WXPN’s ‘Kids Corner’ prepares to party before its final sign-off

Kids Corner, the Peabody Award–winning WXPN series that has entertained and educated generations of children in Philadelphia, is gearing up for a big celebration. 

It’s all a build-up to June 23, when a finale broadcast will wrap the show’s nearly four decades on the air.  

Host Kathy O’Connell created Kids Corner for WXPN in 1988 and helmed hourlong weeknightly broadcasts for its entire run. She’s ready to retire. 

Before that happens, WXPN will celebrate O’Connell and the show’s legacy with an outpouring of listener tributes, interviews with fan-favorite guests and a countdown of Kids Corner’s biggest hit songs — along with special pledge-drive premiums and sponsor packages. 

The decision to end the show, O’Connell says, was hers alone. “I’m not even passive aggressively being eased out. … I’m paranoid enough that, if they were giving me signals that was coming, I would have made it out by now,” she adds. “It really is the best possible thing.” 

When Kids Corner debuted on Philadelphia’s airwaves, O’Connell was fresh off another public radio show for children — Kids America, a nationally syndicated series produced by WNYC in New York City. WXPN launched Kids Corner across its weeknight schedule, from 7 to 8 p.m.

A lot of the children who called in back then were home alone and weren’t allowed to go outside by themselves, O’Connell recalls. “We built an on-air community where those kids could hear other kids.”

Now the audience has changed and media catering to school-aged children is ubiquitous and available on demand. The act of habitually tuning into a radio show every night at 7 p.m. is a much harder sell, O’Connell says.

That doesn’t mean Kids Corner’s fans aren’t bummed. Hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians grew up listening to O’Connell chatting with listeners about everything from homework to 9/11. They also enjoyed the show’s mix of “kindie” music, including acts like Dan Zanes, They Might Be Giants, and Trout Fishing In America.

‘We treated everybody equally’

Since WXPN announced its plan to end the show, hundreds of fans old and young have shared their memories through an online “Kids Corner Treasure Chest,” the source for an audience-powered segment debuting in June. On social media, fans immediately began wishing O’Connell the best after a career well-spent.

In a Reddit thread dedicated to the show’s imminent end, commenters who don’t have kids admit that they still enjoy listening to Kids Corner. One writes, “The way [Kathy] speaks to children with such curiosity and empathy, it’s so needed.” 

One need only listen to Kids Corner — or watch a video of O’Connell taking calls — to understand why. Her voice is welcoming and accessible. She reaches kids on their level, with language they understand. She’s an active, enthusiastic listener in the best possible sense. 

“On the surface, the idea of talking to kids would seem like a very mundane thing,” says WXPN GM Roger LaMay, “but then listening, you get pulled into both the earnestness of the kids and how, after 40 years, Kathy still treats each conversation like it’s this amazing moment she’s having with someone for the first time.” 

Parents also recognize O’Connell’s unique power to draw out and engage their children, says Robert Drake, Kids Corner producer from the beginning. “Time and time again . . . , we’d hear from parents who would confide in us that their child was a complete wallflower and very shy,” he explains. “Come 7 p.m., they’d be calling into the show and talking to Kathy, and they’d end up very upbeat and jovial. 

“We didn’t care about who [our callers] were, what they looked like, or what their awkwardness was,” Drake adds. “We treated everybody equally, because to us they were all just kids calling in and that was the even playing field they were all on.” 

WXPN will continue to be a beacon for family-friendly content for Philadelphians and beyond, LaMay says, while admitting, “it’ll be a little quieter in the universe that first Monday that Kathy’s not on.” The 24/7 Kids Corner Music Channel, available for streaming through the show’s website, will continue, he says, but he’s still unsure what will take the show’s slot on the broadcast schedule. 

O’Connell intends to stick with the WXPN family after signing off. She’s all-in to participate in future pledge drives and other activities whenever possible. But she also looks forward to the day when she “won’t have to get dressed or come in when there’s ice on the ground.” 

Calling it 

Drake and O’Connell had been talking about her retirement for a few years. They approached LaMay about it last summer, but he asked to revisit the conversation in January, Drake says.

Kids Corner had already reduced its broadcast footprint from four shows per week to two in 2024, when WXPN launched the 24/7 streaming channel.

And Drake and O’Connell had considered re-inventing Kids Corner for today’s kids, but decided against it. As Drake puts it, they agreed it wouldn’t be worth it to “drive on a whole new avenue.” 

LaMay concurs, saying when O’Connell told him she wanted to leave, he didn’t even consider re-launching the show with a new host.

“Kathy’s irreplaceable,” LaMay says. “We talk a lot about driveway moments in public radio. … On multiple occasions I’ve found myself just sitting in my parked car listening to her ask kids about, say, what their Halloween costumes were. She just has this uncanny ability to reach kids on their own level and make them feel important.” 

O’Connell points to declining interest in “appointment radio” among 5- to 13-year-olds. “There are so many other options right now.” she says. All the media that caters to kids — from television shows to podcasts — is accessible on demand.  

Standard radio ratings methodologies don’t capture listening by children below a certain age, so the volume of weekly calls into Kids Corner has been a key metric for the broadcast, Drake says. 

Thousands of children called every week during the show’s peak, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. But calls began to fall off during the coronavirus pandemic, when audiences of all ages fled to on-demand platforms. Prior to the announcement of the show’s end, weekly calls had dropped to about 250. 

Drake observes the act of calling-in to a live broadcast is now unfamiliar to kids; some of them don’t really know how to use a phone or what an area code is.  

Still, with two staff, Kids Corner is not expensive to produce, LaMay says. WXPN kept it going through membership revenues and sponsorships. “I wouldn’t say it was huge in that respect,” he adds, referring to underwriters, “but companies wanted to reach out to kids and be associated with that kind of programming.” 

Kids Corner, he says, “was always something we felt good about being part of ‘XPN.” 

Going out with a bang (and ‘Weird Al’)

When McConnell and LaMay met in January, they decided to end the show. Drake and O’Connell had already drawn up a “wish list” of ideas for teams across WXPN, including  marketing, membership, programming and outreach, Drake recalls. 

“It was this huge, Santa Claus-style list of what Kathy would love.” 

They expected LaMay to cherry pick their ideas but he said, “‘Let’s do it all,’ Drake says. “So not only is Kathy retiring on her own terms, but she’s retiring exactly as she wants.”

“Nobody in radio gets a 40-year gig,” O’Connell says. “How could I be anything but grateful and happy right now?”

Kids Corner’s last live call-in show will air Tuesday, May 26, setting up a final month of special broadcasts. Highlights include conversations with ”Weird Al” Yankovic and Dr. Demento — each one a marquee fan of the broadcast — and a countdown of the top 50 Kids Corner songs of all time. Regular guests from the past will return for final chats, including Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer for Philadelphia’s science museum, the Franklin Institute. 

Looking ahead to the celebration, WXPN’s membership team will feature the show during its upcoming membership drive. They’ll be pitching a Kids Corner-themed thank-you gift and a one-time “Big Kid” donation, inviting members to celebrate the show’s legacy. The sales team is leaning into anticipation of many more listeners tuning in for the final broadcasts, pitching a “Celebration of Kids Corner” sponsor package. Drake is also working with the marketing team to secure events and honors for O’Connell. In March, for example, she received the first-ever “Betsy Award” recognizing lifetime achievements, which was presented during a Women’s History Month event  at the city’s Betsy Ross House.

Since late March, when WXPN announced the show’s end date,  the “Treasure Chest” has drawn a tremendous response from listeners, Drake says. Fans can leave messages and upload photos to share their memories. When the submission form went live on WXPN’s website, it drew about 150 submissions on the first day. 

And O’Connell says she’s been getting a lot more calls since she announced her retirement. She thinks “adults are telling their kids, ‘You’re going to call this while it’s here,’ so they can record it.”