News

Phone-in pal saddened by loss of LeVeille

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff Writer
Published: January 9, 2009

PEABODY — Generosa Aiello calls herself a little old lady who loves WBZ.

These days, she's a heartbroken little old lady.

The popular AM radio station pulled the plug on broadcaster Steve LeVeille, who hosted his eponymous show "The Steve LeVeille Broadcast" from midnight to 5 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

"My heart is broken about that," Aiello said. "He's a good person and good friend of mine."

Two other casualties of WBZ-AM Radio's cuts late last month were Saturday night host Lovell Dyett and sports anchor Tom Cuddy. News director Peter Casey said yesterday afternoon that station managers were not commenting on personnel decisions.

Aiello, a chatty 96-year-old, phoned the station every Friday morning between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. for the past 30 years. Her weekly discussions earned the great-grandmother a following of her own.

"I'm really very upset about the whole thing," she said. "A lot of people have been calling me, and I commiserate with them."

She hasn't really listened much since LeVeille's ouster Dec. 29. The station replaced her beloved host with a syndicated broadcast from St. Louis, Mo.

"He was a very interesting young man, very well-versed," she said of LeVeille. "I liked his program. I liked the style of his program."

Yesterday, she thought she might pick up the phone this morning and call the new host, Jon Grayson, but she wasn't sure.

"I'm really, really upset with the change," she said. "But that's the way life is."

If Aiello can get through to the new host, she won't be offering her signature introduction, she said.

"I know I'm going to say, 'Hello, hello,' but it won't be 'Friday, Friday,'" Aiello said. "That belongs to one person."

Other listeners have launched a "Bring Back Steve" campaign, but Aiello hasn't jumped on the bandwagon just yet.

Ben Goodman, one of the campaign organizers, said the station's decision to opt for a syndicated broadcast meant the loss of a local New England voice.

A freshman at the University of Maine, Goodman described himself as a third-generation WBZ listener.

"It really is the death of local radio," he said. "The thing about BZ is there are a lot of Generosas."

About 400 people have blasted e-mails to the station through the group's Web site, bringbacksteve.com, which launched Monday.

"A lot of people just don't know what happened to Steve," Goodman said. "We want to make sure to let them know what's going on and pull them in."

At her age, change can be tough, but that's life, Aiello said.

"I'll be like the young ones, I'll have to change," she said.