‘Topic A’ Host Jeremy Grunin Stepping Down, Show Ending After 39 Years
‘Topic A’ host Jeremy Grunin will be stepping down as host of the popular Sunday morning talk show which airs on 92.7 WOBM and Beach Radio on 1160 & 1310 AM.
Parent company Townsquare Media will not be seeking a replacement and will instead choose to end the program that was created by Bob Levy nearly 40 years ago.
Levy hosted the show until his death on March 1st, 2018, ironically on the 50th anniversary of WOBM’s inception.
‘Topic A’ will forever be linked to Levy, who built the show from the ground up. Longtime WOBM personality Kevin Williams reflected on the very beginning:
“I had only been working at WOBM for about a month when in the summer of 1979 Bob told me about this idea he had for a talk show. While in Miami on vacation he listened to talk radio and felt strongly that he could do an even better job than those with years of experience. After getting approval from ownership he actually did a couple of test shows at night before moving to his Sunday morning time slot in September.”
The key to the show’s success was the hyper-local content of the calls. Williams continued:
“The idea was to give listeners a place to get things off their chest and the subject matter was up to them. He was proud of the fact he never screened calls…only asking for a first name and town. ‘Topic A’ made a huge impact for many years and those calls resulted in action by local officials who often found out about problems they didn’t even know existed.”
Unfortunately, in today’s divided political landscape caller dialogue became less and less about community issues throughout the years and more about divisive agendas which altered the tone of the program.
Williams concluded: “I know Bob appreciates the effort Jeremy gave each week to carrying on this legacy but as the saying goes, ‘all good things must come to an end.’”
Grunin began co-hosting the program alongside Levy in January of 2017 and continued hosting after Levy’s passing. Operations Manager Steve Ardolina put that transition into context:
“Bob Levy created a show that was one of a kind. As a result, we have always operated under the assumption that when Bob stopped doing the show, that ‘Topic A’ would end. However, when we started working with Jeremy, it became obvious to us that if anyone could continue ‘Topic A’s’ legacy, it would be Jeremy because of his involvement in the local political and economic scene. We cannot thank him enough for his dedication to the show, and look forward to continuing our partnership with the Jay & Linda Grunin Foundation.”
Grunin will remain actively engaged throughout the community as President of the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation, a proactive grantmaker focused on economic growth at the Central Jersey Shore. Jeremy is a Partner of Grunin Holdings, LLC., a New Jersey Partnership specializing in the development and management of commercial real estate, as well as investing in third party commercial ventures.
Grunin looks back fondly at his time spent in the ‘Topic A’ chair:
“It has been a privilege and an honor to be able to work alongside the legendary Bob Levy and then to carry on the ‘Topic A’ legacy a while longer. I believe now, a bit more than a year after his passing, it is time to move on. I will always cherish the time I spent with Bob and the callers and listeners of ‘Topic A.’”
Grunin’s final show and the final ‘Topic A’ program will take place on Sunday, May 19th.
CLICK HERE to listen to the final episode - to be uploaded Monday morning.
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