Chris Core Finds Life After WMAL, Joining WTOP

Radio talk show host Chris Core, who was unceremoniously cut loose by WMAL (630 AM) in February after 33 years there, has found a new home on the local airwaves.

Core, 59, will join all-news WTOP (103.5 FM) starting tomorrow, offering one-minute commentaries on local, national and international topics, the station said. His segments will air weekdays during the late-afternoon and evening rush hour.

Core spent decades on talk station WMAL until its new owner, Citadel Broadcasting, ordered cutbacks that swept Core and several other longtime employees out the door. Core noted yesterday that his hiring by WTOP came two months to the day after he was told he was being let go.

"It's very satisfying," he said yesterday of the timing. "You do this for a long time, and all of a sudden something nice happens." Noting that WTOP's daily audience is far larger than WMAL's, he added, "I feel like I've been hired by the New York Yankees."

And Core could be in line to resume his role as a talk show host. Jim Farley, WTOP's top programming executive, said yesterday that no decisions have been made but "it could well happen." WTOP's parent company, Bonneville International, owns local talk station WWWT (1500 AM/107.7 FM); that station, formerly known as Washington Post Radio, carries mostly syndicated programming throughout the day.

At WTOP, Core replaces Mike Buchanan, who was let go in a cost-cutting measure by the station.

-- Paul Farhi