People
Jay Philpott has been named operations manager of Cumulus Media’s five radio stations in Appleton/Oshkosh and will host afternoons on one of the stations, WVBO/103.9 (Winneconne-Oshkosh).
South Dakota Public Broadcasting announced that Ryan Bozer is joining the network as the new state host of Morning Edition.
The Star Tribune reports that Eric Olson has departed from PBS station KSMQ/15 (Austin), where he had been general manager since 2012.
Longtime farm broadcaster Howard Hale has died at the age of 87. Hale worked at two Scottsbluff stations in the 1980s and early 1990s and had worked at a Colorado station since 1994. The National Association of Farm Broadcasters posted a remembrance. Services are May 6.
Former WLOL/KDWB/KQQL-FM DJ Phil Huston recalls his years working on the Twin Cities FM dial during the current episode of Twin Cities-based podcast Can’t Turn it Off. Huston currently resides in Silver Bay. Last year, the podcast interviewed KFAI-FM DJ Ron “Boogiemonster” Gerber, host of the 31-year-old “Crap From The Past” show.
Tom Becka hosted a Facebook Live about the impending end of his commentaries on FOX 42 (KPTM Omaha), and the broader state of media, as the station ends local newscasts after May 12. (The post was made before the report about the shutdown here, but your reporter was not aware of it at the time of the report.)
Stations
Station of the Year winners at the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Excellence Awards included mediaBrew Marquette’s “Sunny 101.9” (WKQS Negaunee) and Gray TV’s WLUC/6 (Marquette).
BIA Advisory Services reported that St. Paul-based Hubbard Radio’s WTOP-FM/103.5 (Washington) remains the top-billing radio station in the country, a spot it has held since 2014.
Nexstar announced that as part of its new agreement with Hulu+ Live TV, the company’s My Network TV and Independent stations will be added to the streaming provider’s lineup. Nexstar’s MNT stations include WJMN/3 (Escanaba-Marquette).
Deadline reports that NBC is shutting down its LX network, which is seen on about five dozen stations including WTSJ-LD/38.5 (Milwaukee) and KJNK-LD/25.4 (Minneapolis).
In case you missed it here:
- Sinclair Dropping Local News in Omaha, Sioux City
- KFOW Brings FAN Network to Owatonna
- FCC Monitor: HD in Eau Claire; Lightning Affects UP FM, Wis. AM
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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.