After 44 years behind the mic in the Midwest, Jane Matenaer is taking her final bow. The Matenaer On Air host told listeners Monday that she’ll retire at year’s end.
Matenaer began her career in 1981, helping launch KXLP-FM in New Ulm, MN. She later moved to Racine in 1984, joining WMYX, where she became a fixture on the morning show for 24 years. Her career also included morning show roles at B93 and WTMJ before joining Civic Media shortly after its launch in 2022, first as a producer and later as host of Matenaer On Air.
Over the course of her career, Matenaer earned multiple Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awards for “Best Morning Show” and a 2018 regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
Civic Media plans to celebrate Matenaer’s career with a series of special guests appearing on Matenaer On Air in the weeks leading up to her retirement.
“When I started my radio career, my goal was to be a ‘cool, nighttime rock chick,’” said Matenaer. “Tragically, I was none of those things. Fortunately, I had the support of those who believed I had potential and encouraged me to follow a slightly different path – to morning radio. And while I never envisioned eventually moving from music to talk radio, the transition has been the most rewarding experience of my life, and these last three years at Civic Media have been the proudest of my 40-plus-year career.”
Matenaer added, “Thank you to Civic Media for believing in a 60-something woman to host her own show and for your commitment to community-based radio and to a healthy democracy. And most of all, thank you to the people who’ve listened and called and texted and welcomed me into their homes and cars for all these years. The stories and comments and laughs we’ve shared have changed my life for the better. They mean the world to me.”
