Chris Konya Left WBEE Rochester for His Own Show Hosted on the Internet

Fans of country music living in the Rochester, N.Y., area may have noticed that WBEE Rochester has a different morning show lineup than it once had. Chris Konya, who was one of The Bee Morning Coffee Club's regular hosts for years, recently left the station altogether, leading many fans of his to wonder what happened to him.

Chris is attempting to launch his own, more independent venture at the moment, but the good news for his loyal listeners is that there is still a way to listen to him, even if it's not on the radio.

Chris departed WBEE Rochester in mid-May. His departure had been planned since March, when it was first announced, and coincided with the end of his contract with the station. Terry Clifford, the show's other co-host, also left the station recently, announcing his retirement after 30 years with them.

On May 11, Chris posted to Facebook saying that he would miss the many people who tuned into his show regularly.

"Even though the 4 a.m. alarm was tough, it's been fun, WBEE listeners. I was told today that yesterday was my last show, so I'll see you around this summer," he wrote at the time.

More recently, Chris has begun promoting a new show that seems to be his follow-up project to his time with WBEE. The new show won't be exactly the same, but he's likely hoping to attract many of the people who listened to him on the radio.

In a post on Facebook in early June, Chris announced that he would be doing a new online-only show focused more on comedy.

"I’m doing a new show on the internet. If you have the sense of humor that makes the general public groan, watch or listen to The Gill Lane Show everywhere you get your podcasts! You can also support by subscribing to a bonus episode plan," he wrote.

In a follow-up post thanking fans for their concern, Chris wrote that he hoped they would give his new show a chance.

Thank you for all the expression of concern in the last three weeks," he wrote. "While this show is a much different than the last, I hope it can be somewhat of a guilty pleasure of yours. It’s a project that was built from the ground up without corporate oversight. It won’t be for everyone but it’s all ours. Thank you again!"

In the days since that initial announcement, Chris has begun to share clips from the new show, which is co-hosted by Bill Parker and Chris Novellino. The new show, which is posted on YouTube and also has a Patreon, already has several episodes available.

The concept behind the show seems to feature the hosts riffing on a wide variety of topics. It seems a little bit like Joe Rogan's format or something similar, with the hosts simply talking about whatever topics are on their mind during a given episode.