Casey Kasem Broadcasts his Last Countdown
The 7th of JULY, 2009
From Associated Press
By MSN.com/TV
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After 39 years, a final countdown for Casey Kasem
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Casey Kasem has done his final countdown.
The 77-year-old DJ told "American Top 20" listeners across the country Saturday that the program would be his last.
Kasem launched his weekly countdown of the nation's most popular songs, the "American Top 40," on July 4, 1970. Ryan Seacrest took over the show in 2004, and Kasem went on to host two syndicated spinoffs, the "American Top 20" and "American Top 10."
Kasem said he "loved every minute" of his broadcasting career, but that he was leaving the show to "free up time I need to focus on myriad other projects."
"Charts are changing, stations are changing, the networks are changing, radio itself is changing, and I think, you know, the pendulum swings back and forth," his wife Jeannie Kasem told ABC News." You just have to be willing to jump ship and try something new."
