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Popular Ventura Radio Host Dies

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Times Staff Writer

Dave Ciniero, a beloved voice on Ventura County radio for three decades, was found dead in his hotel room Friday morning. He was 58.

Ciniero died in his sleep of heart failure, a spokesman for the medical examiner’s office said.

Ciniero’s listeners flooded his radio station with tearful tributes following the 10:30 a.m. on-air announcement of his death.

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“It’s a sad day for all of Ventura County,” said Dist. Atty. Greg Totten, one of dozens of people calling in to share memories.

Ciniero and his on-air partner, Bob Adams, were the hosts of a popular morning drive-time show on KVTA-AM (1520) for 21 years.

Adams, 68, retired from “The Dave & Bob Show” just six weeks ago, and Ciniero then was paired with radio personality Tom Spence.

Ciniero’s sudden passing put the future of the show in question and, several callers said, marked the end of an era.

“It feels like we’ve lost a landmark, a very important one,” said one caller.

Ciniero and Adams had a devoted circle of listeners, many of whom called in frequently to chat with the hosts during the four hours they were on the air each weekday.

Ciniero would usually poke fun at their names or find some other thing to needle them about -- and the listeners loved it, said Miles Sexton, president of Gold Coast Broadcasting, the station’s owner. The show combined Ciniero’s humor with Adams’ news reports and community-oriented events and contests.

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“He had a gruff exterior, but we all knew he was a cream puff on the inside,” Sexton said.

Each December, the morning duo held a fundraising campaign for needy children, raising $60,000 in the most recent drive, Sexton said.

Ciniero came up with the idea of a talent show for listeners, a concept that radio consultants rejected as too hokey but which proved to be very popular, said Adams, who now lives in Fresno.

The hosts also went on cruises with their listeners and announced their birthdays.

Ciniero rejected any effort to “spiff up” the show, colleagues said.

“He took pride that our show was not slick,” Adams said. “He just took pride in talking to people, in doing their birthdays.... If you were in Los Angeles, you would never do birthdays.”

Ciniero grew up in Rhode Island, the only son of Vita and Frances Ciniero, Adams said. After a stint in the Army, he moved to Ventura County, where he had family.

He worked as a program manager at Thousand Oaks station KNJO-FM (92.7) before moving over to KVEN-AM (1450). When Ciniero filled in for a sports reporter for a couple of weeks, an executive noticed the rapport between Adams and Ciniero during their on-air kibitzing, Adams said.

Their show started Nov. 12, 1983. When rival station KVTA-AM lured the duo away eight years ago, several of the team’s veteran news reporters went with them.

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For the last two years, Ciniero had been on the show three weeks a month from Providence, R.I., where he was caring for his elderly parents. He spent one week each month in Ventura.

He was in Ventura this week and did his show Thursday with no apparent problem other than his usual smoker’s cough, colleagues said.

Thursday afternoon, he met with listeners in Ventura to go over details of an upcoming cruise. Then the lifelong bachelor returned to his hotel room in Camarillo.

But Ciniero was not at the station early Friday when Spence arrived around 3 a.m. Spence said he knew right away that something was wrong because Ciniero was a workaholic who normally arrived before anyone else.

Spence and news director Rich Gualano went on the air at 5 a.m. while emergency personnel were dispatched to Ciniero’s room to check on him. After confirming his death and notifying his mother, the station made the announcement.

For the next six hours, the station preempted its regular programming to let stunned listeners call in for what amounted to a community wake.

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Eric Wright, “Mr. Weather,” who called Ciniero each morning to deliver a weather report and accept some ribbing, said his longtime friend would probably hate all the flowery tributes.

Ciniero, who was reserved off the air, had viewed the accolades bestowed upon Adams at his retirement with a certain uneasiness, Wright recounted.

“He said, ‘When I retire, it’s not going to be this way. I’m going to be here one day and gone the next.’ ”

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