Monday, March 09, 2009

THIS JUST IN: Jennings Exits WGAR, New WGAR/WMVX PD

As earlier reported on the radio trade sites, Clear Channel country WGAR/99.5 Cleveland program director Brian Jennings has exited Oak Tree due to "budget cuts".

Jennings took over as WGAR's program director two years ago, and tells AllAccess that he "is actively looking for his next programming gig".

Back at Oak Tree, OMW hears that a new program director has been hired that will not only oversee programming the country powerhouse, but also handle the same duties at hot AC WMVX/106.5 "Mix 106.5". Veteran program director Chris Miller will take over programming duties for both, since programming just one station is such a quaint concept in 2009.

And darn it, how do these memos keep floating into our open window? We'll take advantage of the prevailing winds out of Independence:

Chris most recently was the PD of 97.1 The River for Cox in Atlanta. His career of programming top rated radio stations in several adult formats in markets like Atlanta, Portland and Dallas will serve our stations well. His first day will be Thursday the 19th.

The memo about Miller's hiring briefly confirms that Brian Jennings is "no longer with" Clear Channel's Cleveland cluster...and yes, they wish Brian "nothing but the best".

We will make the easy assumption that this Chris Miller isn't the former WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" sports anchor...unless he's been leading quite a busy double life...

1 comment:

firebird said...

97.1 The River is a horrible radio station. They have one of the tightest playlists in Atlanta. Same old songs played 8 or 9 times a day. And, after nearly 5 years, they still call themselves "The New 97.1, The River."

Yet, they do well in the ratings, but that's only because CBS and Clear Channel have run their Atlanta stations into the ground.