Legendary radio personality Scott Shannon -- heard for almost a decade every morning on New York City's WCBS-FM with long-time co-host Patty Steele, entertainment reporter Brad Blanks, and a whole crew of returning "Big Show" friends -- has announced his decision to retire from daily morning radio on Friday, December 16.

"My alarm has gone off at 3:15 for eight and a half years now, and I believe it's time to take a break from morning radio and just kind of chill for a while before I decide what I want to do next in my life and my career," Shannon told listeners this morning. "It's a difficult decision for me because I actually love CBS-FM, it was a dream of mine to work here, and I did get to work here. I love the station, I love the people I work with and work for, and of course, I'll be honest with you, I think these are the best listeners we ever had."

"It's time to take a break, so on Friday, December the 16th, I will retire from CBS-FM right after we finish up the year the way it should be, with our live broadcast for the kids at Blythedale Children's Hospital."

Patty Steele, Scott's longtime co-host at numerous stations throughout their careers, added tearfully, "I absolutely loved working here... through all the challenges in my life like breast cancer, family addiction issues which have famously been explored in podcasting... my kids' high school and college graduations... you, our amazing listeners have been my friends and my radio family, and I have not for one minute thought I could have gotten through it without any of you."

A member and Hall of Famer at the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington DC, as well as the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, Scott's remarkable career was recently chronicled in the documentary "Worst to First: The True Story of Z-100."

Fans will be happy to know that Scott has plenty of shows to do before December 16, and he will remain with Audacy as the host of his syndicated America's Greatest Hits show, which airs on CBS-FM each Sunday morning, plus his True Oldies Channel highlighting the best tracks from the 60s, 70s and 80s on WCBS-FM HD3.