Ron Handberg, longtime leader at WCCO-TV/4 (Minneapolis), has died at 87. Handberg is a member of the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame, which says he began at WCCO radio in 1960 and moved to the TV station four years later, rising to become news director and then general manager. The Star Tribune reports Handberg put WCCO-TV on the map and created a newsroom that routinely sent journalists to the national level. He retired from WCCO-TV in 1989 and helped launch public television’s “NewsNight Minnesota” in 1993. His obituary also notes Handberg wrote and published seven television-based mystery novels after his retirement.
The Star Tribune reports that Paul Allen returned to iHeartMedia’s “The Fan” (KFXN-FM/100.3 Minneapolis) on Feb. 2. Allen was absent from the airwaves for a week after making a comment about “paid protesters” on his Jan. 23 show, which he called a “stupid curveball” that eliminated a spot to get away from politics.
Tegna NBC affiliate KARE/11 (Minneapolis) announced the hiring of Kevin Holmes as 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor beginning April 13. Holmes most recently anchored at the NBC affiliate in Kansas City. The Star Tribune reports Julie Nelson has been mostly solo anchoring since Randy Shaver retired in 2024.
Longtime Twin Cities TV reporter Karla Hult has announced her candidacy for Minnesota State Senate. Hult had worked as a reporter for KARE since 2007 and her LinkedIn page indicates she left that job this month. She is also the founder of “So Many Goodbyes,” an Alzheimer’s advocacy organization.
WisconsinEye, which provides video of Wisconsin government proceedings, has resumed programming to cable and online feeds after a seven-week outage due to lack of funding. A message on the WisEye website says it is “operational for the month of February.” Wisconsin Public Radio reports the return came after a legislative committee approved $50,000 in funding for the month.
The Milwaukee Brewers announced that their TV broadcasts this season will be produced and distributed by Major League Baseball, leaving FanDuel Sports Network. Games will be available on cable, satellite, and the MLB’s streaming platform, and the Brewers will sell the commercials. MLB began producing Minnesota Twins broadcasts last year.
The Outlaw TV network is now listing channel 4.4 of WCCO-TV (Minneapolis) as an affiliate, replacing FaveTV. Meanwhile, Confess is no longer airing on channel 11.7 of KARE (Minneapolis).
Lakeland PBS (KAWE/9 Bemidji and KAWB/22 Brainerd) announced that the show “Common Ground” will end after 16 seasons, replaced by new shows “Up North Arts” and “218Life.”
Mark Simmet has retired after 38 years at KUNI/KHKE (Cedar Falls) and Iowa Public Radio. Simmet had been a host and senior music producer for IPR’s “Studio One” network.
Colin “Mac” MacDonald has retired after 34 years at Hubbard Classic Rocker “The Power Loon” (KLIZ-FM/107.5 Brainerd). MacDonald worked as morning host and salesperson simultaneously and also did play-by-play for Brainerd Warriors games.
Congratulations to KRVN/880 (Lexington), the flagship of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary with an open house. The NRRA is the country’s only farmer-rancher owned radio group and now has 15 stations across the state. KRVN’s 50kW signal booms across much of the Midwest day and night.
In case you missed it here:
- NRG Sells Omaha Radio Group to Usher Media
- Neb. Public Media Buying KOOO to Extend Radio Service to Omaha
- Northern Minn. Station Drops Block Programming for Variety Hits
- FCC Monitor: WNFL, WLVE Callsigns On the Move in Wisconsin
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