Neal Boortz announces retirement after more than four decades in radio, replaced by Herman Cain
Herman Cain (left) and Neal Boortz yuk it up before cameras in WSB radio studios Monday, June 4, 2012. Cain replaces Boortz in January , 2013. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
After more than four decades on the airwaves in Atlanta, Neal Boortz this morning announced that he is ending his syndicated talk show on January 21, 2013, replaced by former presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Cain will cohost the day the president elect is officially inaugurated and then takes over solo on Tuesday, January 22.
“I’m going to miss everything associated with doing a talk show,” Boortz said on air as his producer Belinda Skelton teared up.
He said he is not doing this for health reasons. “I am not doing this because I’m fixing to die,” he said. “I have absolutely no health problems period.” Rather, he wants to travel with his wife Donna, something he said is difficult to do as a full-time talk-show host. He even purchased a tour bus to rove the country.
“We’re going to call this Neal’s happy ending,” he added later with a glint in his eye.
After his first break, post announcement, associate producer Christina Gonzalez popped the champagne. Cain ambled in a few minutes later and grabbed a glass. “Mr. Boortz,” he said. “Your announcement was pure Boortz.”
Neal Boortz takes in some champagne during a break after announcing his pending retirement in January 2013. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Boortz, 67, has been the longest running talk show host on Atlanta radio. He is now heard locally on 95.5FM and AM750 News/Talk WSB from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.
On December 5, 2012, he said he’s going to take the month off. After New Year’s, he will work until January 21.
“Neal is my brother from another mother,” Cain said on air. “Congratulations on the retirement. Congratulations on 42 years in this business.”
Boortz said he will do daily commentaries for Cain and will be a fill in for Cain and Erick Erickson, who is heard on WSB from 6 to 8 p.m. weeknights. Currently, Cain has been the primary fill in for Boortz.
Boortz estimated since he started in radio, he has taken 280,000 phone calls. “And 260,000 got cut off,” he said.
During a break, Skelton said Boortz intimated to her two years ago that he wanted to retired in early 2013. “It always seemed so far away,” she said. “For the past year, my stomach has been in absolute knots. It was hard for him. He loves what he does.”
Program Director Pete Spriggs said he was aware of Boortz’s intentions but they agreed to make this announcement relatively early. “He wanted it off his chest,” Spriggs said. At the same time, Spriggs wanted to have a successor ready to go so he was glad to convince Cain to take over.
“I feel great,” Boortz said on air at 11:18 a.m. when fellow syndicated host Clark Howard stopped by. “Last week, I felt really down. Right now, I’m feeling great. I don’t know how I will feel tomorrow. But I have no doubt I made the right decision.”
In 1970, on what was then called 680/WRNG-AM in Atlanta, Boortz took over for a morning host who had just committed suicide – a story he loves to tell.
He earned a law degree and juggled radio and a private practice from 1977 to 1992.
Boortz joined WSB in 1993 when it was just on the AM side. He’s a workaholic who spends four and a half hours on air every day, longer than most hosts, and Tweets several times a day.
A self-proclaimed Libertarian, Boortz usually supports Republican policies and candidates but isn’t always in line with them on social issues such as abortion, gay marriage and drug enforcement. He espouses smaller government but has been more hawkish about terrorism after 9/11 than many Libertarians.
He portrays himself as an entertainer and castigates people who merely echo what he says and don’t think for themselves. His daily line about himself: “Home of the high priest of the Church of the Painful Truth.”
Herman Cain will take over for Neal Boortz. Here they are from a 2008 event at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre which also featured Sean Hannity. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Boortz has written four books. The most impactful was 2005’s “The Fair Tax Book,” which advocates dropping the federal income tax in favor of a national sales tax. In a press conference early Monday afternoon, Boortz said he is working on another book about stories as a radio host and plans to release it as an e-book.
He demurred when asked about a future in politics after he retires but didn’t say no. He did acknowledge his wife Donna is highly active in the Mitt Romney campaign.
Although Boortz still has a home in Atlanta, he now spends most of his time in Naples, Fla. He grew up in several different places, including Florida, attended Texas A&M and spent several years in various professions before radio such as jewelry and carpet buyer, insurance salesman and a speech writer.
He has been lauded by radio groups across the nation over the years, entering the national Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
Cain, a 66-year-old former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, joined WSB in 2008 as an evening talk show host until early 2011, when he decided to run for president. His bid ended in December. Since January, he has provided daily commentaries on Boortz’s show and has continued to sub in for Boortz.
Cain’s radio footprint will now be national. Boortz is heard on about 240 radio stations. Talkers magazine, which tracks talk radio, estimates Boortz draws more than six million listeners a week, tied with Laura Ingraham for seventh.
“For all practical purposes,” Cain said on the air, “I am done with politics. Essentially, I wanted to continue to express my views and help educate people on what’s going on in this country.”
Cain will do his show each day from 9 a.m. to noon. “That is still a significant commitment a day,” he said during a press conference Monday afternoon. “When I subbed in for his four and a half hours, it was exhausting!”
Dan Kearney, market manager for Cox Radio Atlanta, said WSB will decide later what it will do with the noon to 1 p.m. slot, as well as 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. He also noted that Cain has huge name recognition, even better than Boortz, thanks to his presidential run.
Cain said he had other offers, including TV and radio gigs. But this syndication deal was the most enticing. It will allow him to make TV appearances and do speeches across the country. He declined to say how long his deal will last.
Want more photos from the day? John Spink of the AJC posted a photo gallery.
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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423 comments Add your comment
Reggie
June 4th, 2012
10:37 am
Great News!!!
King for a Day
June 4th, 2012
10:38 am
Yet another reason to start tuning in AllNews 106.7 FM!
B
June 4th, 2012
10:38 am
You Cain haters realize he used to have the 7pm spot on WSB, right?
justlogical
June 4th, 2012
10:38 am
He is just a overpaid greedy loudmouth, glad he is leaving. But why is looser Herman Cain replacing him?
WSB will lose big time money as people quit listening. I gave up on Neal’s obnoxious rude mouth and will never listen to Cain
barneyfife
June 4th, 2012
10:38 am
Yet another reason to start tuning in AllNews 106.7 FM!
bobo
June 4th, 2012
10:40 am
Neal, congratulations on your retirement. You will be missed. Don’t stop tweeting!!!!!!
Wayne stuck in AL
June 4th, 2012
10:41 am
I think the loss of Royal Marshall took a toll on Boortz.
Cricket
June 4th, 2012
10:41 am
We all need to be provoked to think for ourselves and not just regurgitate what we hear. If we don’t stand for something, we may just fall for anything. Neil knows how to provoke thought, introspection and discussion. And, though I often questioned his methods, I appreciate what he brought to the table. Let’s see how Herman does. I don’t think he will be as abrasive as Neil. Whether that is good or bad, remains to be seen! Neil could always post a column in the AJC…it may help boost newsprint sales!
Herman Cain???
June 4th, 2012
10:43 am
Herman must have some “goods” on somebody at WSB. There’s no way in hell he’d have a show on such an influential station, in that daypart, in any other major market. The man has very few, if any, original thoughts and isn’t nearly as intelligent as he seems to think he is. (He may have had a nighttime show for several years, but daytime AM is a whole other thing. I give him a year.)
TurnerBrewer
June 4th, 2012
10:43 am
Boortz will be sadly missed….There is no one else like him in politcal talk radio….
I wish Herman Cain the best, but I do not care for his radio personality…I can’t stand Hannity….Don’t really care for Erickson. I say bring back The Kimmer……Boortz on WSB was the only radio that I listened to at all..
Beaver Boy
June 4th, 2012
10:43 am
This is Bolshoi! Don’t leave the airwaves Neal! What a bad way to start my week!
Matt
June 4th, 2012
10:43 am
Puff piece of a blog post – fitting for a so-called “entertainer” who was full of hot air.
Turd Ferguson
June 4th, 2012
10:44 am
to all you Haters on here. you dont like him because he speaks the truth and you cant handle the TRUTH. Thanks for all the years Neal.
Jimmy
June 4th, 2012
10:44 am
The fair tax is just that, FAIR. You get the same percentage from all: rich, poor, middle class, businesses (yes businesses for the items they purchase that are not materials direct to the product, which will be most of what they spend), hookers, drug dealers, illegals, EVERYONE.
Now there is a “prebate” (money up-front) for the tax component of necessities; food, clothing, etc. so the poor will not be “hurt” at all.
It eliminates:
Federal Income Tax and FICA (payroll tax.) COMPLETELY ! ! !
You take home your entire GROSS paycheck. You will have a LOT more money. A LOT ! !
Foreign businesses would flock to the U.S. Our economy would flourish.
(And, no liberals, it does not benefit the rich any more than it benefits you, except for the economy of scale.)
Really, WSB? Really?
June 4th, 2012
10:44 am
The was the so-called “big announcement” WSB has been touting? Really? Herman Cain may be kind of a nice guy, but come on! The man was shamed out of the presidential race for sexual harassment allegations and lawsuit settlements, can’t conjugate a verb to save his life, and is still pushing 9-9-9? What are you thinking, WSB? With the news talent brought to the table by 106.7, this is the best you have to offer? WSB is a mere shadow of its former self. Sad…..
Billy
June 4th, 2012
10:45 am
He was pro abortion, and per above, pro gay rights, so he’s not a person I look up to. Most people on TV are blowhards anyway, esp on the left.
A libertarian is a Dim who believes in gun rights.
I don’t miss him, never listen to him.
The above person was right; time to go to satellite, but not for more hot air; music is better than anything else.
RIP, NB; take your wife to Hawaii and rest your mouth…
B
June 4th, 2012
10:45 am
Herman Cain ALREADY had a show on WSB.
SuzeC
June 4th, 2012
10:46 am
@Wayne stuck in AL — I think it did too, making him bitter/more abrasive than ever. I know it broke MY heart; RIP Royal T – you are missed.
Jimmy
June 4th, 2012
10:46 am
I second T Ferguson
KG
June 4th, 2012
10:47 am
Glad to see that bigot go! No one has fueled the ignorant and misinformed like this clown.
Dee W
June 4th, 2012
10:47 am
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t consciously wish someone would replace Boortz..I don’t know, I guess I am just weary of hearing about The Queen, Naples and Yak Squeeze ad nauseam…But to replace him with HERMAN CAIN!!! Are you SERIOUS?? Yes, I once found Mr. Cain refreshing; however, after that fiasco of a campaign I now find him completely irrelevant and a national joke. I am astounded at this decision by WSB.
Jeff
June 4th, 2012
10:48 am
Unless someone has passed a Constitutional Amendment that I missed, the next Inauguration Day is Jan *20*, 2013, not Jan 21….
Now, when it is CELEBRATED may be different, but the Inauguration itself is Constitutionally mandated to be Jan 20 at noon…
Correction
June 4th, 2012
10:49 am
@Don’t let the door Why are you so angry. You didn’t have to listen. By the way, he has only been married once, to his current beautiful “Queen” as he describes her. You obviously didn’t listen very much since he talks about her all the time.
National Radio Legend Neal Boortz Passes the Torch – Sacramento Bee « Wiadomości
June 4th, 2012
10:50 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Rich
June 4th, 2012
10:50 am
If Cain is to be successful, he needs to focus on many topics, not just politics.
SuzeC
June 4th, 2012
10:51 am
@Correction – Actually, as he’s often said, he was married once before, many years ago, to a “Cajun”, as he’s described her. Sounds like YOU’RE the one not really paying attention.
Abrazos
June 4th, 2012
10:52 am
I guess after 40 years all that bile backed up into his gullet and he just couldn’t do it any more.
Jimmy
June 4th, 2012
10:52 am
KG, sounds like you are not intelligent enough to “get it.” See ya at the welfare office, genius.
Ackshun
June 4th, 2012
10:52 am
I think the “talkmaster” just kind of lost a bit after Royal died. I thought he might retire.
Rickster
June 4th, 2012
10:53 am
ODK1 – The election in in November of 2012. Boortz leaves the air in January, 2013.You’ll have plenty of time to hear Boortz’ reaction to the election results.
harry taylor
June 4th, 2012
10:53 am
So we are replacing BOZO with 999.
Emmanuel Hall
June 4th, 2012
10:53 am
Well, Boortz made himself a fortune misleading the slow minded and being an absolute hypocrite, but WSB came out a financial winner as well, and they intend to continue there tradition of putting money ahead of fairness and decency with another demagogue, Herman Cain. I could care less, I didn’t listen to Boortz and I will not waste my time tuned into Cain.
Jimmy
June 4th, 2012
10:55 am
Then why, Emmanuel, are you even commenting? Geez, liberals !
CLEMSONDUDE
June 4th, 2012
10:55 am
Its not going to be the same anymore on WSB radio….I may not always agreed with him but I learn a lot from him…I love his stand on social issues. Boy that got on the Christian Nazis nerves! LOL! Great talk show host with a Very funny sense of humor! We going to miss you Neal! Have a wonderful life in South Florida.
DougH2
June 4th, 2012
10:55 am
There are liars, damned liars, statistics, and then there’s Neil Boortz. Herman Cain is cut from the same cloth. Neil, like Limpballs, became less entertaining when he stopped even pretending to be even-handed in his praise and criticism of both sides. I always acknowledged that he is a Conservative, but when he started lying to make the right look good and lying to make the left look bad, I stopped listening.
Emmanuel Hall
June 4th, 2012
10:56 am
Look again, I never said that before, as this was my 1st comment on the issue, but I guess it was too much truth for you.
Westside Stew
June 4th, 2012
10:56 am
Neal jumped the shark when he starting pimpin’ for the tea-peeps.
joe in tucker
June 4th, 2012
10:56 am
Laughing at all those who demagog Neil, but to hate him so much, you must have listened, so who really won?
Enjoy retirement Mr. Boortz!!
plez...
June 4th, 2012
10:57 am
Even though, I rarely agreed with him (I’m Black and Left of Center), I did find his show to be entertaining at times, and every once in awhile he would say something that made good sense. Unfortunately, his shtick gets old and while it is true that Neal Boortz is claims to be a Libertarian, when push came to shove, he’d always cave in to the Far Right and the Tea Party line (except in matters of religion and abortion rights).
And I just loved it when Mayor Bill Campbell showed up in the studio and blasted Neal out of the water on his own show… that was “can’t miss” radio!!! He will be missed on Atlanta’s airwaves… and Herman Cain is NOT a suitable replacement because he is a HACK and an EMPTY SUIT! Cain learns a few talking points like a trained seal (I just can’t bring myself to call him a monkey), but lacks substance.
Cainiac
June 4th, 2012
10:57 am
Without Neal, I will have one LESS reason to choose WSB over XM.
Silly Foolz
June 4th, 2012
10:57 am
Cain will be laughed off the air within 9 (yes, nine, yes nine) days.
Rickster
June 4th, 2012
10:58 am
I think WSB Radio is making a mistake putting Cain in there. I’d much rather hear Mark Arum.
zeke
June 4th, 2012
10:58 am
Did you not read the blog, or, can you read at all? It plainly says dropping the Federal Income Tax in favor of a National Sales Tax!
Random thoughts you're all thinking....
June 4th, 2012
10:58 am
There goes the neighborhood…
not good
June 4th, 2012
10:59 am
It is NOT GOOD that they are replacing Boortz with Herman Cain – their ratings will definitely go DOWN!!!
Longtime Listener
June 4th, 2012
10:59 am
I enjoy listening to Boortz almost every day. Sure there are some topics I hate hearing him discuss or that have gotten boring (e.g.. government schools topic comes up to often) . However, he spoke many truths about people and our government. His voice is like sunshine bringing light to focus on the faults and mistakes of the “politically correct”, corrupt government practices, and behaviors of the slothful. I wish him well but am sad that my morning routine will be different.
Good luck to Mr. Cain. He has many valuable ideas to offer. I encourage him to speak more forcefully and truthfully without fear of offending. That is the basis for Mr. Boortz’s success and I would like to see it continue with Mr. Cain.
Congrats Mr. Boortz!
June 4th, 2012
11:00 am
Why can’t we just wish the man well and appreciate the fact that he has an opinion whether you agree with him or not? What does it say about our society when we critcize someone for working hard and realizing the American dream. Read Mr. Boortz story of how determined he was to fulfill his dream of becoming a talk host. To me- it’s motivating! A job well done.
Morrigan
June 4th, 2012
11:00 am
I remember listening to Boortz when I lived in Atlanta and I liked the way he let Royal (RIP) and Belinda talk and even host sometimes when he was out. I like conservative talk radio but Neal seemed to come from his gut, not from a need to sell advertising.
I lost touch in the mid 2000’s when I left ATL but it seemed like he did lose “something” when Royal died, and I gather Coco the Proud Beast had died at some point too. I know that broke his heart and that was one of the incongruous things I liked about him, how he could be so devoted to an animal. Neal, you’ve worked hard. Now go play hard, but do check in with us from time to time, won’t you?
Conservative talk radio host Boortz plans to retire in January after 40 years … – Washington Post | Conservatives for America
June 4th, 2012
11:00 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Get It Right
June 4th, 2012
11:00 am
Didn’t agree with all he said, but he made some good points. I especially like when he challenges people to define “racism”. That would pretty much shut them up. Blessings to you and Donna, Neal. Good Luck finding the Easter Eggs later on.