LITTLE ROCK — A longtime Little Rock radio host collapsed on the air Friday morning while broadcasting live from a Sherwood car dealership.
Tommy Smith, 57, co-host of The Show With No Name on KABZ-FM 103.7, suffered an unspecified “medical emergency” about 9:30 a.m. at the Fletcher Auto Group dealership on Warden Road.
He was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock where he was “resting comfortably” Friday afternoon, according to a news release from the station. His condition wasn’t believed to be life-threatening, the release said.
“Oh my God,” said one unidentified voice on a recording of the show after sounds of a muffled microphone and commotion are heard.
Another voice quickly followed: “Go to break.”
Steve Jonsson, the station’s general manager and vice president of Signal Media, the station’s owner, said he was waiting to get more information from Smith’s wife.
“I know there are some medical tests and other things they need to do, but I don’t know what happened,” he said. “If you’ve heard the show you know as much as I do.”
A KABZ host since 2004, Smith had spent almost every year since 1980 as a host on Little Rock’s Magic 105 station, according to a biography posted on the KABZ website.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 09/25/2010