At its meeting yesterday (2/12), The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents has approved the renaming of the University’s public radio station broadcast facility to The Timko Broadcast Center at Halle Library, honoring Art Timko, former general manager of WEMU 89.1.
At the conclusion of WEMU’s 60th anniversary, veteran broadcasters David Fair and Michael Jewett have announced their retirements from Eastern Michigan University’s WEMU-FM (Ypsilanti), effective June 30, 2026. News Director and Morning Edition host David Fair has been with the station since 1994 while Senior Music Announcer/Operations Manager Michael Jewett recently celebrated his 42nd anniversary with WEMU.
This past Monday (2/9), Cumulus Media announced that veteran Michigan air talent Kim St. James will add airshift duties at its WLAV-FM (Grand Rapids). St. James takes over the midday air shift previously held by Jackie Green, who left the company after a decade.
Wayne State University’s WDET-FM (Detroit) has announced a couple of programming changes. After two incredible years of bringing energy, soul, and deep Detroit flavor to the WDET airwaves, Mike Latulippe will be wrapping up his run as host of The Detroit Move.
Morgan Murphy Media will launch a new Marketing and Creative Services team — a company-wide initiative designed to streamline and strengthen marketing efforts across all its platforms. Scot Chastain, General Manager at WISC-TV Madison and a seasoned marketing leader, has been named vice president of the new team effective immediately. Reporting to Scot in leadership roles will be directors Chris Hussey and Ross Lytle, currently marketing leaders within the company.
In the last few days, there have been a series of articles and alerts that have alarmed broadcasters and caused worry that fines would be coming their way for not updating and correcting any FCC Registration Number (FRN) associated with their operations.
Last Friday (1/30), the FCC issued a Public Notice strongly urging broadcasters to implement immediate cybersecurity protections after a rise in ransomware attacks on small and mid-size communications companies. This is not a routine advisory. The FCC is making clear that stations are expected to follow recognized cybersecurity best practices and that certain incidents may trigger mandatory reporting to federal authorities.
A years-long investigation by WXYZ-TV (Detroit) detailing how troubled police officers were able to find new badges throughout Michigan has been honored with the duPont-Columbia Award, the highest honor in broadcast journalism. The series of reports documented how problem officers were able to find refuge in neighboring departments, frequently leaving scandal, criminal charges and lawsuits in their wake.
This past week, Wayne State University’s WDET-FM (Detroit) shared the sad news of the passing of Ismael Ahmed, the longtime host of This Island Earth and a beloved voice on the station. Ahmed passed away this last Saturday (1/31). He was 78. In a story posted on its website, the station noted that “Ismael was more than a broadcaster — he was a tireless advocate for culture, community, and justice, and his work touched generations across Detroit and beyond.”
The announcement of the coming window came by a draft Public Notice to be considered by the Commissioners at their next monthly open meeting on February 18. The Notice to be considered at the February meeting would instruct the Media Bureau to open a window for the filing of new translators in the reserved band, reserved for use by noncommercial licensees (including Low Power FM stations).