Jay Weber, morning host at iHeartMedia Conservative Talker WISN/1130 (Milwaukee), has announced plans to leave daily broadcasting after his Dec. 23 show. Weber has been at the station for 35 years. He’ll host a twice-weekly podcast starting in April 2026, joining former WISN host Mark Belling, who made the same switch one year ago.
Mid-West Family Radio News/Talker WIZM/1410 (La Crosse) has hired Sean Dwyer to take over its morning show, “La Crosse Talk.” Dwyer is the former longtime news director at ABC affiliate WXOW/19 (La Crosse). Rick Solem, who had been covering mornings since longtime host Mike Hayes died of cancer last year, will move back to the 5 p.m. hour.
Sports anchor/reporter Spencer Pierce has announced plans to depart Hubbard ABC affiliate WDIO/10 (Duluth).
Gray NBC affiliate KTIV/4 (Sioux City) has parted ways with meteorologist Jacob Howard. The departure prompted a large online response, including a petition. Howard responded with a video saying he couldn’t talk about what happened, but that the decision was made by management. He urged people to not to harass his former colleagues.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $20,000 for WIXX/101.1 (Green Bay) morning co-host Natalie Jansen, who was injured in a sledding accident. The fundraiser says Jansen faces at least 6 to 12 weeks in a back brace.
Longtime Quad Cities broadcaster Jim Albracht has died at the age of 75, reports WHBF, KWQC, and WQAD. Albracht’s career included work at WOC/1420, KFMH/99.7, the Iowa Hawkeye Radio Network, WQAD/8, and the Quad City Steamwheelers.
Iowa Public Radio told supporters, in an appeal for donations, that it must move its master control after it was “informed by Iowa State University that our Master Control studios and core network datacenter could not remain in the communications building at Iowa State.”
Iowa PBS announced the first change to its late-afternoon schedule in more than two decades, dropping an hour of children’s programming and moving the start of “PBS News Hour” back a half-hour to 6 p.m. “Rick Steves’ Europe” and “Antiques Roadshow” will be added to the daily schedule. The changes are effective Jan. 1. The announcement also notes that PBS is ending “PBS News Weekend” after the Jan. 11 edition.
All-Christmas Update: If there’s a prize for holiday spirit, Madison is the likely winner after a fifth area radio station flipped to All-Christmas: Mid-West Management’s “Magic 98” (WMGN/98.1) made the switch on Dec. 5. The flip lengthens WMGN’s previous “98 Hours of Christmas Magic” tradition. Across the Upper Midwest, at least 156 stations have flipped to All-Christmas, a new record. (For more data, see last week’s post, “What Changed, And What Didn’t, With Christmas 2025 Radio Flips.”) Find all the flips on the 2025 All-Christmas Stations list.
In case you missed it here:
- Update: FCC Approves Temporary Facilities after Winona Tower Collapse
- Sale Splits Radio Station Ownership in Centerville, Iowa
- FCC Monitor: LPTV Station Granted Move to IDS Center
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