Media

Kiss 108 officially names its new morning show

After decades of "Matty in the Morning," listeners will now wake up with “Billy & Lisa in the Morning."

By Kevin Slane

August 8, 2022

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After 41 years of “Matty in the Morning,” Kiss 108 is moving on to “Billy & Lisa in the Morning.”

Following the retirement of longtime host Matt Siegel in May, the station showed its commitment to longtime Siegel sidekicks Billy Costa and Lisa Donovan, who have been at the station since 1980 and 2002, respectively.

Costa and Donovan, alongside fellow morning show hosts Justin Aguirre and Winnie Akoury, have provided listeners with consistency in the 6-10 a.m. slot since Siegel’s departure. Going forward, the station has decided to keep the quartet together, with Costa and Donovan serving as primary hosts and namesakes of the show.

“We’re excited to usher in a new era in mornings on Kiss 108,” Dylan Sprague, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Boston, said in a press release. “Billy and Lisa have been an enormous part of the station’s success over the years and it’s only fitting that the show bears their name.”

Costa, 69, also hosts the station’s Top 30 Countdown show on Saturday mornings, as well as “Dining Playbook” on NESN and “High School Quiz Show” on WGBH-TV.

“Kiss 108, the listeners, are a big part of my life and Boston is my home,” Costa said in the release. “I’m thankful that the audience has embraced the new show. We have a world class team at Kiss 108 and I look forward to continuing to entertain the audience in the morning.” 

Donovan, 52, has been a mainstay on the show and in Boston’s philanthropic scene, devoting her free time to local charities including Good Sports, Rosie’s Place, and The Women’s Lunch Place.

Donovan had a month-long absence from the morning show earlier this year that began before Siegel’s retirement and ended in mid-May. Upon her return, Donovan attributed her absence to taking care of her parents in South Carolina.

“Billy and I have always had great on-air chemistry and the new show is a natural evolution for us, building on the time we’ve spent working together for the last 20 years,” Donovan said. “It’s fun. It’s unpredictable. It’s Boston.”

The announcement of “Billy and Lisa in the Morning” serves as a bookend to a tumultuous 15 months at the station, mostly due to the antics of the now-retired Siegel.

In May 2021, Siegel walked off the show and threatened to quit after claiming station management told him to tone down his commentary on pop star Demi Lovato, who came out as non-binary. The same week, Siegel angrily upbraided co-host Rebekah “Bex” Maroun on air; she announced her departure less than a month later.

During a pre-recorded appearance announcing his departure on May 3, Siegel, 72, admitted that he had endured a “rough year.”

“I got brain surgery, I had a broken foot. I started getting a little grumpy on the radio, which I hate,” Siegel said. “Because all I want to do is make people laugh. That’s my job just to make people laugh. And I got off-target.”