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Podcast: The State of Spanish Radio: Its Future and Relevance
Monica Armenta (NM Broadcasters Assoc.) is joined by SDC Broadcasting’s Matt Martinez and Radio Ink and RBR+TVBR publisher Deborah Parenti to talk about Spanish-language radio; its growth, its challenges, and why it’s one of the most vibrant and resilient sectors of broadcasting.
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WBA joins DC fly-in to keep AM radio in every vehicle
Your WBA was in Washington D.C. this week, along with broadcasters representing 30 other states, to call on Congress to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The bills in both houses of Congress have overwhelming bipartisan support. The House bill has more than 300 cosponsors and the Senate bill has 60 cosponsors. Broadcasters…
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YP of the Month ‘excels in leadership’
A producer at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Melanie Walleser, is the WBA Young Professional of the Month for the month of July. The WBA Young Professional of the Month is a nominee for the WBA Young Professional of the Year Award. The award seeks to recognize young broadcasters who have made a significant impact on…
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Jowett Fellowship recipient wants radio to excel with video
A multimedia videographer at Woodward Community Media is the recipient of the Rick Jowett Fellowship. Logan O’Leary says while Woodward has a strong radio tradition, they’re forging a new path forward to also making it a reliable video production company. As the sole videographer for the company, he wants to grow the effort into a…
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WBA Foundation announces date for gubernatorial debate
The WBA Foundation Board will continue its 36-year tradition of holding statewide televised debates for Wisconsin’s voters by airing a general election debate in the 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial race. Qualifying gubernatorial candidates will be invited to participate in a debate on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., hosted by Milwaukee PBS. Radio and television stations from…
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Heather L. Reese named Interim Director of Wisconsin Public Media
Heather L. Reese has been named interim director of Wisconsin Public Media (WPM), the division at the University of Wisconsin — Madison that oversees Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and PBS Wisconsin. The announcement follows the recent death of Director Gene Purcell who had served in the role since 2018. Reese has worked at WPM since…
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Madison’s Lou Ann Schermerhorn dies
A Madison woman who started her career in broadcasting and became part of a broadcasting family has died. Lou Ann Schermerhorn died Sunday, July 25, 2021. She was 93 years old. She was first employed at WKOW Radio (now WTSO) where she met her future husband, John Schermerhorn. John signed on WKOW-TV as the first…
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Weekly Radio Addresses discuss election reform
This week’s Weekly Radio Addresses from Wisconsin’s Capitol discuss the topic of election reform. These addresses are available for Wisconsin broadcasters to use as they see fit. Here are the summaries from WisPolitics: — In this week’s Democratic radio address, Gov. Tony Evers talked about why he vetoed Republicans’ election bills. “These bills would’ve restricted…
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Public broadcaster was also teacher, consultant, mentor
A Madison man known for his work in broadcasting, teaching, nonprofit development, and consulting has died. Boris Frank died on Aug. 6. He was 89. According to his obituary, Frank graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in education and emphasis on speech and radio – TV communications. At the age of 23,…
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Allen retires from 40-year broadcasting career
Television executive Tom Allen has retired from the broadcast industry after four decades working in and managing local television stations. Allen retired in early August as a Regional Vice President with Quincy Media, where he oversaw the operation of Quincy owned television stations across Wisconsin and several other states. “I’ve been fortunate to have had…
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Portage man remembered for long career in radio
A Portage man with a long career in broadcasting has died. Robert “Bob” William O’Halloran died July 28. He was 69. O’Halloran started his broadcasting career at 16 at WPDR and went on to UW-Stevens Point, where he earned his degree in communications. From there, his radio career took him to WHBY, WNAM, WNFL, and…
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Spieker named regional engineer for NRG Media
NRG Media’s Wisconsin stations have named Brian Spieker as its new regional engineer. “Brian comes to us from the Fargo, North Dakota area where he worked for several large broadcasting companies,“ NRG Director of Engineering George Nicholas said. “He also has extensive remote and news and sports audio network programming experience as well. We look…
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Wisconsin Public Media remembers Director Gene Purcell
Wisconsin Public Media (WPM) is saddened by the death of Gene Purcell, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison division that provides statewide access to public media through Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and PBS Wisconsin since 2018. Purcell passed away Saturday from injuries suffered last week in a traffic crash in Madison. He was 61. A…
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Weekly Radio Addresses highlight differing approaches to addressing workforce issues
In this week’s Democratic radio address, Gov. Tony Evers highlighted a $130 million investment in workforce initiatives aimed at boosting the state’s economic recovery. Meanwhile, In this week’s GOP radio address, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, discussed Republican lawmakers’ recent attempt to override Evers’ veto of a bill to cut off extra federal unemployment benefits.…
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89Q establishes mentoring studio
A Wausau radio station is setting up a new studio aimed to mentoring high school students as future broadcasters. “Our goal is to help them understand radio from a non-commercial, CCM perspective,” wrote 89Q (WCLQ) General Manager Coy Sawyer. The program is expected to launch in the winter and will be open to local students.…
