WOR radio axes longtime morning hosts Len Berman, Michael Riedel

WOR/710 AM's "Berman and Riedel in the Morning," a New York radio staple since 2018, was abruptly canceled last week, according to various trade reports. Len Berman confirmed the reports Monday, saying in a phone interview that both hosts were fired immediately "after Friday's show."

The ax was a "surprise," Berman added. The show had even made New York media history several days earlier, with radio's first-ever live broadcast of the TCS New York City Marathon.

Featuring a genuine radio "Odd Couple," "Berman and Riedel" was an eclectic point-counterpoint news/interview/opinion show on a 102-year-old conservative/talk institution. Before joining WOR, Berman was among local TV's best-known sports anchors, while Michael Riedel was a sharp-elbowed theater critic for the New York Post. Berman was the resident liberal, while Riedel — who was president of his elementary school's "Fourth Graders for Ford," according to a 2003 New York Observer profile — was his ideological opposite.

Berman, 77, a longtime Port Washington resident, told Newsday on Monday: "I've been there for 10 years [and] I had a good time with it [but owner] iHeart is making changes all over the country." The online trade RadioInsight reported  last week that the troubled radio giant, owner of nearly 900 stations, had launched "massive layoffs" at dozens of stations.

Berman started his New York TV career in 1979 at WCBS/2, then moved to WNBC/4 in 1982 where over the next 27 years he'd become — along with very few others, notably Warner Wolf — a sports anchor with household-name status. Riedel's renown and considerable influence was largely confined to Broadway. Riedel — who left the Post in 2018 to join Berman — couldn't be reached for comment.

Berman said "Michael and I are good friends but we'd fight like cats and dogs on the air, then go to a commercial, [and say] 'What are you having for dinner tonight?' Oh, I don't feel like Japanese. ...' We'd get pretty heated at times and then that all went away when we socialized. Just a couple weeks ago, we had dinner with Michael and his wife."

Listeners, he says, were not quite as cordial. Berman — who calls himself "the only person at the entire station who was not conservative" — said he was "gratified by the comments and tweets and emails" he'd been getting because "I was expecting 'good riddance' or 'go back to sports.'

"While we were doing the show, you should have seen the emails and texts from what I'd call passionate conservatives," Berman said. "I'd get a kick out of the fact that some people would email me six or seven times a day, every day, and I'd think, 'Don't they ever wonder why they never get a response?'

"What's next [for me?] I'm decompressing," said Berman, who had originated half of the show from his home office since the pandemic. "When I left Channel 4 I had no idea this would come up [and] I'm thrilled I had such a great run. I guess I could retire but if something comes up out of the blue, I'll certainly listen. I don't want to sit around or play golf."