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The Fresno Bee Rick Bentley column [The Fresno Bee :: ](Fresno Bee, The (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 10--Greg Lane, who in January was unceremoniously dumped from his longtime job at KISS Country radio, is returning to the local airwaves today. He is taking over the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift at The Wolf, KHGE (FM 102.7). "I think this is going to be a great fit. They are giving me so many opportunities," Lane says. "I am so excited to be back on the air. The only thing is that it's a little weird being the new guy." It's been 23 years since Lane started his last new job. He came to KISS Country in August 1991 after working 10 years in Sacramento. "Greg is exactly the right person to host middays on 102.7 The Wolf," program director Nick Cash says. "He has deep Central Valley roots and will deliver exactly what country music's passionate, young audience wants during their workdays." Conversations regarding Lane joining The Wolf started almost immediately after his days at KISS Country ended. But, it took some time for the management of the local Clear Channel station to create the opening for Lane. Lane says he looked at a few job opportunities in other markets, but never wanted to leave Fresno. "This is home to me. I saw that when I was out and about and people would stop me to tell me how terrible it was that I wasn't on the air. That kind of reaction humbles you." Lane is not the only former Cumulus Media employee to find a new job. Skip Essick, the former program director for KMJ's news/talk radio stations (AM 580 and FM 105.9), has joined the Childers Media Group in Lima, Ohio, a radio broadcast and marketing company. He also is keeping his connection to Fresno as a consultant for programming and operations for local conservative talk radio station KGED (AM 1680). "I will be giving them my read on the competitive landscape and how KGED will fit in," Essick says. Jim Franklin, a partner in Compass Broadcasting Inc., which owns KGED, says Essick's addition will bring "new energy to our station." Other KGED partners are Al Perez, Assembly Member Jim Patterson and retired Judge Annette LaRue. Its weekday lineup includes programs hosted by Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Dave Ramsey, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher and Bill Bennett. Other news One step closer: The Clovis City Council made a change Monday night to its building size rules for its industrial park that opens the door for construction of a new studio for local Valley Public Radio. Land was purchased in December at Central Valley Research & Technology Business Park near Temperance Avenue and Highway 168 where a new location for KVPR (FM 89.3) will be built starting in early 2015 with completion set for the following year. KVPR has been at its current leased home at 3437 W. Shaw Ave. for more than 25 years. The facility is limited in studio and production space, which is especially noticeable when trying to accommodate musical groups and civic meetings. The new location is expected to give the radio station a more direct line to its transmitter at Meadow Lakes, in the Sierra below Shaver Lake. Monday's ruling now allows buildings of less than 20,000 square feet in size at the industrial park. Sound addition: "Farm City Newsday," produced by AgNet West, has been added to the KYNO (AM 1430) lineup. The program can be heard 5-6 a.m. weekdays. Headline segments provided by AgNet West are broadcast on KYNO's sister station 940 ESPN. Sabrina Hill, who previously co-hosted an afternoon show on KISS Country and was a news producer for CBS47, hosts "Farm City Newsday." It features agriculture news for the central San Joaquin Valley, the state and the nation. Changes: Kevin Ramer, the main meteorologist for Fox 26, is now providing a local forecast for news/talk radio station 580 KMJ. Ramer has worked as a television forecaster for more than 20 years, including five years at The Weather Channel. He replaces Doug Collins, the longtime ABC30 weather forecaster who retired in May but continued providing weather updates for KMJ until a replacement could be found. Moving: "The Central Valley Buzz," seen locally on KAIL (Channel 7.1), has moved up one hour to the 10 a.m. to noon slot. The move was necessary because of added syndicated programming to the TV station's daytime lineup. The talk show is hosted by Chuck Leonard. In the running: Romeo Tostado, a model who moved to Fresno several years ago to study business management at Heald College, survived another week of the current cycle of the long-running CW Network series "America's Next Top Model." Monday's competition had the models posing for photos that were optical illusions. You can see the 23-year-old Salinas native on the series that airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on KFRE (Channel 59.1). TV and movie critic Rick Bentley can be reached at (559) 441-6355, [email protected] or @RickBentley1 on Twitter. Read his blog at www.fresnobeehive.com. ___ (c)2014 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |