Dan Bongino Bids Farewell to Westwood One and Podcast Before Joining FBI

Friday marked the final episode of The Dan Bongino Show as the Westwood One host departs the network to join the FBI as its new Deputy Director.

Bongino has spent the past decade hosting his popular podcast before being added to the Westwood One lineup in the 12-3 timeslot after the death of Rush Limbaugh.

During his final program, Dan Bongino fought back his emotions, sharing that his appreciation and gratitude to those who have helped him produce his podcast and subsequent radio show was overwhelming.

He concluded the final episode of his nationally syndicated radio show by sharing that he never expected his media endeavors to reach the heights they did.

“I used to fill in on Christmas morning at local radio stations, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be so cool to get on a local radio station one day?’,” said Bongino. “I never realized that one day, not only would we have a local radio station, but we’d have 375 of them. So I want to wish the best of luck to Vince (Coglianese) in the future and everybody else in the spot on talk radio. It’s still a wonderful business full of really hard-working people.

“My podcast audience has been with me for 10 years now. You guys started with me in the beginning. We had no idea what we were doing. We were just talking into a microphone thinking, ‘Gosh, I hope someone’s listening.’ And it became the number one live stream in the United States, all because of you guys. But I know you all understand why I made this decision to walk away. I know you get it. You don’t need me to explain to you the condition our country is in and why people — people better people than me — chose to serve the public.”

As he fought back tears, Bongino shared his final farewell to his audience.

“I’m going to leave you like I left my podcast audience today, with the only words I could think of this morning when I was putting together this show: I’ll see you on the other side,” he concluded. “Thank you.”

Earlier in the day, Dan Bongino shared on his podcast his admiration for the leadership at Westwood One, arguing that they couldn’t have been more helpful in his decision-making process and transition to the FBI.

“I want this on the record: Westwood One didn’t have to do this, folks. They didn’t,” said Bongino. “I’m not going to bore you with the details and be inappropriate, but I’m telling you right now, they couldn’t have been easier to work with. They were like, ‘You’re doing this for the country? We’re in.’ That was it. So anybody who tells you corporate America is a bunch of unkind, unfeeling (expletives)? You’re just wrong. You don’t live through what I live through.

“They couldn’t have handled this any nicer. Mary Berner, who’s the CEO of the parent company, got a lovely email from her as well,” Bongino continued. “We haven’t always agreed on everything, but I really appreciate you guys understanding,” Bongino said, as he fought back tears, “I really appreciate you all understanding why, why I had to do this.”

Bongino will be replaced in the Westwood One lineup by 105.9 WMAL host Vince Coglianese, who will begin hosting the show on Monday. Coglianese joined Bongino as part of his farewell podcast on Friday, while Westwood One CEO Collin Jones was an in-person attendee to Bongino’s final program.

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