The MAB has learned that longtime West Michigan Christian radio owner Les Lanser passed away July 30th at the age of 91. Lanser, along with his family, own WPNW-AM/WJQK-FM in Zeeland.
Last Friday (7/31), WEMU-FM (Ypsilanti) General Manager Molly Motherwell announced that longtime music host, Jeremy Baldwin, has accepted the position of Senior Music Announcer, taking over for Michael Jewett who retired at the end of June.
Russell spent most of his career in radio here in Michigan, working at stations such as WKPK-FM (Gaylord), WFCX/WFDX-FM (Traverse City), WFGR-FM (Grand Rapids), WKHM-FM (Jackson), WUPS-FM (Houghton Lake) and WHMI-FM (Howell). He also held positions in his long career in Rapid City, South Dakota.
This past Monday (8/3), the Radio Hall of Fame announced the selection of nine 2026 Legends inductees. These individuals have received induction by the determination of the Radio Hall of Fame 2026 Nominating Committee, who annually meet to determine inductees who contributed with greatness to the radio industry and have since passed away.
In early July, we wrote about the FCC’s decision to require that all broadcasters take measures to secure their EAS operations – and in the process secure their entire program chain – to make sure that malicious actors can’t hack into their systems and send false alerts. The FCC today published in the Federal Register the order making those changes, which will require broadcasters to meet these security requirements in 60 days – by September 29.
The finalists in various categories include WJR-AM (Detroit), WIOG-FM (Saginaw) and WDZZ-FM (Flint). In addition, WLEN-FM (Adrian) President, CEO and General Manager Julie Koehn received a nomination in the Legendary Radio Manager of the Year category.
Nguyen joins WXYZ and The Spot Detroit 20 from FOX 32 Chicago, where she served as Sports Anchor and Reporter. During her time there, Nguyen covered Chicago’s biggest sporting events including the MLB All-Star Game, the Chicago Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams, the Cubs’ postseason, and iconic local teams including the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox.
Bill Gallagher, a beloved former reporter for WJBK-TV (Detroit) who spent decades covering news for the station, has died. Gallagher, 79, had been dealing with “a number of health issues,” the station reported Friday, July 24, and had been living at home in Lewiston, New York, under hospice care.
One deadline that most commercial broadcasters should be anticipating is the FCC’s Order that will set the amount of their Annual Regulatory Fees. Payment of those fees will be due sometime in September before the October 1 start of the federal government’s new fiscal year. These announcements usually come in late August or in the first few days of September.
It’s a need that Mike Murri, Scripps regional vice president and general manager of WXYZ and WMYD, hopes the station’s Day of Giving will address. “What stands out to me is that people in the past that have given to Forgotten Harvest now find themselves recipients. You never know when this will strike your family or when you’ll have a need.”