Clear Channel Shows Phil Cowan The Door
From the time I was a toddler to the time I left California, our family car radio was always set to KGBY 92.5FM in Sacramento, a little (then) hit soft rock station. I grew up listening to the infamous Paul and Phil Morning Show with Paul Robins and Phil Cowan. When I was four years old, I had the opportunity to meet the “nicest guys in radio” at the Vacaville Nut Tree amusement park. The moment the camera snapped photos of me posing with these well-known local radio personalities, an interest in broadcasting had been sparked. 
Sixteen years later, my passion in broadcasting has gone from a spark to a wildfire.
With that said, it saddened me to hear in 2005 that Paul and Phil split up, but I was happy to know that Paul Robins was still on KGBY while Phil Cowan sought his own show at talk station KSTE 650. Now that sense of sadness has been renewed with Phil’s announcement at the end of his show on Friday that station management has decided to show him the door and replace his 10AM to 12PM timeslot with a “consumer affairs program.” KGBY and KSTE are both owned by Clear Channel Communications.
“Unlike Dan Rather, I’m not going to try to sue my employer,” he said at the end of his program. “The sad thing is, after today, there’s only going to be one local opinion show in Sacramento…local talk radio is going to go the way of the dodo bird.” Phil said he enjoyed what he did at KSTE, it was what he wanted to do, and that he will be taking a long vacation until the first of the year. Adding to his future plans, Phil joked that he will “likely start a band.”
Phil asked listeners not to write to station management regarding his departure from the station, but invited them to send him personal e-mails at his station address. Unfortunately, KSTE removed Phil’s page Friday evening, but his e-mail address still remains active, so if you’d like to send him a goodbye note, you can do so by e-mailing philcowan(at)kste.com.
In my past life, I was a tree or something. If not a tree, something that grew old and didn't move very much. I'm pretty convinced of this.
November 18th, 2007 at 3:05 am
Actually, showing the great amount of class characteristic of Clear Channel, they cut off Phil’s e-mail almost right away (I tried to send a message mid afternoon on Saturday and it was returned as “bad address”). So his e-mail address is not active.
I’m sure this is more of a “left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing” thing on Clear Channels’ part but it stilil makes them look bad.
November 18th, 2007 at 7:32 am
@Tom: I didn’t get a kickback message when I sent Phil an email Saturday morning…I wonder if it’s just my e-mail client though. I know for sure Monday morning the e-mail will likely be defunct. As for Clear Channel, I’ve heard many crazy things about that company—with that said, I have no doubt that they offered Phil his old job at KGBY with Paul and that Phil turned it down. They would be stupid not to have done it.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I just tried again and it seems to have gone through so maybe someone killed it by accident and then realized the mistake and put it back up.
On your other point, I’d be interested to know if that were true (them offering the KGBY show back) You’d think it would be a no brainer but I can’t imagine that many people tuning out once Phil left (I mean, Paul was still there and it was still a good morning show albeit less of a good morning show).
Because the truth is I can almost guarantee Lori makes A LOT less than Phil did so if the show only dipped a little bit it might make sense of them to keep Lori over Phil even if he did want to come back.
Anyway, sad either way I guess. While I had plenty of disagreements with Phil the truth is he was probably the only host who went out of his way to cover local issues and that will be missed.
November 18th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Until I randomly stumbled upon a SacBee article about their split up a few years ago, I had no idea that Paul and Phil were radio hosts. Up to that point I only knew them as “The Answer Guys” on the Discovery Channel show “The Next Step” in the ’90s. I loved them in that personae.
I still have no clue about any of their stuff on radio.
Alex
November 18th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
@Tom: No idea, but I never got an answer back from him. Phil will be sorely missed. I hope that he makes some kind of return to radio soon.
@Alex: Paul and Phil also hosted “The Big Spin” for a while in the mid- to late-1990s.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I truly hope he makes a comeback to radio soon!!! I loved Paul & Phil… I listened to them often growing up…
November 26th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
@Monica: I had a dream last night that I was hearing a radio promo by them, which subconsciously would’ve meant that they had gotten back together. I hope it happens!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:42 am
This is too bad. I liked some of his quirky show topics. I have tried that new guy that is going on in Phil’s spot but really not digging it so far. I don’t want to listen to Rush but I may not have a choice now. At least they still air Mike Savage.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:27 am
@Chad: What do you mean you don’t have a choice? Pick up an XM or Sirius receiver and tune in to the talk on those stations. The receivers are dirt cheap and the subscription isn’t too costly. XM has Oprah, Opie & Anthony, Dr. Laura and others; Sirius has Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and some gay channel.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I just saw KSTE’s website and learned Phil’s gone. What a bummer! He had a unique and valuable perspective. I wasn’t able to email him, even though his profile and email link were still up. If he reads this, Best Wishes!
December 27th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
It is with sadness that I will not be listening to KSTE any longer. Phil was the primary reason I did listen. Clearchannel has screwed up. Bad business decisions seem to be the norm in radio. This is a huge blunder.
PS. No offense to the new replacement show, but I can’t fall asleep when I’m driving around town all day.
December 27th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
@Melissa: Phil was a great guy, he’ll hopefully come back to radio soon, though I’m not sure where.
@Charlie How long had you been listening to KSTE before you realized that Phil was gone? He’s been out for over a month now…
January 29th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Are you nuts in replacing Phil Cowan with that boring guy from 10:00-12:00 now I have to listen to Rush, what are you people thinking. If it wasn’t for Armstrong and Getty and Dr. Laura I wouldn’t listen at all. Bring Phil Back he was an asset to the Sacramento area. Clear Channel Wake UP