A longtime FM radio favorite who spent 37 years on Bay Area airwaves is speaking out after losing his job, taking sharp aim at the network in a blistering social media post.
Lamont Hollywood, best known as one half of the long-running “Lamont and Tonelli” morning show on 107.7 The Bone, pointed to corporate restructuring and deep cutbacks at the station’s parent company.
In a Facebook post Monday, Hollywood said his career at the station ended because of sweeping changes and severe reductions at Cumulus Media, the company that owns 107.7 The Bone.
“What we are all witnessing is the tragic consequences of debt-fueled media consolidation,” Hollywood wrote.
“For years, giant corporate conglomerates bought up hundreds of radio stations using mass 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.”
Hollywood also alleged that his job was cut to “preserve executive salaries and bonuses.”
Cumulus Media, which owns 394 radio stations, filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas in March under a restructuring agreement designed to eliminate $697 million in debt, Reuters reported.
The company cited growing competition from digital audio and streaming services, shifts in the advertising market, and shrinking radio audiences. Cumulus had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
“The suits in corporate headquarters treat a radio station like a spreadsheet, completely blind to the fact that radio was built on authentic human connection, community trust, and undeniable personality,” he said.
“They think they can algorithmically automate decades of trust, local flavor, and real intimacy with a community. When companies gut the very voices that give a station its identity, they destroy the soul of the medium and push loyal listeners away.”
Hollywood did manage to thank his audience, his former partner and a host of famous musicians, broadcasters and media figures, who he owes “a world of gratitude”.
Hollywood’s co-host of 35 years, Paul Tonelli, left the show two years ago.
The duo started out on KSJO before going to KSAN in 2003.
Cumulus had ended the show in 2024, but brought Hollywood back to continue with his own show.
This comes after Cumulous also let go of Bay Area sports host Greg Papa, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.
