The Minnesota Timberwolves‘ full schedule will return to broadcast radio this season in a deal with Audacy’s WCCO/830 (Minneapolis). The Wolves had left WCCO in 2023 for a deal with iHeartMedia that saw all of the games streamed on the iHeart app and some of them carried on “The Fan” (KFXN-FM/100.3). Alan Horton will continue to call the games, which will be distributed by Learfield IMG College to affiliates across the Upper Midwest.
The Minnesota Wild announced that ten games will be available on regional broadcast TV this season, beginning with the Oct. 3 game. Affiliates include Hubbard Broadcasting’s KSTP-TV/KSTC-TV in the Twin Cities and Hubbard stations in the Duluth and Rochester markets as well as Gray Media stations in 13 markets in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Minnesota Public Radio announced that Classical host Steve Seel is moving from evenings to mornings following the retirement of John Birge. Birge had been with MPR for 29 years and hosted mornings for the past 21 years.
Mike Wickett announced he is joining iHeart’s KXNO-FM/106.3 (Ankeny-Des Moines) to host a local show from 2 to 5 p.m. Wickett will also continue to host national shows for Westwood One. KXNO has been running FOX Sports Radio around the clock since cutbacks earlier this ear.
CBS O&O WCCO-TV/4 (Minneapolis) has debuted its new weather set incorporating wraparound graphics on the wall and floor, the same as other CBS O&O’s.
Gray Media NBC/CBS affiliates KVLY-TV/KXJB-LD (Fargo) have promoted Lisa Green to chief meteorologist as Russ Thomas departs. Green has been with the station for more than two decades and has worked on the morning newscast for the past 11 years.
Colton Molesky has joined Tegna NBC affiliate KARE 11 (Minneapolis) as a morning multiskilled journalist.
Reporter Ubah Ali announced her departure from CBS O&O WCCO-TV/4 (Minneapolis).
Anchor Baylee Peterson has departed Gray ABC/NBC/FOX stations KSFY/KDLT (Sioux Falls) for a new anchor/reporter position at Sinclair’s FOX 11 (WLUK Green Bay).
Meteorologist Brandon Libby is departing Allen Media NBC affiliate KWWL/7 (Waterloo).
Meteorologist Greg Barnhart has departed Morgan Murphy CBS affiliate WKBT/8 (La Crosse) for a new job in Georgia.
Sports anchor Charlie Yaeger has departed Lakeland PBS (KAWE/9 Bemidji and KAWB/22 Brainerd) for a new job in Texas.
WFRV/5 (Green Bay) is mourning the death of Karl Kilian, who had worked as a master control operator at the station for 35 years.
T-shirt sales are supporting the Iowa ALS Association and Jeriann Ritter, meteorologist at WHO-DT/13 (Des Moines), as Ritter battles bulbar ALS. Raygun is selling a shirt on its website to raise money for the ALS Association and also sold a different shirt that people wore to a Sept. 25 football game.
A belated note that the HD2 channel of KTCZ/97.1 (Minneapolis) is among the stations carrying iHeart TikTok Radio. KTCZ-HD2 had previously carried “K-Love,” which moved to the HD3 signal of KFXN-FM/100.3 (Minneapolis) last year.
CBC-TV announced that it is continuing the “Hockey Night in Canada” brand with eight games from the Professional Women’s Hockey League starting Dec. 5. The CBC had announced in June that it would no longer air Saturday night NHL games under the “Hockey Night in Canada” banner after failing to reach a new deal with SportsNet, which now holds the rights to the games.
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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.