News Briefs - Dec. 7, 2012

Little Rock Morning Co-Host Missing. Cumulus CHR-Top40 "Alice 107.7" KLAL-FM, Little Rock, Arkansas, morning co-host Willard "DC McGehee" Moran has been reported missing after he failed to show up for work Friday. He's half of the "Heather and DC in the Morning" duo. Authorities say the case is under investigation. His concerned family says his car is still in his driveway and there were no signs of forced entry or a struggle. Police were searching the woods behind DC's house, and were also interviewing DC's family and friends, hoping for some clue to follow. They're asking that anyone with any information on the missing radio host's whereabouts to contact local law enforcement. In a note on the "Alice 107.7" Facebook page, the station says, "Thank you for the outpouring of prayer and concern for DC and his family. At this writing, we do not have any more information to share than the authorities have reported to the local news media. Please continue to pray for DC and for his family."

Journal Communications Announces New Debt Deal. Journal Communications announces a new deal with its lenders, altering its credit for up to $350 million in loans and giving the company "more flexibility." That added flexibility will be valuable if Journal decides to buy more stations. Says CFO Andre Fernandez, "The new structure will allow us to term out a portion of our debt at a competitive rate, while providing us both with additional flexibility and capacity to further grow the business. We are extremely pleased with the result and with the support received from our banking partners." The company has arranged a revolving credit facility of $200 million and a term loan facility of $150 million at 10% per year payable quarterly with the balance due at maturity. Both facilities mature on December 5, 2017. Also included is a revised consolidated funded debt ratio.

LA Lloyd Hocutt Appointed PD of Austin's KLBJ-FM. Former Cox Radio Rock KISS-FM, San Antonio, Program Director and afternoon host LA Lloyd Hocutt is returning to Austin as Program Director of Emmis Rock KLBJ-FM, beginning January 7. Lloyd will continue his syndicated "LA Lloyd's Rock Countdown." He was APD at Alternative "101X" KROX-FM, Austin, for several years and worked with the Austin American-Statesman's streaming "Radio 360." Lloyd has also worked at "96X" WROX-FM, Norfolk, and WKZQ-FM, Myrtle Beach.

Interactive One Partners with BlackAmericaWeb. Urban digital media company Interactive One announces a content, sales and marketing partnership for BlackAmericaWeb.com with the website's parent company, Reach Media, and website founder Tom Joyner. The partnership will be managed by Interactive One Studios, the company's business unit that offers product, technology, content, advertising sales and marketing services to digital publishers. BlackAmericaWeb.com will migrate to the Interactive One proprietary platform while using Interactive One's editorial content, audience and marketing. Reach Media will also work with Interactive One to expand its sales opportunities with Interactive One's digital advertising partners. "Having Reach Media as a Studios partner is a terrific opportunity," says Interactive One President Tom Newman. "This relationship combines our expertise in digital with their tremendous brand, content, and offline presence."

Jeff Schechtman to Step Down as Napa GM. Jeff Schechtman will step down as General Manager of two Napa, California stations -- Talk KVON-AM and Hot AC "99.3 The Vine" KVYN-FM -- January 1, after almost 10 years in the position. He originally joined as an air personality in 1996, and later became General Manager, continuing to do a daily talk show on KVON-AM Schechtman tells us that "10 years is a long time in any one job, and with the possible potential sale of the station, it seemed an ideal time to move on to pursue some projects I've been thinking about for quite some time. There is always a tendency to get stale after too long in one job, and in one place."

Nags Head's '95.3 The Rock' Relaunches as 'Pirate 95.3'. We previously reported that East Carolina Radio's Classic Rock "95.3 The Rock" WOBR-FM, Nags Head, North Carolina, was stunting, running loops of lounge music with liners saying, "Don't Fear Change." Now we learn that WOBR-FM has ended the stunting and relaunched as "Pirate 95.3" with the slogan "Rock Without Rules" as it expands its playlist to include current Rock tracks, with a variety of music from the 1980s through today. East Carolina Radio's other stations currently cover Classic Hits, Country, Urban, and Christian formats.

Jose Valle Named Executive of The Year by 'Radio Ink'. Radio Ink magazine chooses Univision Radio President Jose Valle as its Executive of the Year. "Valle, who started out as a receptionist at KTNQ and KLVE in Los Angeles, is now responsible for 70 radio stations in 16 of the top U.S. Hispanic markets and five stations in Puerto Rico, leading 1,100 Univision employees. And among the stations Valle now runs are KTNQ and KLVE, where he once answered the phones," reports RadioInk.com. Valle says of the designation, "This is radio. This is fun stuff. Being able to enjoy what we do, having a connection to our folks that put up banners – because I've been there, working with the traffic department. I've been there, and I understand the dilemma of salespeople bringing in orders past the deadline. All those kinds of things, I think, play into it, but at the end of the day, I think it's about transparency and being authentic. I want to say thank you to Radio Ink."

The Ins and Outs of Radio
Programming veteran Gary Nolan is in at Clear Channel Panama City, Florida, where he's the new cluster Operations Manager, and direct Program Director and afternoon host at Country WPAP-FM. Nolan, who begins in Panama City December 20, joins from Clear Channel's Binghamton cluster ... Morning host Chris Carmichael is promoted to Program Director at Country WKCY-FM, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and adds PD for AC sister "Mix 93.1" WSVO-FM, Staunton, Virginia. He will also continue hosting mornings at "104.3 The Valley’s Country Station” WKCY-FM ... Andy Green joins Active Rock WRIF-FM, Detroit as Assistant PD and Music Director, starting December 17. He fills the gap created by the recent exit of Suzy Cole for a position in Los Angeles. Green was previously at Active Rock WGRD-FM, Grand Rapids ... "The Mighty 1290" KOIL-AM, Omaha, signs afternoon host Tom Becka to new contract that includes an expanded weekday talk show that will air 2-6pm starting January 2. Since this past April when he started there, Becka has aired 4-6pm ... Sports Talk WEEI Boston names veteran market sportscaster Kevin Winter as the new morning sports anchor for the "Dennis and Callahan" morning show ... Former Border Media Partners Austin Operations Manager Jeff Wolf is named Program Director at News Talk WFLA-FM and Sports Talk WNLS-AM, Tallahassee.