Wisconsin Public Media is now looking for two top leaders after Wisconsin Public Radio Director Mike Crane announced Tuesday that he will leave the network this fall.
Crane wrote in an email to listeners that he will be stepping down on Oct. 1 after 11 years with the state-owned network. Crane did not cite a reason for his departure but said he will remain an avid listener and supporter.
“It has been an honor and privilege to have served in this role and to have worked with the station’s talented staff this past decade,” he wrote.
WPR and PBS Wisconsin are operated by a partnership of the UW-Madison Division of Wisconsin Public Media and the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board. The UW Board of Regents is the licensee of some network stations, while WECB is the licensee of others.
A statement on WPR’s website says WPM and the WECB will name an interim director for WPR before Crane’s departure.
The organizations are also looking for a director of WPM after the death of Gene Purcell in a motorcycle accident in early August. Heather Reese is serving as interim director of WPM.
WPR operates two primary services: one carries NPR’s flagship morning and afternoon news programs with Classical music in the midday and evening hours, while the Ideas Network carries statewide call-in and magazine shows as well as NPR News/Talk programming and the BBC World Service.
