Longtime news anchor Mark Koehn announced his impending retirement from Morgan Murphy CBS affiliate WISC-TV/3.1 (Madison). Koehn said in his Facebook post and a subsequent on-air announcement that it is “not entirely my decision” but did not elaborate. Koehn has been with WISC since 1977 and anchors the noon and 4 p.m. newscasts.
Otis Day, the new morning host at Woodward’s “95.9 Kiss FM” (WKSZ De Pere-Green Bay), announced that Katie Schurk and Nick Vitrano have joined his morning show. All three previously worked at Midwest’s WIXX/101.1 (Green Bay), with Schurk and Vitrano departing after the recent retirement of Jim Murphy. Day’s announcement said his new colleagues are working off-air until their non-compete expires or is resolved.
Saga’s “Jammin’ 98.3” (WJMR Menomonee Falls-Milwaukee) has started airing the syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, which the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes previously aired on iHeart’s “V100” (WKKV/100.7 Racine-Milwaukee) from 2007 to 2013.
News anchor Pavlina Osta recently announced plans to leave Gray NBC/FOX affiliate WLUC/6 (Marquette) for a new anchor/reporter job at Weigel’s CBS58 (WDJT Milwaukee) starting in March.
The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association reports that iHeartMedia has named Monica Wittkopp its market president for Madison, where the company operates seven formats.
Meanwhile, RadioInsight reports that iHeart has named Seth Pitkin as its market president for Des Moines, where the company also operates seven formats.
Tegna announced that it has renewed affiliation agreements between NBC and 20 of Tegna stations, including KARE 11 (Minneapolis).
KARE recently announced the hiring of Ian Russell as multiskilled journalist, Corinne Stay and Cody Lenarz as producers, Joe Keyport as assignment editor, and Cory Hall as account executive.
Twin Cities PBS (KTCA/KTCI) has hired Nick Kereakos as Chief Content Officer.
Thunder Bay Television (CKPR/CHFD) has debuted a new TBT News set, logo, graphics package, and weather system.
In case you missed it here:
- Second “Farm” Takes Root in Wisconsin
- New Year Brings Dozens of DTV Channel Changes
- FCC Monitor: Tighter Ownership Rules for Local TV
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Disclosure: Jon Ellis is an employee of Gray Media Group. The statements and views expressed in this posting are his own and do not reflect those of Gray Media Group.