Minnesota radio station owner Stephen Gretsch has died at 64. According to his obituary, Gretsch started at KASM/1150 (Albany) working alongside his mom. He and his wife Patricia bought KLFD/1410 (Litchfield) in 2005, where served as general manager, hosted mornings, and became the voice of local sports.
Meteorologist Emily Merz, who recently departed Gray ABC affiliate WBAY/2 (Green Bay), announced she has joined Gray CBS/FOX stations WSAW/WZAW-LD (Wausau) as evening meteorologist.
Veteran Omaha news anchor Craig Nigrelli has joined Hearst ABC affiliate KETV/7 (Omaha) as weekend anchor and reporter.
Tim Vetscher has stepped down after six years as news director at Scripps NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV/4 (Milwaukee).
Grace Monk has departed Morgan Murphy Media CBS affiliate WKBT/8 (La Crosse).
News anchor Nada Shamah had departed Sinclair CBS/FOX affiliate KGAN/2 (Cedar Rapids).
Jeff Jones, morning host at “105.9 The Beach” (KTLB Twin Lakes-Fort Dodge), noted that he was part of a round of job cuts at Connoisseur Media.
Scripps announced that it is moving to a regional management strategy that will have general managers oversee two to four markets. 27 positions will be eliminated nationally as part of the change. Regionally, Mike Murri will oversee Scripps’ stations in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, and Milwaukee, while Whitney Grover will oversee Kansas City, Omaha, and Tulsa. The news release emphasized that every market will continue to have a local news operation.
Lifestyle program “Minnesota Live,” which originates at Hubbard ABC affiliate KSTP-TV/5 (St. Paul), is now being simulcast at 9 a.m. on sister station KAAL/6 (Austin-Rochester). KAAL had already been simulcasting KSTP’s “Twin Cities Live” from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
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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.