WYMS-FM (88.9) assistant program director and morning host Jordan Lee has been named program director at the station, also known as Radio Milwaukee. He replaces veteran radio consultant and programmer Sean Demery who joined the station last fall.
Demery resigned to return to his home in Park City, Utah, because of “family health matters” but will stay a consultant.
“Sean worked very hard for us and set the stage for our continued growth,” said Executive Director Mary Louise Mussoline said.
My first Milwaukee Magazine Micropayment column is an interview with WKLH-FM (96.5) vice president and general manager Annmarie Topel on the fallout following the departure of morning show co-host Carole Caine. The station believes some of the outcry is part of an organized campaign.
Please support this experiment by subscribing to access my content at Imoneza. If you cannot afford the 25-cents, I will be performing dramatic readings of the story at a yet to be disclosed location.
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I was on the road when the Emmy nominations were announced so consider this a belated report on any local connections. The pickings are thin. So please send me any names that I missed.
Now that E. W. Scripps owned WTMJ-AM no longer has a newspaper as part of the family, it has entered into an agreement with Milwaukee Business Journal for “exclusive radio content.”
The partnership allows “team coverage on business news and information.”
WTMJ will air up to eight Business Journal updates daily “featuring the latest on business news.”
The paper’s reporters will also appear on the station’s news and talk shows.
The complete release is below:
There are a few things going on in the Milwaukee media market not named WKLH and Carole Caine.
They include:
—The Journal Sentinel reports that WMJR-FM (98.3) has once again dropped the syndicated “Tom Joyner Show” for the second time in three years. It is being replaced by a morning show hosted by staffer Andrea Williams.
—WDJT-TV (Channel 58) has hired veteran broadcast journalist as assistant news director. Hanner spent six years as producer for CBS’ “The Early Show” and was an assistant news director at NewsChannel8 cable channel in Washington. Hanner’s family is originally from Milwaukee.
Unlike its television station sibling, E.W. Scripps Company owned WTMJ-AM (620) has acted relatively quickly to fill the anchor seat on “Wisconsin’s Morning News with Gene Mueller.”
The station has named Bonnie Petrie to fill the position vacated by Jodi Becker in May.
Petrie is a native of Upstate new York, and recently worked at news / talk station KROI in Houston the nation’s sixth biggest market.
In October that station flipped to a classic hip hop format.
Petrie, who has more than 20 years of broadcast experience, also worked at KRLD in Dallas, and WGY in Albany.
On Monday WKLH-FM (96.5) confirmed it has added Dorene Michaels as its news reader. The addition came a week after Carole Caine a 29-year veteran of the station was let go.
Michaels has worked at sister station WHQG-FM (102.9) reading news and as a fill-in announcer.
“We often lean on our parther WISN-12 for news/weather, but we prefer to have our news delivered in-studio which affords an opportunity for interaction and discussion on stories and events,” said Bob Bellini, operation and brand manager for both stations, in an an email.
This year fireworks came before the July 4th holiday.
The big bang on Monday was long time WKLH-FM (96.5) morning show co-host Carole Caine being shown the door when her contract wasn’t renewed. She had been with the station for 29 years.
Industry observers speculated that firing a veteran might be a cost cutting move related to expenses incurred in a copyright infringement settlement by parent company Saga Communications with A. C. Nielsen ratings service.
Saga must also now pay to subscribe to the ratings service at all its stations.
WMYX-FM (99.1) morning show co-host Kidd O’Shea announced on the air Wednesday that he is leaving the station to work in television at WJLA-TV the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.
In an email he confirmed that he will be social media anchor for “Good Morning Washington.”
O’Shea, a Milwaukee native, is also a lifestyle reporter for WISN-TV (Channel 12).
He attended Homestead High School and Cardinal Stritch College. He joined WMYX in 2004 after working at WKTI-FM for eight years. He started at WKTI when he was 16-years old.
WKLH-FM (96.5) will not renew the contract of veteran morning show co-host Carole Caine, the station announced Monday.
Her last day was today, Monday June. 29.
Caine has been partners on the show with Dave Luczak for almost thirty years, during which time the “Dave and Carole” show became a local institution.
Luczak came to the station, then WMGF in 1983, with Don Girard. Caine became newsperson in 1985 and full time co-host in 1986.
Luczak will remain on the morning show, the station announced. A link to Caine’s bio on the station’s website turns up “page not found.”
The Lake is causing waves.
E. W. Scripps Company has contacted a Racine station that branded itself as The Lake to assert its copyright related to the nickname.
Scripps station WLWK-FM abandoned the slogan and changed formats last week.
The Racine station WMKQ-FM (92.1) confirmed that it had been contacted by Scripps about using The Lake and that “lawyers are involved.
Steve Wexler, vice president of radio for Scripps, had no comment. He previously said no lawsuit had been filed.
WLWK changed its call letters to WKTI-FM (94.5) and switched from adult pop music to country music last Friday.