Andy Culpepper leaving WAVE

By Vince Staten
29 Apr 1988
The Courier-Journal; Louisville, KY; Page 01B

The local broadcasting scene will be minus a well-known name come fall.

WAVE talk show host Andy Culpepper announced yesterday that he would be leaving his station later this year to pursue another career.

Culpepper, host of WAVE's early morning talk show "Today in WAVE Country," said he and station management couldn't agree on a new contract so he decided it was time to change careers. "I feel like I've reached the point that if I were to continue with the show I'd be covering the same ground. I feel I've got to do something different."

Culpepper, a native of Birmingham, Ala., came to WAVE in 1985 from a station in Reno, Nev.

Culpepper, whose contract expired April 8, said the early hours were another factor in his decision to leave WAVE. "They wanted me to sign for three years and I just don't have the stamina for three more years. I have to make decisions on career growth or financial growth and if I'm not getting either one I've got to look for something else."

Hempel praised Culpepper 's work. "We really wanted to re-up him. He's done a tremendous job for us. If they'd bring back indentured servitude we'd be able to keep Andy." Culpepper says he is undecided about his next career move. "I don't know what I'm going to do. My brother and sister live in Los Angeles. They've both been after me to move out there."

Culpepper has been the host of "The Morning Show" since replacing Ryan Halloran three years ago. "I've lived here longer than any other place since I got out of high school and I really like it here."

There is no decision on Culpepper 's last day. "I didn't resign. I just let them know I wanted to work without a contract." Culpepper said he hopes to work through the summer.

A scan of subsequent news articles shows that in August 1990, Andy was a reporter and producer for The Entertainment Report, a Hollywood News Service. In January 1996, he was a reporter for NBC news, and in Feb 2001, he was seen as an on-camera reporter for Turner Entertainment. In Jan 2003, he notified us he is now Senior Correspondent with CNN Entertainment News, working in CNN's Los Angeles Bureau.

Culpepper Ancestry. Andy is Tandy Key Culpepper, III , the brother of movie industry executive Clint Culpepper, and Katherine Culpepper, the Executive Director of the Starlight Children's Foundation International, a charity which serves the needs of chronically and terminally ill children. Their father is Joseph Tandy Culpepper.