Ken Altshuler, the left-leaning co-host of a popular morning talk show on WGAN radio, was fired from the station Friday as part of a restructuring move, he said.
Altshuler, 67, had co-hosted the morning show since 2002 and for the last five years provided a liberal counterpoint to his co-host, Matt Gagnon, the CEO of the Maine Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.
Altshuler said Saturday that for the last several months, he’s noticed signs that the station was moving toward a single-host format. He said he called executives at the station to arrange a more professional exit and a chance to say goodbye, but was informed Friday by telephone that his services were no longer needed. Altshuler said he had expected the change to come after the November election.
“They said they were doing some financial restructuring,” Altshuler said. “It reminded me of ‘Sex and the City’ where the guy broke up with one of the women by Post-it. It’s not the way to break up.”
A request for an interview with a manager at WGAN’s parent company, Portland Radio Group, was not returned Saturday.
The move leaves only conservative political figures on WGAN’s airwaves. In addition to Gagnon, WGAN airs programming from Rush Limbaugh, Howie Carr and Mark Levin.
Altshuler said he plans to continue broadcasting, and said he is working to start a blog and a podcast to continue providing political analysis during what he described as historic times.
“These have been some heady days,” he said. “This has been like nothing we’ve ever seen.”
He’s even holding out hope that he could land at another station or in another format.
“I can’t see myself getting out of it,” Altshuler said. “So if asked, I’ll gladly participate, and if not, I’ll do it under my own volition, so I do not expect to fade into that good night.”
Altshuler, a family law attorney who practices in Portland and lives in Freeport, started at the station in 2002. Since then he has had three co-hosts: Mike McArdle, until 2004; Mike Violette, until 2016; and Gagnon. Altshuler said he had agreed to make a guest appearance on Violette’s new talk show, on Legacy WSKW, to discuss politics and also talk about his plans ahead.
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