Andy Chanley

Change continues to be the constant, especially in the always morphing media landscape, even at 88 .5-Fm, The S0Cal Sound. Long-time Southern California DJ, and SoCal Sound afternoon drive host Andy Chanley will be leaving the station later this month to take on similar duties at Triple-A format (Adult Album Alternative) legacy commercial station WXRT in Chicago.

Chanley made the announcement Wednesday morning, during a special guest appearance on “Mornings with Nic Harcourt & Jet.”

“However much you think this station has meant to me, it’s meant more,” Chanley said. “Listeners often tell us that The SoCal Sound has seen them through tough times like the pandemic. But, actually, this station and these listeners saw me through the pandemic. They saw me through stage-three cancer. They saw me through the last six years of my life and for that, I am forever grateful.”

Chanley had been a major contributor to the renaissance of the SoCal Sound, including the station earning national recognition and winning national “Non-Comm Music Station of the Year” honors among outlets in the Triple-A format in unprecedented back-to-back years, in 2022 and 2023.

“I am so proud of what this team has accomplished in the last six years,” Chanley said. “I’ll miss them terribly, and the only thing that makes leaving easier is knowing that this station is in the best shape it’s ever been.”  Mike Henry, radio industry expert agreed, “In the past 5 years, The SoCal Sound” has definitely raised the bar in the national Triple-A format”!

88.5 General Manager Patrick Osburn said the station was sorry to see Chanley leave, but that he had every confidence that the DJ would leave his mark at WXRT, just as he had at the SoCal Sound.

“We are all family in the rock n’ roll audio world,” Osburn said, adding that Chanley left behind some large shoes to fill.

 “While we are very disappointed to see Andy go,” Osburn said, “all the national recognition that Andy helped us receive the past few years has created an environment where we have a deep bench of talent, and great prospects from across the country that would love to join our team and seize the opportunity to have a platform in one of the biggest music and entertainment markets in the world. Until we are ready to make our next announcement, we are pleased that our audience will be hearing some familiar voices during the afternoon slot, including “Mookie”, Julie Slater, Jet and other guests.”

Chanley, who has nearly 35 years of experience in the radio business, joined 88.5-FM in 2018 at a time when the signals in Los Angeles and Orange County were synchronized and Entercom’s 100.3 “The Sound” signed off as a result of its merger with CBS.

88.5-FM, The SoCal Sound, is a combined effort of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and Saddleback College, which began simulcasting as 88.5-FM in October 2017, linking the Los Angeles County- and Orange County-based signals. The station’s Triple-A programming is available on the KCSN and KSBR 88.5 HD1 channels, via the 88.5 app and online at www.TheSoCalSound.org.

88.5 FM, Andy Chanley, Radio, The SoCal Sound