Sitcom star Gary Sandy even welcomed Ohio and Kentucky commuters to the newly rebranded airwaves on Monday morning.

*WKRP in Cincinnati *is becoming a reality, as three local stations adopt the famous call letters

Sitcom star Gary Sandy even welcomed Ohio and Kentucky commuters to the newly rebranded airwaves on Monday morning.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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May 4, 2026 11:40 p.m. ET

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The cast of 'WKRP in Cincinnati,' which premiered in 1978. Credit:

- Three Ohio-area radio stations rebranded as "WKRP in Cincinnati" on Monday.

- Formerly known as "The Oasis," the radio network has now taken on the name of the beloved CBS sitcom about a group of broadcasters.

- "The presentation will be a tribute to the TV show — not a parody," network owner Jeff Ziesmann told 91.7 WVXU in Cincinnati.

Life really does imitate art — sometimes it just takes half a century.

A three-station radio network based in Ohio has rebranded from "The Oasis" to "WKRP in Cincinnati," after the beloved sitcom of the same name.

The voice of *WKRP in Cincinnati** *star Gary Sandy welcomed morning commuters to the newly rebranded broadcast on Monday, per a report from John Kiesewetter of Cincinnati's NPR affiliate, 91.7 WVXU. But first, listeners to the Georgetown, KY.-area 106.7 FM, Cincinnati-area 97.7 FM, and Dayton and Sidney, Ohio-area 94.5 (a 160-mile span) were treated to an hours-long teaser when the stations continuously aired the *WKRP *theme song from midnight to the first broadcast of the morning.

Loni Anderson and Jan Smithers on 'WKRP in Cincinnati'.

CBS Photo Archive/Getty

Jeff Ziesmann, who owns the station group formerly known as The Oasis, explained to WVXU that his stations "play essentially the same music that they played on *WKRP. *It made more sense for us to do this than any other station in town."

The new WKRP will focus on rock and pop songs from 1960s through the 1980s, featuring artists whose songs electrified *WKRP *viewers during the series run from 1978-1982 when they were played weeks after first being released.

"This is just a rebranding. We don't want to spook those people who might think we threw out their favorite radio station," Ziesmann clarified.

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The move comes just two years shy of the 50th anniversary of the *WKRP in Cincinnati* premiere on CBS. The sitcom starred Sandy as the straight-and-narrow program director Andy Travis, Loni Anderson as the bubbly yet dedicated receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, and Richard Sanders as the meticulous news reporter Les Nessman.

Sanders jokingly provided comment from his own character to the AP on Monday, writing via email, "I have spoken with Les Nessman regarding the resurrection of WKRP in Cincinnati. After the failure of his dream to replace Walter Cronkite on the CBS evening news, he is hopeful that he can resume his duties as the News, Sports, Weather, Traffic, and Farm Report Director at WKRP."

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The news no doubt comes as a relief for *WKRP *fans, who have endured a string of cast deaths in the past few years. Anderson died in 2025 at 79, Emmy nominee Howard Hesseman died in 2022 at 81, and Frank Bonner died in 2021 at 79.

Ziesman noted that the switch was meant to honor the show's legacy, telling WVXU, "The presentation will be a tribute to the TV show — not a parody of a 40-year-old TV show that aired for only four years... For us, WKRP is more of an attitude."

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Source: “AOL Sitcom”