Jeff Baugh, L.A. Airborne Traffic Reporter

[Joey1986]

He was an airborne traffic reporter in Los Angeles on KFWB from 1986 to 2008, KNX from 2008 to 2017, then KFI until his passing last night.

Copied and pasted from his longtime colleague Tammy Trujillo in the So Cal Radio People Facebook group:

My heart just broke. Word that Jeff Baugh passed last night. He told me at the Golden Mikes in March that he had just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and I promised to tell no one. He told very few people but he knew I’d survived kidney cancer a few years ago. Jeff and I have known each other for over 40 years and he always embarrassed me by saying I got his career started. I was there at the beginning but it was his skill, personality and devotion to his craft that gave him his amazing career. He so loved what he did and felt it was an honor and a duty to help people get where they needed to go. I admired him so for that. It’s no wonder he kept flying right up until last Friday.

He just was texting me last week during chemo and telling me it was going well so this is a horrible shock. I teased him about flirting with the pretty tech. I truly loved Jeff. He was a true friend unlike any other. I will miss him every day. Fly high, Jeff, fly high.

 

[KMan]

Note that he worked for Total Traffic - in 2017 when Entercom (Audacy) dumped their contracts with Total Traffic (then owned by competitor iHeart) some traffic reporters were offered contracts to come in house (Scott Burt, for instance) while others stayed with Total Traffic but moved to other stations.

Jeff Baugh was one that stayed with Total. On a Friday he signed did his last shift on KNX, and the following Monday he was on KFI.

Just before the switch over KNX's drive time traffic reports were led by a studio traffic anchor (Fondo/Yorke) + three airborne reporters with Jeff Baugh as the lead, usually Scott Burt / Desmond Shaw in the 2nd aircraft, and there was air 3 with another reporter covering the Inland Empire and Orange County.

It was a marvel of radio that they could go around the horn through 4 different voices in a 90-second traffic report, all perfectly timed.

KNX's traffic reports have not been the same for the last 5 years. When they brought the reports in house, they downsized to a single aircraft, and they lost some very good voices with Jeff Baugh the greatest loss.

I was really pleased to hear this wonderful obituary today from KNX, a station he hasn't been heard on in 6 years.

Remembering Jeff Baugh - KNX News On Demand

Longtime airborne traffic reporter Jeff Baugh, who helped Southern California drivers navigate through countless sig alerts, freeway tie-ups and massive brush fires on KFWB, KNX, and KFI, died Tuesday evening.

omny.fm

 

[Joey1986]

A more detailed article on Jeff Baugh’s passing here:

Remembering Jeff Baugh

(Ed. note: Don Barrett offers a marvelous tribute to Jeff Baugh on his website, laradio.com .) For 37 years, Jeff Baugh guided commuters...

ayodaradio.blogspot.com

 

[sdwulfdawg]

KFI's veteran "KFI In The Sky" Traffic Reporter, Jeff Baugh, passed away this week at age 81 from lung cancer.

Although I don't live in Los Angeles, I always loved his traffic reports, especially when he added just a touch of snark. Although he was a part of the Los Angeles traffic reporting scene or some 35 years, he started on KFI in April 2017.

KFI has a whole page devoted to his passing. It includes links to other stations remembering this man.

Veteran Los Angeles Traffic Reporter Jeff Baugh, 81, Passes Away | KFI AM 640 | LA Local News

Veteran Los Angeles traffic reporter Jeff Baugh has died.

kfiam640.iheart.com

 

[KilowattKat]

No matter how messy LA freeways would get during the morning, he always had an upbeat positive traffic report, making the situation lighter, including a joke or two. You could tell what a great, super friendly guy he was, someone you would want to hang out with. I didn't know he was 81!

 

[KMan]

He was 81?!?! I had no idea!