Pillar Media has named Mike Couchman Chief Programming Officer, effective November 16. Couchman joins from Gateway Creative Broadcasting in St. Louis, where he most recently served as Operations Manager for BOOST Radio Network, 99.1 JOY FM and WorshipOne.
The move fills a vacancy left by Matt Stockman, who announced his departure in May to pursue consulting full-time. Stockman spent more than six years at Pillar Media, joining in 2020 as director of programming at STAR 99.1 before rising to Chief Programming Officer.
At Gateway, Couchman helped create Christian Hip-Hop-formatted BOOST Radio and grow it from a single signal into a national network. Pillar also lauds what they call Couchman’s key role in establishing 99.1 JOY FM (KLJY) as a consistent top performer in the market. Couchman will oversee Pillar Media’s five-station lineup of New York City’s STAR 99.1 (WAWZ); Cincinnati’s STAR 93.3 (WAKW); and Denver’s STAR 101.5 (KSRC), The New Flo 107.1 (KFCO), and AM910 (KPOF-AM).
Pillar Media Executive Director Art Garza said, “We are truly grateful to welcome Mike Couchman to our team. His experience, programming expertise, heart, and vision align with our mission, and we believe God has uniquely equipped him to lead our programming team forward.”
Couchman said, “Serving with the team at BOOST Radio/JOY FM/WorshipOne has been an incredible privilege. I’ll always be grateful for what God allowed me to be part of. I’m also excited to see what He’s doing at Pillar Media and honored to be part of what He has in store next.”
Stockman added, “I am incredibly proud of the programming team at Pillar Media. Entrusting their next chapter to another leader isn’t easy, but I am so excited for the future of our stations with Mike Couchman at the helm.”
