When I listened online the other day, John Laughlin mentioned that he would be "in for John DePetro."
Laughlin won't be filling "in", since DePetro is gone completely from PRO. All mention of DePetro has been scrubbed from their web site, since DePetro's announcement on Christmas eve via his web site (depetro.com) that he was leaving his show, effective immediately. This did not come as a complete surprise to some, since DePetro announced via his web site two weeks earlier that an undisclosed "health issue" was going to keep him "off the air", and the fill-ins (including DePetro's sister) were for the most part completely mum on the issue.
There's been nothing though the rumor mill if there is truly a "health situation" (which would have to be pretty serious for him to outright give up his slot vs. taking a leave of absence like Buddy did) or if his postings were merely posturing/spin. There hasn't been anything in the rumor mill about him being at odds with management (above and beyond the 'usual' stuff).
I do not know when his contract is/was up, so there's always the possibility it was set to expire and PRO management were not going to renew it, so he burned through his personal time with the "health situation". Perhaps they felt they could replace him with a low-paid newbie on the scene and save themselves some quid. Someone on the inside would need to comment on that.
Not sure where PRO is going to go at this point. IMO their lineup has been suffering significantly after the shuffling with Cianci's unexpected death about a year ago. While Matt Allen was good in the 6-9p slot, I find him barely tolerable in the 12-3p slot -- I find him a bit young and, well, "unseasoned" to have serious political discussion with. While I used to listen periodically to Cianci and then Granahan in the 3-6p slot, I've moved up the dial a notch and catch Carr's show out of Boston now, which, while it tends to be an infomercial for whatever his latest book is, is by far more tolerable than Yorke's incessant blathering about his golf handicap. Tara from 6-9p now isn't bad, I'll listen to her if I have nothing else to do, but I'm not sure I could take her from 9a-12p, when I expect a different caliber of discussion.
DePetro's show from 9a-12p was about the only entertaining show on there. For the time being I find myself removing 630 from my list of presets.
