Mark Mason Returns to KEX, Portland for New Midday Talk Show. Portland radio personality
Mark Mason is returning after a three-year hiatus to
iHeartMedia's "News Radio 1190" KEX to host a new midday talk show, beginning Monday (1/23). Mason co-hosted the "Mark & Dave" show with
Dave Anderson on the station
for 18 years. Anderson lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last year. Mason says, "After I lost my good friend and co-host Dave Anderson, my perspective on life changed and I wanted to return to the Portland
community that embraced me. I'm excited to return to the KEX family and bring my 100% hate-free brand of talk radio back to Portland." KEX says the new 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm program will offer Mason's "uplifting perspective on pop culture, national news, politics and currents events, as well as reports on local news, traffic and weather." KEX program director
Cort Webber comments, "We are thrilled to have Mark back home at KEX where he belongs. The place just hasn't been the same without him. We're excited to kick off a new year and a new administration with a new show from an old friend." Mason continues to serve as the public address announcer for the Portland Trailblazers, a role he has held for the past 21 years.
Emmis Promotes Conner to Lead Network Indiana. Longtime
Emmis Terre Haute general manager
James Conner is taking over the general manager role for the company's
Network Indiana, effective January 30. Network Indiana is a statewide service providing news, sports and business programming to affiliated radio
stations. Emmis Indianapolis senior vice president and general manager
Chuck Williams states, "James will lead Network Indiana with a mission to continue our history of building meaningful value with our Network Indiana team and for our affiliates. Network Indiana is a strong brand and an important ingredient in the success of our Emmis Indianapolis Radio Division. James will be focused on helping our team grow Network Indiana relationships, operations and of course, growing value for this historic Emmis Brand." The company says Conner has successfully managed the radio stations in Terre Haute the last 22 years, noting that the cluster has consistently accounted for more than 40% of the market revenue.
Trump Inauguration Top News/Talk Story for Week of January 16-20, 2017. The Inauguration of the 45
th President of the United States and the protests against
Donald Trump tied for the most-talked-about story on news/talk radio this week, landing atop the Talkers Ten
TM. At #2 this week was the last days of the
Barack Obama presidency. Coming in at #3 was the several cabinet confirmation hearings, followed by the
Chelsea Manning commutation at #4. The Talkers Ten
TM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed on news/talk radio during the week and is the result of ongoing research from
TALKERS magazine. It is published every Friday at Talkers.com. View this week's entire chart
here.
Beasley Names Randy Bliss to Programming Role and Promotes Tap Money in Fayetteville. At the Fayetteville, North Carolina cluster of
Beasley Media Group, a new programmer comes aboard and another adds new PD duties. First,
Randy Bliss joins the
company as operations manager of the Fayetteville cluster, he takes on the program director role at adult contemporary WAZZ-AM/W232CI "Sunny 94.3," and he'll host the afternoon drive show on country WKML. Market manager
Erika Beasley comments, "Randy
brings his hands-on experience and success in a number of formats, which we welcome in Fayetteville. From his extensive research skills to his ability to incorporate both sales and programming to ensure success, Randy has proven he is a tried-and-true radio pro!" At the same time, hip hop WZFX "FOXY 99" program director
Tap Money adds programming duties for sister rhythmic oldies WUKS "Old School 107.7 JAMZ" to his responsibilities. Beasley EVP of programming
Justin Chase states, "Beasley is an organization that enjoys promoting good people from within and it is especially exciting when it's a rock star like Tap Money! Tap is a radio hero who has lifted WZFX to an entirely new level in ratings and revenue. We have no doubt he will improve our urban footprint in Fayetteville as begins working with WUKS."
