Layoffs at WBAL NewsRadio in Baltimore

WBAL NewsRadio in Baltimore cancelled its local midday and afternoon shows hosted by TJ Smith and Angelette Aviles. The shows have been replaced by syndicated conservative hosts Glenn Beck and Clay Travis & Buck Sexton middays, and “The Sports Lounge” afternoons, reports Inside Radio.

Smith, who joined the Hearst news/talk station in 2023, posted on Facebook, “Like several others, I’m no longer at WBAL Radio. It was an honor and a privilege to grace the airwaves these last four years.” Smith, a former spokesperson for Baltimore’s Police Department and Press Secretary for Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski, ran for mayor of Baltimore in 2020.

According to Inside Radio, “Aviles hosted afternoons for the past year on WBAL after being heard on weekends. Before joining the station, she was a commentator for Fox News Channel and Univision and a columnist for the Baltimore Sun.

“WBAL’s new weekday lineup stays the same for mornings, with “News Now with Taylor Bennett” 5- 530am and “C4 (Clarence Mitchell IV) and Bryan Nehman” 5:30-10am. Premiere Networks’ “The Glenn Beck Program” airs 10am-noon, followed by “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” noon-3pm, with “The Sports Lounge,” with a host yet to be announced, 3-5pm.

“While several of WBAL staffers are no longer shown on the station’s website — including anchor/reporters Chris Cichon and Phil Yacuboski, reporters Ashlyn Wilson and Scott Wykoff, traffic reporters Mary Anne Perry and Tony Thornton, weekend hosts Bruce Elliott and Jerry Rogers, and sports host Nick Testoni, their departure is yet to be confirmed by management.”