Audacy announced that Jesse Garon has been promoted from evenings to mornings at WOLX/94.9 (Baraboo-Madison). Garon succeeds Jim McGaw, who passed away in May. “Jim was a close friend of mine and I hope to be a friend to our great audience just like Jim was for so many years,” Garon said.
Tegna NBC affiliate KARE 11 (Minneapolis) recently announced the hiring of Kelly Dietz as investigative multimedia journalist and Ethan Sam as visual journalist.
Longtime radio owner Dean Sorenson will be inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 14. Sorenson was profiled by KELO-TV ahead of the ceremony.
RadioInsight reports that Wade Linder is no longer with Cumulus’ KQRS/92.5 (Golden Valley-Minneapolis), where he had been program director.
Iowa PBS announced that KRIN/32.1 (Waterloo) will be off the air intermittently at times over the next several weeks for tower work. As noted here in FCC Monitor reports, KRIN will share an antenna with two other TV stations once the project is complete.
Gray Media announced that its TV stations in Iowa and five other states will air men’s and women’s basketball games from the Missouri Valley Conference.
Belated notes on two format adjustments: KRIB/1490 and K244FA/96.7 (Mason City) transitioned from Soft Oldies to Oldies amid Alpha Media’s programming changes earlier this year. Meanwhile, Riverfront Broadcasting’s KIJV/1340 and K237EL/95.3 (Huron) have segued from Hot Adult Contemporary to gold-based AC, remaining “Tiger 95.”
WBEV (Beaver Dam) reports that longtime announcer Bill McCollum, who was on the air for 61 years, has died. McCollum joined the station in 1963 and spent much of his time there as morning co-host. He retired from the morning show in 2016 but continued to host the daily “Barn Show” polka program until his death.
Longtime Wisconsin journalist Thom Gerretsen has died at 71. His obituary says Gerretsen worked at radio stations in Janesville and Portage before a 21-year run in Marshfield. He briefly transitioned to print media in 1999 before becoming chief editor for Wheeler News Service in 2001.
In case you missed it here:
- WKCH Transitions to Classic Country, Adds “Doc” Tarr
- Zoe Moves to Bigger “Cabin” in Hayward
- Fourth Station Signs On Carrying Kinship’s Spanish-Language Network
- Update: Final FCC Action on Minneapolis FM Upgrade
- FCC Monitor: Sioux Falls FM Station at Reduced Power
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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.