Following the abrupt retirement of Matty Siegel in May after 41 years hosting mornings at iHeartMedia CHR “Kiss 108” WXKS-FM Medford/Boston, the station has announced that the morning show will be renamed “Billy & Lisa in the Morning” as former sidekicks Billy Costa and Lisa Donovan move up to co-lead the show.
Costa has been part of the station for 42 years, mostly as part of the morning show as well as his weekly Top 30 Countdown. Donovan joined the station as part of the morning show in 2002. Producers/co-hosts Justin Aguirre and Winnie Akoury will also continue as part of the show.
iHeartMedia Boston’s Kiss 108, “Boston’s #1 Hit Music Station”, announced today that long-time Kiss 108 personalities Billy Costa and Lisa Donovan will officially lead a newly revamped top-rated morning show along with co-hosts Justin Aguirre and Winnie Akoury, effective immediately. The newly revamped show “Billy & Lisa in the Morning” will broadcast weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“Billy & Lisa in the Morning” comes after Billy and Lisa took lead roles in mornings on Kiss 108 after the retirement of the legendary Matty Siegel in April. Billy, Lisa, Justin, and Winnie were all a part of the “Matty in the Morning” show. Since then, the audience has spoken and the ratings prove it. The Kiss 108 morning show has been number one in Boston with women for decades and in the first three months of Billy and Lisa leading the show, the ratings have only grown.
Costa has been on Kiss 108 since 1980 and has been a large part of the success of the station. In addition, Billy also hosts “Dining Playbook” on local cable sports station NESN and is involved with numerous charitable organizations.
Donovan has been with Kiss 108 since 2002, providing a positive energy, style, and female perspective in AM Drive. Donovan focuses much of her time with charitable endeavors with local Boston charities Good Sports and The Women’s Lunch Place as well as an 11-year annual event that Lisa created with Salon Mario Russo to benefit Rosie’s Place,
“We’re excited to usher in a new era in mornings on Kiss 108,” said Dylan Sprague, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Boston. “Billy and Lisa have been an enormous part of the station’s success over the years and it’s only fitting that the show bears their name.”
Costa added, “Kiss 108, the listeners, are a big part of my life and Boston is my home. I’m thankful that the audience has embraced the new show. We have a world class team at Kiss 108 and I look forward to continuing to entertain the audience in the morning.”
“Billy and I have always had great on-air chemistry and the new show is a natural evolution for us, building on the time we’ve spent working together for the last 20 years,” said Donovan. “It’s fun. It’s unpredictable. It’s Boston.”
“Billy and Lisa in the Morning” can be heard every weekday in Boston on Kiss 108, and worldwide on iHeartRadio.com, the iHeartRadio app and Kiss108.com.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com