Radio legend Red Robinson prepares to hang up his headphones

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A radio legend is getting ready to switch off the microphone one last time.  Red Robinson is preparing his final broadcast after more than 60 years in broadcasting.

“63, believe it or not. I started in 1954. Oh boy!”

After this weekend, that will be it for Vancouver’s original rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey. Robinson celebrated his 80th birthday in March and was inducted into the Order of BC last month.  But it was the news that CISL 650, his longtime radio home, was changing to a sports format that made him decide now was the time to move on.

“[There’s] nothing wrong with that, except I don’t want to do sports. If I had, I probably could have transferred over, but I didn’t,” he jokes.

“I believe in signals. And when they sold CISL, it was sort of a, well, where do we go from here?  The answer is nowhere. Just retire. Enjoy life.”

Still, Robinson isn’t retiring completely. He plans to keep his downtown office and says he has projects he’s working on too.

“You can’t get up and do nothing. You have to keep moving.”

Red reminded his wife what David Letterman recently said about retirement.

“His line was, ‘Before you retire and spend more time with the family, check with the family first!'”

As for the guys and gals taking over his old AM frequency, he has but one request.

“Do me proud!”

Red’s final show is from noon til 4:00 p.m. Sunday August 26th on CISL 650.  On Monday morning, the station will become Sportsnet 650, an all-new format.

Rogers is the parent company of both Sportsnet 650 and NEWS 1130. 

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