Jay Severin

WTKK-FM/Boston today announced that  suspended host Jay Severin will return to the airwaves on Tuesday at 3pm.  Severin was yanked April 30th after the station received complaints about Severin’s harsh remarks connecting  illegal Mexican immigrants and the swine flu.

Now it’s white-knuckle time for WTKK and owner Greater Media.  The Boston Hispanic community has been oddly quiet on this issue.  Will that change with Severin’s return?  Will advertisers who expressed concern over Severin’s remarks return to the air?   Will Severin’s ratings continue the downward drift that began with the start of PPM in Boston?  If press reports about Severin’s salary are correct, these are all million dollar questions.

Here’s the statement issued  by WTKK management:

On Tuesday June 2nd, at 3 p.m., Jay Severin will return to the weekday afternoon timeslot on Boston’s Talk Evolution 96.9 FM-WTKK.   Jay regrets the remarks for which he was suspended and understands that his comments were indeed wrong and hurtful to the Mexican and Mexican-American communities.  Accordingly, we feel it is time to end Jay’s suspension and welcome him back to WTKK. All of our hosts have strong opinions and talk radio is a format for open and spirited debate about the many issues we face in Boston, New England, our nation and our world. There will no doubt be times when you disagree with Jay – and our other hosts too – but our ultimate goal is to maintain a level of conversation that is entertaining, compelling, and thought-provoking, yet civil and respectful. While we will no t always succeed in walking this line, we will continually strive to do so.
Warm regards,

We hope you’ll experience what Jay has to say this Tuesday and every weekday from 3 to 7 p.m.

Many thanks for listening to Boston’s Talk Evolution 96.9 FM-WTKK.

WTKK Management

The Sunday Boston Globe marked Severin’s looming milepost with what is known in the newspaper business as a thumb-sucker — a piece that sort of ruminates without delivering any new information or a fresh point of view.  For that, check out Talk Frontier’s most recent Severin update.