An ugly end to 24 years on the air. Lisa May was more than just a traffic reporter on the Kevin and Bean morning show, she brought a grounding influence on the core duo and a complimentary sense of humor. This all came to an end this year via shady back room business dealings and an insulting lack of openness from KROQ FM. How did it come to this?
Lisa May From KROQ
Lisa May was born on June 23rd 1960 in Los Angeles, California. She attended California State University, Fullerton to study “Business Communication”. Having, in her words, no idea what she wanted to do with her life this seemed like the most practical option. She majored in sales and marketing, though would later say she despised sales.
She began her broadcasting career in 1987 as a traffic reporter for Metro Network, a sub contracting station. She worked on a variety of stations in this capacity, beginning with KLAC, under various names, Judy Starbuck on Urban Station, Erin Wyatt for KMPC and Lisa Lert on Power 106. Outside of traffic she did sports for a station in Ventura, where she referred to the NCAA as the NAACP and some time at a country station, referring to the deceased Dottie West as Dolly Parton when reporting on her funeral. In 1991 she began doing traffic for “The Kevin and Bean” morning show.
What Happened to Lisa May
Beginning with two traffic reports per hour on KROQ she eventually grew into a permanent fixture for the stations. At the time she was still doing traffic for four other stations though these gradually fell away due to “The Kevin and Bean show” going to her later and later and keeping her on for longer and longer. Soon she was on all four breaks per hour, even the non-traffic ones. It wasn’t long before she was reporting on site at KROQ.
Lisa May described her early days at the station as hell. The Locker room-esque atmosphere on the morning show left her feeling cold. Excessive crude jokes and misogynistic comments plagued her and in those first few weeks she had a hard time dealing with it, to point of asking Metro Station if she could come back to their studio. But beneath the veneer of toilet humor she discovered the guys had hearts of gold. She developed a thicker skin and gave as good as she got, soon saying that things she wanted to leave for were the things she loved the most.
In February 2015 Lisa May was unceremoniously fired from “The Kevin and Bean Show”. Returning from vacation she received an email from a colleague who fills in for her when she’s unavailable asking why he was sitting in for her the following day, what with her being back at that point. She called her producer for a reason who claimed he was just told to do that. Her boss, Terry Edwards, at Total Traffic informed her that she was to work the next day, but to come into the office. She was then informed by a HR person that she was being let go, not for cause, claiming that they no longer need a traffic report.
What Lisa May Is Doing Now
The fan response to the move was overwhelmingly negative. Thousands took to their social media platform of choice to voice their complaints. Facebook groups calling for the boycott of the show until Lisa May is reinstated popped up within two days of the announcement. In a move that could be called unwise the twitter handlers of “The Kevin and Bean Show” began blocking people for calling them on their behavior.
One would think that after 24 years on the air more respect would be shown, more of a fanfare. A goodbye episode extravaganza at the very least but no. One day she was there, the next she was gone, replaced by a younger model.
Lisa May is currently signed on with KLOS FM on “The Heidi and Frank” morning show. Bringing her trademark charm and showmanship she performance has been well received by established fans of the show.
Outside of Radio Lisa May enjoys acting. She has performed in a few plays in 2001 and in 2007 staged a performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues”. Each year she does a stage show writing and performing a fifteen minute mini play. In her spare time she looks after her dogs and answers emails.
