Popular afternoon radio talk show host Randy Nelson abruptly resigned from 92.7, WGMD, last week, amid speculation that station executives told him to change his show’s format or leave. Dan Gaffney, the general manager and program director for the station, who also hosts a morning show, denied those allegations. Gaffney said the station is using various temporary replacements for Nelson while searching for a full-time replacement.
“He resigned and that’s really all I can tell you. Beyond that, it is a personnel issue,” Gaffney said. “Rumors we fired him are not true. We heard people say he was too conservative, too liberal. None of that is true. All I can say is he resigned. He made the choice to resign. It’s Randy’s decision to leave. I’ll leave the speculating and rumoring to the black helicopter crowd.”
Nelson, an Ocean View resident, refused to comment on his departure. Rumors that he will challenge Rep. Gerald Hocker (R-38th) for his state house seat next year persist.
Since taking over the show just more than a year ago, Nelson brought a politically-balanced outlook to WGMD’s 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. slot, resulting in four hours of daily discussions that many felt were unique on a station widely regarded as ultra-conservative.
Until abruptly leaving the station last week, many believed that Nelson had helped remold the image of WGMD for the better, into a station appealing to listeners of many interests and all political affiliations.
Guests on the show in the last two months have included Dave Beattie, a Democratic Party pollster who has been featured on Fox News and National Public Radio; Delaware’s Republican U.S. Congressman, Mike Castle; Hocker; and Delaware U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat.
Topics have included wind power, dog fighting, the Indian River Inlet Bridge project and immigration reform.
Rumors that Nelson’s departure was forced and politically motivated were stirred by a posting on First State Politics, a blog run by Sussex County Republican Chairman Dave Burris, and denied by the station.
“Randy offered a different voice that you don’t hear on WGMD. It was refreshing for me,” said Steve Crane, owner of Browseaboutbooks in Rehoboth and a prominent advertiser on WGMD. State Sen. George Bunting (D-20th), a regular guest on the show who normally participated in discussions alongside a Republican colleague, agreed.
“It was disappointing,” Bunting said of Nelson’s resignation. “I thought Randy bought a lot to our area. He was a class act and it’s a shame because I talk to good friends, my Republican friends, and they agree that everybody got a fair shot.”
Bill Baker, the owner of Bill’s Sports Shop in Lewes who co-hosted the “Great American Sports Show” with Nelson on Fridays and delivers a daily fishing report on WGMD, said he was similarly disappointed by the host’s departure.
Nelson resigned last Wednesday and was off the air by Thursday.
“It’s a really, really sorry day that it came to this. Randy Nelson is probably the most intelligent, articulate, best-spoken talk radio show host that ever hit the airwaves,” said Baker, more affably known as “Captain Bill.” “In addition to that, his show was not only informative but was educational. He wasn’t one of those that dribbles and drabbles along on the air.”
Nelson arrived at WGMD after a career mostly in television news and more recently a two-year gig as a program and music director and host at Ocean 98.1 in Ocean City, Md. He also did a short stint as a reporter for the Delaware Wave newspaper.
In his 17 years as a sports and news producer at WUSA-TV 9 in Washington, D.C., Nelson was nominated for seven Emmy awards. He won Emmys for an in-depth look at Nike and a series of concerts recorded at Walt Disney World. Nelson is also the recipient of an Associated Press journalistic award for excellence for a three-part series entitled “Living with Breast Cancer.”