Longtime morning host Jon Adler reports that he is no longer with Milwaukee Radio Alliance’s “FM 102/1” (WLUM) due to budget cuts.
Jim McKernan has announced plans to retire from the general manager role at Gray NBC affiliate WOWT/6.1 (Omaha) on June 2.
Rick Gevers’ Weekly Newsletter reports that Perry Pace is leaving Tegna ABC affiliate WOI-DT/5.1 (Ames-Des Moines) for a news director job in Tennessee.
Gray Media announced that dozens of its stations are now simulcasting an hour of Local News Live, its national streaming news service. Most stations carry the program at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET including KTTC/10.1 (Rochester), KDLT/46.2 (Sioux Falls), KYOU-TV/15.1 (Ottumwa), WZAW-LD/33.1 (Wausau), and WLUC/6.2 (Marquette). The program replaces syndicated shows.
Tegna NBC affiliate KARE 11 (Minneapolis) has reformatted its 6 p.m. hour to expand the traditional half-hour newscast to 35 minutes, reducing the timeslot for the station’s innovative “Breaking the News” broadcast.
Harlan G. Reinders, Senior, the general manager and chief engineer of WHEM/91.3 (Eau Claire), has died at the age of 85. His obituary notes that Reinders first came to the Chippewa Valley in 1972 to work at WWIB/103.7 (Hallie) and started WHEM in 1995.
Minnesota Public Radio announced that its News network will begin carrying new weekly show “This Old House Radio Hour” at 10 a.m. Saturdays. It displaces a repeat of the second hour of “Weekend Edition.”
Salem Media announced that Charlie Kirk will take over Dennis Prager‘s syndicated timeslot from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT. Prager, who is recovering from an injury, will return to the 1 p.m. CT hour in June. Until then, Jack Posobiec will host the 1 p.m. CT hour. Prager’s affiliates include Salem’s WWTC/1280 (Minneapolis), which already carried Kirk in the 1 p.m. hour.
Jeff Stein of KXEL/1540 (Waterloo) reports that the NRG Media station has put its Waterloo studio up for sale. The building is also home to “107.3 Hank FM” (KPTY/1330); NRG’s KOKZ/105.7 (Waterloo) and KFMW/107.9 (Waterloo) already operate from studios in the Cedar Rapids suburb of Hiawatha.
The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association announced that this years WBA Hall of Fame inductees are Paul Braun, Denise Callaway, Bill Hubbard, and Mark Zoromski.
The Minnesota Broadcasters Association announced that this year’s Hall of Fame inductees are Dennis Carpenter of Milestone Radio, former WCCO-TV reporter Caroline Lowe, hockey broadcaster Lou Nanne, Brett Paradis of Leighton Media, Al & Linda Quarnstrom of Q-Media Group, and former KQRS-FM host Terri Traen.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has announced plans to resign from his seat this spring, more than two years before his term is set to end. Starks did not give a reason for his decision. He is one of two Democrats on the five-member commission.
Though outside of the Upper Midwest, a major development in Miami is worth noting: The ABC affiliation will move from longtime affiliate WPLG/10.1 to WSVN/7.2 on Aug. 4 (WSVN carries FOX on its primary channel). The change will make Miami the largest market with a “big four” network on a subchannel, signifying a willingness by ABC to bring the practice to major markets. WPLG is Berkshire Hathaway’s sole broadcast TV station while WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, which also owns stations in Boston.
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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.