14":"tag-hartford-courant","15":"tag-layoff","16":"tag-local-news","17":"tag-max-image-preview","18":"tag-music","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-radio","21":"tag-radio-personality","22":"tag-the-river-105-9","23":"tag-whcn"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}