Columbia SC Radio: Heffner, Rich OUT At The Team

Teddy Heffner

WXBT 560 AM The Team has cut two of its longtime hosts and programs.

Teddy Heffner, host of the morning “Talking Sports,” and Carey Rich, host of “The Locker Room,” which followed Heffner’s show, were each terminated, according to The State.

“I was stunned. It’s been almost 25 years,” Heffner said. “The people there have been great to me. I think management felt as bad about it as I did. The radio business is a strange business. I don’t know all the particulars. I don’t know what the plans are. I just know that I need a job and I’m going to be looking.”

Carey Rich

“You know, it’s funny. Just last week, I got a few calls from a few friends who were up at SEC Media Days, asking me if was I OK,” Rich said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, why are you asking?’ They said there were some rumblings that 560 might be going in a different direction.

“This is the ugly side to corporate America, to talk radio. You know you’re never exempt.”

Rich confirmed to The State that he was fired by iHeartMedia regional programming manager L.J. Smith. He had just arrived at work when Smith summoned him for a meeting.

Smith did not return a call from The State seeking comment.

The Team is filling the airtime with more Fox Sports.