Anita Marks, co-host of "The Scott Garceau & Anita Marks Show" on 105.7-FM ("The Fan"), has left the station after four years with CBS Radio in Baltimore.
Bob Phillips, senior vice president for the network's radio operations here, said the station made Marks an offer to continue in Baltimore on the afternoon drive-time show, but that she declined the contract offer.
"We ... wanted her stay," Phillips said. "But I guess she just had higher aspirations.... She really wants to work more on a national platform. I know she's been doing some UFL football games, and that's some stuff that she indicated she wanted to continue to do."
In a telephone interview Monday night, Marks said she was "sad" about leaving CBS radio in Baltimore and that she had "kind of mixed emotions" about the decision.
"I would love to stay and continue to do what I do with Scott and the station. I have the utmost respect for Bob Phillips and Scott and the people I work with here and at MASN," Marks said. "But I also want to pursue these possibilities to do some national TV since doing the UFL. And that's the crossroads.... So, I had to make a decision."
In a separate interview, Garceau agreed with the way in which both Marks and Phillips characterized the 39-year-old sportscaster's decision to leave the station.
"I wish her well," Garceau said. "Despite what some listeners might have thought listening to us when we diasgreed on the air, we were always friendly off the air. There was never a moment when we walked out of here and didn't like each other."
Marks, who came to Baltimore as a solo host on the CBS-owned AM sports station in Baltimore, joined 105.7 "The Fan" when it launched in November, 2008.
Phillips said the station will seek a replacement for Marks as Garceau's co-host, and that with sportscasters leaving a shrinking TV market for an expanding sportstalk radio business, he did not expect a shortage of applicants.
"We definitely want someone who wants to be a part of Baltimore and in Baltimore and committed to Baltimore -- be about Baltimore," he said. "We think that's important, and we really try to cover Baltimore sports and get very involved in the community."
Marks said she had been hoping to negotiate an arrangement that would allow her to be "five days a week" at 105.7 "The Fan" and MASN, and "on weekends" be able to pursue opportunties in sideline reporting and announcing on national TV.
"There are a number of people who do both," Marks said. "But Bob Phillips and CBS wanted somebody totally 100 percent committed to CBS Radio in Baltimore, and I totally respect that," Marks said.
Marks, a University of South Florida graduate, who came from Florida to work in Baltimore, said she will initially stay in Baltimore using the next month off "to take a step back and relax."
"Please write this in your article, regardless of where I ultimately go, I will forever love my time in Baltimore," Marks said. "I feel so blessed that I have been here for four years."
Looking ahead to the future of his afternoon drive-time show, Phillips said, "Scott enjoyed working with Anita. Obviously, there was a yin and yang, and they disagreed. I would imagine the same kind of show will continue."
Commenting on the chemistry of the show, Garceau said, "I'm old school and she was more modern, and you might hear us on-air get into a heated disagreement with a caller or something. But I think it made for good radio. And it never got adversarial with us.... At the start, it was her show, and she kind of had to adapt to me... And I think we made it work."
"The Scott Garceau & Anita Marks Show" aired from 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays, with the telecast shown from 3 to 7 p.m. on MASN.
