Alan Pergament: Radio host JP says he isn't going to WECK after all

A week after announcing he was moving from 97 Rock (WGRF-FM) to WECK (1230 AM, 100.1, 100.5, 102.9 FM), he confirmed he no longer will be working at the station owned by Buddy Shula.

In addition, JP said he won’t be returning to 97 Rock, where he left as midday host after the Cumulus station wouldn’t allow him to work remotely from home.

“It just didn’t work out,” said JP in a telephone interview. “I wish Buddy and his crew all the very best.”

He used a metaphor to explain the situation.

“We were engaged but we never got married and the engagement is over,” said JP.

“Right now, I’m not working,” he added. “I’m unemployed.”

He said he never signed a contract and never walked into the WECK building.

The quick end of the business relationship was more surprising since JP and Shula both seemed excited when the move was announced and they go way back together in the radio business. Shula received his first radio job from JP as an intern at WPHD almost 40 years ago.

JP took family medical leave from 97 Rock several weeks ago to take care of his parents, who are in their 90s. He had been at 97 Rock since 1995 and the midday host since 1998.

His family leave at 97 Rock was to end in mid-May but he left earlier because he was planning to have a long shift from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on WECK remotely from his home.

He had done that at 97 Rock for more than two years during the Covid-19 pandemic but was recently told he would not be able to do that anymore. 

Anita West, who has been filling in as the midday host on 97 Rock from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., presumably is a prime candidate to replace JP full time at 97 Rock.