People
A year after leaving afternoons at Townsquare’s “Mix 108” (KBMX/107.7 Proctor-Duluth), Tony Hart has returned to the station as morning co-host. Hart writes that he had left for what he “thought would be a dream job” at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center only to have his position eliminated due to the venue’s financial challenges.
As first reported by RadioInsight, Jake and Tanner have exited mornings at Woodward’s “95.9 Kiss FM” (WKSZ De Pere-Green Bay) and are planning to launch a Facebook livestream on Monday.
Audacy has hired Jason Bjornson as senior vice president and market manager for Milwaukee, where the company runs four formats. Bjornson’s resume includes leadership of WTMJ/620 under Journal.
“Radio Milwaukee” (WYMS/88.9) has announced the return of Jordan Lee to the station as senior director of programming.
UW-Milwaukee NPR station WUWM/89.7 (Milwaukee) is mourning the death of producer Eilee Heikenen-Weiss, 39. The station reports that Heikenen-Weiss was a passenger in a car involved in a crash near Madison on Oct. 29 and died two days later.
Anchor/reporter Michelle Baik has announced plans to depart Gray NBC affiliate WMTV/15.1 (Madison) for a new job at Tegna NBC affiliate KARE/11.1 (Minneapolis).
Reporter Duaa Israr is joining Weigel CBS affiliate WDJT/58.1 (Milwaukee), moving from Morgan Murphy CBS affiliate WKBT/8.1 (La Crosse).
Stations and companies
DISH Network and Hearst have reportedly reached a new agreement ending a retransmission consent dispute that resulted in a two-month blackout, according to TVNewsCheck and other national outlets. (An announcement referenced in the report has not been published on either company’s website.) Affected stations had included CBS affiliate KCCI/8.1 (Des Moines) and ABC affiliates KETV/7.1 (Omaha) and WISN-TV/12.1 (Milwaukee).
Morgan Murphy CBS affiliate WISC/3.1 (Madison) was presented with an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Morning/Daytime Newscast at the 65th Annual Chicago/Midwest Emmys.
A belated note that a new company called Free TV Networks, headed by diginet pioneer Jonathan Katz, recently announced plans to launch two new channels on Jan. 1: The365, which will serve African-American audiences, and Outlaw, which will carry Westerns. The channels will be carried on stations owned by Gray TV, HC2, and RNN (exact channel placements not yet announced) and will also stream freely online.
CTV, Canada‘s largest commercial TV network, has added an early edition of “CTV National News.” The new broadcast anchored by Sandie Rinaldo airs at 5:30 p.m. local time, including on CKY-DT/7 (Winnipeg). Unlike the U.S., Canada’s networks air their national newscasts at varying times, with “Global National” airing at 6:30 in the east and 5:30 in the west, CBC’s “The National” at 10, and the flagship “CTV National News” at 11.
NBC Nightly News reported on community efforts to save Ontonagon Public Schools’ WOAS/88.5 (Ontonagon, MI), which has to change frequency due to the 2021 grant of future station WHWM/88.5 (Rockland). WOAS, a grandfathered Class D educational license, has not yet applied for the frequency change. (The report implies that WOAS is the only radio station in town, not mentioning commercial outlet WUPY/101.1).
All-Christmas Update: Six iHeartMedia stations made the switch on Friday, Nov. 10, including “Kool 108” (KQQL Anoka-Minneapolis), with the company issuing a news release touting the success of the seasonal format. Two Winnipeg stations lit up the Christmas a day apart, with “102.3 KiSS FM” (CKY-FM) going all-Santa on Sunday, Nov. 12 followed by “Peggy @ 99-1” (CFPG-FM) the next day. Milwaukee’s “B93.3” (WDLB) started the Christmas playlist on Thursday, Nov. 16. “Life 97.3” (KDNW Duluth) will start playing Christmas music later today (Nov. 17) and WCTS/1030 (Maplewood-Minneapolis) is planning a switchover on Friday, Nov. 24. Track all of the flips on the 2023 All-Christmas Stations list.
In case you missed it here:
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.