Over a month and a half after we predicted that Ric Bucher would leave 95.7 The Game for Bleacher Report radio, Bucher said goodbye to Chris Townsend and the “Bucher and Towny” audience at the end of this morning’s show. (H/T to regular BASG commenter Otis Byrd III, who somehow possesses the uncanny ability to listen to every minute of content on all the Bay Area sports talk stations.)
I transcribed the conversation below:
Townsend: This show is the last show for Bucher and Towny.
Bucher: Yes, it is.
Townsend: Because one of us is moving on.
Bucher: Yes, it is. Shall we guess?
Townsend: Hmmm … Buch, Towny, Buch, Towny. I would probably say it is you.
Bucher: Yeah.
Townsend: So let everybody know … it’s going to be sad to see you go. It’s been a great time from afternoon drive to mornings.
Bucher: Yep.
Townsend: I’m happy for you and your new opportunity.
Bucher: Thank you.
Townsend: So the floor is yours to speak to the 95.7 The Game audience.
Bucher: First of all, I’ll put out on Twitter and social media what I’m going onto next. But first of all, I want to thank everybody who tuned in. Because Towny, the morning show in the history of this station has never been more popular or had a bigger audience than it does right now. And the station itself has grown. And I’d like to think that the fact that it’s had the biggest audience that it’s ever had in any drivetime, I’d like to think that you and I had a little something to do with that.
Townsend: (voice raised a couple of octaves) A little bit.
Bucher: And I’ve come to really, and we’ve talked about it, getting up early in the morning, nobody likes to do it. But if there was a reason for me to do it, I always came in here and we always had an enjoyable time once the mics were all hot and we were doing our thing. And that made it fun for me. So I want to thank you, partner, for a really good time. And I learned a lot. You’ve been in the radio business a long time and I have not, and it was a great experience for me. I’ve got to thank Dwight Walker, who brought me here. Steve Dinardo, who’s succeeded him. Jason Barrett, Jeremiah Crowe … the whole lineup. The station is in a really good place, and I wouldn’t be considering another opportunity if that wasn’t the case. But it’s made a foothold, and I know that this show is in good hands with you. I’ve been an independent …
Townsend: Lone wolf.
Bucher: A lone wolf, and this was the first time I’ve been a part of a crew where we showed up every day. We put it together collectively. I’ve kind of done my own thing and it was a tremendous experience for me. Truly, I’ll miss you guys and I’ll miss our listeners.
Then Townsend tried to get Bucher to promise that he’d respond to Townsend’s texts requests for inside NBA info (because we all know how Bucher’s sources are 100% accurate), and Bucher said he would … as long as his contract allows it.
Got to love how Bucher said he’d tweet out his new gig (he’s heading to B/R radio) instead of announcing it today on the air, as well as his claims that the morning show’s ratings have never been higher. (That’s a slight jab at The Rise Guys, and rather hard to believe since Bucher Towny and Huff didn’t seem to be all that popular with anyone. Maybe the ratings soared after Aubrey Huff quit.)
Two other interesting things from Bucher’s goodbye:
1. His claim that he wouldn’t have moved on unless KGMZ was “in a really good place.” Uh, OK.
2. If Bucher and Towny had “the biggest audience that it’s ever had in any drivetime,” does that mean its ratings were/are higher than Damon Bruce’s?
One would have to imagine Chad Doing will finally become part of the 95.7 team. There were no announcements about the future of the morning show, so whether Doing will replace Bucher or Barrett will reshuffle the lineup (again) remains to be heard.
