Valicenti New WPRO Host, Gobeil Has Been Fired

The WPRO Morning News Show will have a new face in the near future. Gene Valicenti, a news anchor with NBC 10, is taking over as the host, sources confirmed, while Andrew Gobeil was fired earlier today and Tara Granahan was reassigned off the air. She will become the assistant program director who will work on special projects.

“I’m going to direct you to program manager Craig Schwalb for any comment on my future with the station,” said Valicenti, when contacted on Thursday night.

Valicenti has long hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show on WPRO, and he has been with NBC 10 since 1992. He declined to comment on whether he would be leaving the TV station, or working there at night and at WPRO in the morning. He will become the highest paid on air personality at WPRO, earning more than Buddy Cianci.

Gobeil, also reached Thursday evening, declined to comment. He has worked at WPRO for about a year-and-a-half. Prior to that, he worked for ABC6.

Rumors have circulated for months that WPRO wanted to replace Gobeil with Valicenti, but no one would fault Gobeil for not seeing the move coming after the work week he recently put in.

He was asked to work Christmas day and only one day before being fired was asked to fill in for John DePetro, who didn’t show up for work on Wednesday. DePetro thought he had the day off, though it wasn’t marked on management’s calendar. Schwalb asked Gobeil to fill in for DePetro Wednesday morning, and then fired him the next day.