Longtime Northland public radio executive Paul Damberg has died at the age of 59. Damberg worked at KAXE/91.7 (Grand Rapids), KUMD/103.3 (Duluth), WTIP/90.7 (Grand Marais), and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Superior bureau before retiring last year. He also worked for two non-profits and volunteered for groups including Rotary International and the Boy Scouts. A celebration of life is planned for spring.
Morgan Murphy Media CBS affiliate WISC-TV/3.1 (Madison) named Scot Chastain its next vice president and general manager.
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that Franco Gentile, who currently oversees the company’s stations in Omaha, Lincoln, and Kearney, has been named VP/GM of its stations in Cincinnati.
RadioInsight reports that Brian Kelly has departed from his role as Audacy’s vice president of Top 40 programming and Milwaukee operations manager.
Sophia Pollman has joined Standard media ABC affiliate KLKN/8.1 (Lincoln) as evening anchor.
Scripps NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV/4.1 (Milwaukee) announced plans to launch “What’s Brewing Wisconsin,” a half-hour lifestyle program, at 3 p.m. this spring. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the new show is an extension of the long-running “Morning Blend” program.
Civic Media announced plans to add Brewers baseball on WBZH/910 and W245CT/96.9 (Hayward). Update: It appears this announcement was removed a few days after it was posted.
Civic also announced that WRJN/1400 (Racine) is partnering with the Racine County Eye for news coverage.
Morgan Murphy Media announced that it is adding content from longtime Packers reporter Jason Wilde to the websites associated with the company’s TV stations in the Madison, La Crosse, and Marquette markets.
Game Show Central, previously a streaming-only network, has added broadcast distribution in a number of markets. RabbitEars lists a number of Scripps stations as affiliates including KPXM/41.7 (St. Cloud-Minneapolis), WPXE/55.7 (Kenosha-Milwaukee), WACY/32.6 (Appleton-Green Bay), KFPX/39.7 (Newton-Des Moines), KPXR/48.7 (Cedar Rapids), and WTPX/46.7 (Antigo-Wausau).
Forum’s KSFL-TV (Sioux Falls) has added YTA on channel 36.2 and Jewelry TV on 36.3.
BEK’s KNGF (Grand Forks-Fargo) has added Newsmax2 on channel 27.5.
Alexandria, MN, free broadcast TV provider Selective TV announced that it is no longer able to carry MSNBC starting March 1 as the network will only allow itself to be carried on pay TV services.
In case you missed it here:
- North Dakota AM Station Returns License after FM Partner Sold
- Kinship Radio Expands Southward with Two FM Purchases
- FCC Monitor: Western Minnesota FM Station Seeks Upgrade
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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.