People in the News

The Radio Television Digital News Foundation has announced the winners of its 2017 First Amendment Awards. The First Amendment Leadership Award goes to Hubbard CEO Stanley Hubbard and the First Amendment Service Award to ABC Radio News Vice President and General Manager Steve Jones.

iHeartMedia has promoted three programmers in Orlando. Brian Mack (pictured) gets the newly created role of VP of Branding for the Orlando cluster in addition to becoming PD for Magic 107.7. Mack will oversee the marketing strategy for all nine iHeart signals in Orlando. He'll also keep his gig as PD at XL 106.7. Here are the other changes...

Marilyn Russell is joining the WOGL-FM Breakfast Club in Philadelphia alongside co-hosts Frank Lewis and Bill Zimpfer. Russell is from Philly and started in radio in 1993 at modern rocker WDRE. She hosted a new music show, a local music show, and was music director.

The iHeart Chicago station announced Wednesday that Robin Rock will return as midday host. A 30-year vet, Rock first came to 93.9 MYfm nearly 20 years ago as midday host and spent over 16 years with the station. Since 2013, she's been a midday personality on various iHeartMedia stations across the country.

Chuck “DZL” Thompson has been named PD and midday host at iHeart's Alt. Rocker XL102 in Richmond. Thompson has two decades’ experience with his last position as APD/Music Director and afternoon host for WEND-FM in Charlotte. He’s also had stints in programming and promotions in Rochester, Atlanta, Columbia, and Canton, GA.

It's pretty much old news after it leaked out Tuesday. Both ESPN and SirisXM have confirmed that Stephen A. Smith is ending his run on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio and will begin on ESPN’s owned and operated stations in L.A. and New York on January 17. The same the two-hour program (1 p.m - 3 p.m.) will run on ESPN’s SiriusXM Channel 80.

Terry Boers joined sports station WSCR (The Score) in Chicago back in 1992. He was one of the station's first hosts following a long career as a columnist at the Chicago Sun Times. The station is sending off the host with a special live broadcast Thursday called "Toast to Terry," which Boers will host himself.

After over four years with Max Media's ESPN Radio 94.1 in Virginia Beach, Nick Cattles is returning to CBS Radio in Boston to work at The Sports Hub. Cattles came to Max Media from The Sports Hub back in 2012.

Westwood has produced and distributed Dave Ross' weekday feature for 25 years and that relationship will continue. Ross is a morning news host on KIRO-FM in Seattle and his daily commentary is heard on over 200 stations.

The Country station is owned by Steel City Media in Kansas City where Todd Nixon will take over as PD for Mike Kennedy, who retired at the end of 2016.