People
The Star Tribune profiled longtime morning host Tom Barnard on the eve of his last show today at KQRS/92.5 (Golden Valley-Minneapolis). The newspaper quoted Barnard as slamming KQ owner Cumulus Media, saying they have been at odds for a decade. The report said Barnard will continue to do his afternoon podcast and plans to add another one in the morning.
Gray NBC affiliate KTIV/4 (Sioux City) has promoted Kim Fickett from digital content director to news director. Former ND Keith Bliven moved to the position of operations manager in May and has now been promoted to director of operations. Meanwhile, Dean Welte has been promoted from assistant news director to digital content director. And Jessica Bowman has joined the station as evening co-anchor.
Mike Morken has retired from Gray NBC/CBS stations KVLY/KXJB (Fargo) after a 43-year career in North Dakota TV, first in Minot and then in Fargo starting in 1989. The station will air a half-hour retirement special on Christmas Eve.
Meteorologist Kevin Corriveau has joined Gray NBC affiliate WMTV/15 (Madison). Corriveau has worked for CNN International, NBC, and Al Jazeera and was most recently at a Gray TV station in West Virginia.
Elmer Childress, the longtime former weather director at WMTV, has died at the age of 92. Childress worked in radio and TV in Wichita before joining WMTV, where he worked for 25 years. He retired in 2006 but continued to host a gospel radio show in Monroe until 2021 (his obituary says the Childress family recorded 15 gospel albums and performed worldwide).
Joe Mann, a longtime behind-the-scenes worker at Duluth TV stations, has died at the age of 49. Mann did most of his work at PBS station WDSE/8 but also worked at the original KNLD/21 and later returned to the station after it had evolved into FOX 21 (KQDS-TV). I was glad to get to know Joe and share our love of broadcasting during our time together there. He was inducted into the Upper Midwest Emmy® Silver Circle in 2020.
Stations and companies
Minnesota Public Radio is warning of possible disruptions due to wintry weather and tower icing on its Alexandria, Appleton, Bemidji, Brookings, Duluth, Olivia, Redwood Falls, St. Cloud, and Worthington stations.
RadioInsight reported that SummitMedia is now running the same personalities, playlist, and branding on all of its Classic Rock stations, including “Classic Rock 105.9” (KKCD Omaha). Other group owners use similar strategies for many music-formatted stations.
Nebraska Public Media will reduce the amount of children’s programming on its main TV network beginning Jan. 2. Kids programs will continue to air from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., with other programming airing in late afternoon. The network points out that the 24-hour PBS Kids service is also available on a subchannel, digital cable, and streaming, though the service is not carried on satellite. As previously reported, Twin Cities PBS is also reducing the amount of children’s programming on its main channel starting Jan. 2.
Broadcasting & Cable reported that Nexstar and Comcast have reached a new retransmission consent agreement, averting a blackout that could have affected stations including CBS affiliates WFRV/5 (Green Bay) and WHBF/4 (Rock Island-Quad Cities).
The timing of network special reports about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to Congress on Wednesday evening caused an erratic viewing experience for some. A few network affiliates chose to run their scheduled syndicated or local programming at 6:30 rather than Zelenskyy’s speech, but special reports were still underway when prime time began at 7:00. Those stations were forced to join the special report in progress only a few minutes before it ended, with scheduled programming then joined in progress on three networks. The situation is emblematic of the ongoing debate about how linear TV services should balance breaking news with scheduled entertainment programming.
In case you missed it here:
- Midwest Communications Founder Duke Wright Dies at 83
- “The Rockin’ Eagle” Adds Nest in Marquette
- 115 Upper Midwest All-Christmas Flips This Season
News tips? Press releases? If you don’t see yours here, I probably didn’t receive it! Please send them to jonellis@northpine.com!
Disclosure: Jon Ellis was an employee of Gray Media Group at the time this item was posted. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.