People in the News

iHeartMedia has appointed Tracy Bethea as program director of WDIA (1070 AM), its urban oldies and classic soul station in Memphis. She reports to Sue “Bis Sue” Purnell, the senior vice president of programming at iHeart's mid-South area.

iHeartMedia says its Denver-based world-class rock station KBCO (97.3 FM) has hired Robbyn Hart to host mid-days, starting Monday. Hart will host the midday show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, and will report to program director Scott Arbough.

Iliad Media Group’s self-syndication unit announced Joey & Lauren in the Morning have added Rhythmic CHR KEZE Hot 96.9 in Spokane as a new affiliate.

Amy Leimbach has been named the regional SVP of sales for the newly-created greater Texas region, and Steve Earnhart has been appointed regional SVP of sales for the greater Arizona region. Additionally, Breeanna Malik has been named the executive VP of the unified partnership team at iHeartMedia.

Long-time Seattle host Gregg Hersholt is retiring from Lotus' KNWN (1000 AM, 97.7 FM) on Friday. The retirement caps a five-decade broadcasting career, much of it spent in the Seattle market. Brian Calvert will fill Hersholt's role as morning news co-host, starting Tuesday.

Salem Media Group has appointed Andy Massingill as its senior director of digital sales. Massingill moves into the position after serving in a leadership with Salem for its western region, where he helped open additional revenue streams for the company there.

Capitol Broadcasting's classical radio station KMFA (89.5 FM) in Austin has appointed George Preston as its chief executive officer. Preston will join the station at the end of the month; he will be responsible for the overall strategic, operational, financial, and managerial leadership of the station.

Conservative commentator Rich Valdés will now be syndicated by Cumulus' Westwood One in the 10PM to 1AM time slot. He's also getting a new podcast.

TM Studios announced on Wednesday that sales veteran Steve Kaufman has been hired to work in affiliate sales. Kaufman will work alongside Chris Stevens and pitch the TM product catalogue to stations across North America.

Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group, has hired Scott Masteller as a Sports Consultant. Crowd React Media specializes in Sports Media and Sports Betting research.