People in the News

KUT and KUTX (Austin) Associate Director of Broadcast and Content Hawk Mendenhall will retire on December 31. He joined KUT 90.5 in 2001 when the station was a music and national news format.

Entercom has named Walter Flakus Assistant Program Director and afternoon drive host for Alt station 107.7 The End (KNDD-FM) in Seattle.

77 WABC Radio will broadcast The John Batchelor Show live this week from the center of Tokyo. Batchelor will be joined by Christopher Nixon Cox.

On Friday the network reminded all employees to avoid politics. The reminder was prompted by ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard who railed against President Trump and ESPN on his show last week.

On his Twitter page Blare Garner said Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg was the only candidate who asked him for an interview. Then he tweeted, "My employer decided I couldn't air it."

Word comes from Market Manager John Kijowski that Tommy Mattern is his new Operations Manager in St. Louis. Mattern said, "I look forward to working with our local programmers and our sales staffs to strengthen our ratings and grow our revenue at these five big brands.”

Educational Media Foundation — parent company of K-LOVE and Air1 Contemporary Christian radio networks — has named Bill Reeves, founder and President of the WTA Group, as CEO.

Long-time host Rich Lord has left the building at SportsRadio 610 (KILT-AM) in Houston. He said his time at the station has been the most rewarding, fulfilling, and satisfying experience of his professional life. Morning man Mike Meltser is also out.

Gavin Granstrom has joined WAY-FM’s The Wally Show as Producer/Digital Media Specialist. He replaces Zach Boehm, who was promoted to Director of Digital Content. 

Westwood One has promoted George King (left) and Eric Sundstrom in its 24-hour formats division. King is now Vice President and General Manager of the 24-hour division, up from VP/Programming for Country. Sundstrom's new position is Affiliate Sales VP, up from Regional Affiliate Manager.