It’s Official: Grayson to Host Midday Show at KTRS, St. Louis.  Last week, TALKERS reported that St. Louis talk show host Jon Grayson had exited CBS RADIO’s KMOX and was rumored to be headed across the street to news/talk KTRS “The Big 550.”  That has been confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Holleman.  He reports that Grayson will indeed assume hosting duties for the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon slot at the station.  Grayson had been with KMOX for the past 16 years.  He’d been handling the overnight show.  That program had also been syndicated nationally via Westwood One but the syndicator ended the national program deal in December of last year.  KTRS general manager Mark Dorsey tells the Post-Dispatch, “We’re excited to have a talent of Jon’s caliber joining our on-air team at KTRS.  His personality and wit are a great fit for what our listeners have come to expect.”  Previously heard in the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon slot at KTRS were Martin Kilcoyne and Randi Naughton.  Kilcoyne recently jumped to market sports talker KFNS.

PPM Analysis: Sports Talk.  Managing editor Mike Kinosian presents a look at the performances of sports talk radio stations based on the Nielsen Audio Holiday 2016 PPM survey.  Although the ratings period (December 1 through January 4) is one in which much of the industry attention is given to the stations that go all-Christmas music, it’s a time when the NFL season is in its final month as the playoffs approach, college football fans are looking forward to the playoffs and the NBA and NHL seasons are in full swing.  In this report, you can see how subscribing stations performed (6+) compared to the December survey, how they fared comparing Holiday 2015 to Holiday 2016, plus see how stations ranked in their respective markets.  See it all here.

Trump Press Conference, Travel Ban Redux, U.S.-Russia Relations, Pence Attends Munich Security Conference, ‘Day without Immigrants’ Protest, Maher Hosts Milo Yiannopoulos, Poll Indicates American’s Bullish on the Economy, Threats to Cut Federal Arts Funding, and NBA All-Star Game Among Top News/Talk Stories Over the Weekend.  President Donald Trump’s Thursday press conference; the Trump Administration’s plans to issue a second, revamped travel order affecting seven predominantly Muslim nations; the relations between the U.S. and Russia in the aftermath of allegations the Trump campaign had been in contact with Russian officials and businessmen; Vice President Mike Pence attends the weekend conference in Munich assuring Europe the U.S. supports NATO; Thursday’s “Day without Immigrants” protest and its aftermath; the flap over Bill Maher’s hosting Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos on his HBO “Real Time” show; the results of a Harvard-Harris poll indicating a majority of American’s are very positive about the American economy; the threats by the Trump Administration to cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts and others from the federal budget; and the NBA All-Star game were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio over the weekend, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Music Radio News and Career Moves.  At the Long Island operations of Connoisseur Media, there are three personnel moves to report.  First, Christina Kay is promoted to the afternoon drive show on hot AC WALK.  Kay has been with the company the past six years, most recently as production assistant and “go-to” fill-in host for the company’s five Long Island signals.  Program director Tommy Conway says, “Christina’s commitment to the WALK brand has been stamped and certified a hundred times over.  She brings loads of star power, hard work and an infectious smile.  Our audience loves her and so do we.”  Second, the company promotes Joe Varecha to marketing director, in which he’ll oversee marketing strategy for Connoisseur Media Long Island.  He’s an eight-year company staffer who began as an intern.  Finally, Michael Keeney – who also started as an intern in the promotions department eight years ago – is promoted to promotions director…..Adams Radio Group promotes Kevin Musselman to vice president and general manager for its Fort Wayne, Indiana station group, consisting of classic rock WXKE, country WBTU “US 93.3,” CHR WJFX “HOT 107.9,” adult contemporary WWFW “Sunny 103.9,” sports talk WGL-AM, news/talk W277AK “The Patriot,” and oldies WLYV-AM.  Adams president and CEO Ron Stone states, “Kevin is a perfect fit for the GM role.  He has been with Adams from the day we acquired the market and has built an amazing sales organization.  It’s a big job overseeing nine frequencies in one market and I am confident Kevin is the leader we need.”…..Townsquare Media brings Bill Fox aboard country WOKQ, Portsmouth, New Hampshire to co-host the morning drive show with Kira Lew.  The move allows operations manager and brand manager JC Coffey to move back to the afternoon drive daypart.  Fox was most recently host of adult contemporary WYJB, Albany’s “The B95.5 Breakfast Club.”…..Station personality Chelsea Alayne is promoted to program director and afternoon drive host at Community Broadcasters’ CHR WECQ, Fort Walton Beach “Q92.”  She takes over for Sean Mack, who recently exited to join Entercom’s hot AC KAMX, Austin.

Tags: Adams Radio Group, Chelsea Alayna, Christina Kay, Connoisseur Media, Jon Grayson, Kevin Musselman, KMOX, KTRS, Long Island, Mike Kinosian, news/talk radio, Nielsen Audio, Sports Talk, St. Louis, Talk Host, Talkers Magazine, Townsquare Media, WALK

Category: Front Page News, Industry News