Minnesota Public Radio News has recently been carrying a “special call-in” hour hosted by Catharine Richert at 8 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. It appears the program soft-launched in late January without any major announcement. “Fresh Air” has moved to 9 p.m., replacing a repeat of “On Point” (which continues at 1 p.m.) MPR News had already been carrying the live weekly call-in show “The Middle” at 8 p.m. Thursdays and is now carrying “Left, Right and Center” at 8 p.m. Fridays.
The Ames Voice reports that Iowa Public Radio will move to the KASI/1430 building in downtown Ames sometime in the next two years, leaving its longtime home on the Iowa State University campus.
Milwaukee PBS (WMVS/10 and WMVT/36) has hired Beth Walsh as chief operating officer. Walsh previously worked at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and has also worked at PBS, Comscore, and The Programming Service for Public Television.
Amanda St. Hilaire has been promoted to vice president and news director at FOX O&O WITI/6 (Milwaukee).
Cullen Holt has joined Hearst CBS affiliate KCCI/8 (Des Moines) as weekend sports anchor. Holt previously worked at Forum ABC affiliate WDAY-TV/6 (Fargo).
Alex Johnson has joined Allen Media NBC affiliate KWWL/7 (Waterloo) as multimedia journalist.
Anchor/producer Brooke Bickford has departed Gray NBC affiliate KTIV/4 (Sioux City) to be closer to family.
Anchor/reporter Kaila Paige is departing Gray NBC affiliate KWQC/6 (Davenport) for a new job in South Carolina.
Christian broadcaster WRVM Inc. has appointed Brett Gibson as general manager and CEO. Gibson was previously WRVM’s chief engineer and also worked as GM/CEO of “Refuge Radio Network” for a decade. He will succeed Mike Cornell, who is retiring at the end of June. The “Voice of the Master Radio Network” originates at WRVM/102.7 (Suring, Wis.) and is heard on 32 FM signals in northern Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and Duluth.
Duluth and Minneapolis radio veteran Tony Hart reports his position at “Mix 108” (KBMX/107.7 Proctor-Duluth) has been eliminated.
Upper Peninsula radio veteran Bruce Nelson has died at 88. According to his obituary, Nelson served in the military and worked in radio in Kentucky before moving to Michigan in 1972, working at WDBC/680, WCHT/600, and WGLQ/97.1 (Escanaba). He retired in 1993.
In addition to the DISH Network-Gray Media dispute reported earlier this week, Morgan Murphy Media CBS affiliates WISC-TV/3 (Madison) and WKBT/8 (La Crosse) are off DirecTV amid their own retransmission consent dispute. The outage began at 11 p.m. March 6.
Minneapolis news veteran Paul Magers was recently a guest on Jason Ball’s “Life After News” podcast. Magers recounts the growth of KARE 11 in the 1980s, including its strategy for appealing to viewers switching over from other stations and the now-legendary tornado coverage credited for making KARE a top station in the market.
This year’s inductees to the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame will include Dan Gladden of the Twins Radio network, Belinda Jensen of KARE 11, Mylan Ray of Christensen Broadcasting, Dave Ryan of KDWB/101.3, Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro of WCCO-TV/4, Dan Seeman of Hubbard Radio, Gregg Swedberg of iHeartMedia, and legacy award recipient Julian Hoshal of KSTP-TV/5. The induction ceremony will be held Nov. 20 in Stillwater.
In case you missed it here:
- Dispute Takes Dozens of Upper Midwest Channels off DISH
- Owner of Chicago Station Buys Twin Cities Progressive Talker
- Cedar Rapids Station Switches from Rooster to Pig
- FCC/CRTC Monitor: Thunder Bay TV Stations Seek Relief
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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.