2022 in radio

The following is a list of events affecting radio broadcasting in 2022. Events listed include radio program debuts, finales, cancellations, and station launches, closures and format changes, as well as information about controversies and deaths of radio personalities.

List of years in radio (table)
In music
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
In television
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
In home video
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

Notable events


January
Date Event Source
1 WWHX—Bloomington, Illinois switches from rhythmic CHR to hot AC after four years at midnight, with a new slogan of "Now 100.7". [1]
3 Sports KZIA-HD4/K298BM—Cedar Rapids, Iowa flips from an 'Overtime' brand extension of co-owned KGYM to alternative rock "X107.5". [2]
6 Binnie Media makes format changes for their northern Boston metro cluster in New Hampshire. The adult hits trimulcast of WFNQ—Nashua, WLNH-FM—Laconia and WBYY—Somersworth/Portsmouth flipped to an adult-based Top 40 format, but retained its "Frank FM" branding, while CHR WJYY—Concord/Manchester shifted to rhythmic contemporary with a lean towards hip hop. [3]

February
Date Event Source
2 After identifying with the call sign for 96 years, all-news KOMO—Seattle and FM simulcast KOMO-FM—Oakville change calls to KNWN and KNWN-FM, respectively. The change was necessitated after Lotus Communications purchased the stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group, which retained KOMO-TV and all registered trademarks for the "KOMO" brand. KNWN AM-FM also re-brand as "Northwest News Radio"; the callsign change was prematurely made effective by the FCC at the end of 2021 (and reverted to KOMO AM-FM at Lotus's request), prompting KIRO-FM—Tacoma, Washington to adopt the slogan "Your Northwest News Station". [4][5]
9 At 6:00 a.m. EST, after a last playing of "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men, WMIA-FM—Miami dropped its all-90s format after two years and returned to its previous hot AC format and "93.9 MIA" branding. [6]
14 Friends of WLRN Inc., which has served as the fundraising arm for the broadcasting operations of the Miami-Dade County Public School District since 1974, agrees to take over full-time management of public radio station WLRN-FM—Miami (and its sister television station) and Florida Keys satellite station WKWM—Marathon. The group had clashed with the school board in recent years after Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and a committee recommended that a competing bid and effective merger into South Florida PBS (owner of WPBT—Miami and WXEL-TV—West Palm Beach) be selected. As with many current arrangements of the same type, the district will retain the license assets and final program authority over the radio and television stations. [7]

March
Date Event Source
11 After nearly 31⁄2 years as soft AC "106.1 The Breeze", WISX —Philadelphia changes format to Spanish CHR as WUMR "Rumba 106.1", the first such format in the Philadelphia market [8]
28 Ideastream Public Media merges operations of NPR members WKSU—Kent (owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream via a public service operating agreement) and WCPN—Cleveland, which adopt a full-time news and information format employing all on-air staff between the two stations. Callsigns and formats are swapped between WCPN and classical music WCLV—Lorain; the former inherits WCPN's former jazz programming in late nights while the latter is turned into a full-power repeater for WKSU. WKSU drops all classical programming and simulcasts WCLV on their HD3 subchannel. [9][10]

April
Date Event Source
4 Ryman Hospitality Properties, parent company of Opry Entertainment Group and WSM—Nashville and co-owner of Circle, sells a minority stake in the company to a group consisting of Atairos and NBCUniversal, for approximately $300 million. It becomes NBC's first investment into a radio property of any sort since the dispersal of the original NBC Radio Network between 1987 and 1989. [11]
18 Cumulus Media purchases the intellectual property and associated trademarks for "Q101", including the q101.com domain name, from Broadcast Barter Radio Networks for an undisclosed amount. Broadcast Barter, which acquired the intellectual property from Emmis Communications in August 2011 after their sale of alternative WKQX—Chicago (and format flip to "FM News 101" WIQI), launched internet station Q101 Chicago, which operated up to this sale. It is expected that WKQX, which reverted to alternative in 2014 but branded as "101 WKQX", will readopt the "Q101" name. [12]
20 Marquee Broadcasting purchases the Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System, Inc. (d/b/a WHIZ Media Group), owner of WHIZ—Zanesville, Ohio (full-service–talk), WHIZ-FM—South Zanesville, Ohio (CHR), WZVL—Philo, Ohio (country) and WHIZ-TV. This ends nearly 75 years of continuous ownership of WHIZ AM-FM-TV by the Littick family, which retains the license for Columbus-market WWLG—Baltimore, Ohio (operated under long-term LMA by Urban One), while also becoming Marquee's first radio properties. [13][14]
28 After nearly 35 years of being known as either "Oldies 98" or "98.1 WOGL", classic hits WOGL—Philadelphia relaunches as "Big 98.1". Morning host Sean "Coop" Tabler is retained but all other air talent (the majority of which was voice-tracked from other Audacy-owned stations) is dropped. Bob Pantano’s Dance Party, which debuted with the original oldies format in 1987, is moved to WOGL's second digital subchannel. Management explains that the rebrand is meant to freshen up the station's image, claiming that WOGL continued to be negatively associated with the long-standing "Oldies 98" name years after it had been retired. [15][16]
29 Danny Bonaduce announces that he was taking a medical leave from The Danny Bonaduce and Sarah Morning Show on KZOK-FM—Seattle. [17]
Spanish Broadcasting System takes over operations of both WSUN—Holiday/Tampa and WPYO—Maitland/Orlando from a divesture trust held by Cox Media Group since Apollo Global Management's 2019 takeover of the chain. The trust had a required deadline of December 2021 for a sale of both stations; a request from Cox to extend the deadline by one year prompted SBS to allege Cox was not acting in good faith after repeated delays in sale negotiations. The FCC extended the deadline to Feburary, when the purchase was made. Cox moves the formats of WSUN (alternative rock) and WPYO (CHR) to HD digital subchannels elsewhere in the cluster, with the former adding a low-power analog translator. SBS begins stunting on both stations in anticipation of debuting Spanish tropical formats branded "El Zol". [18][19][20]

Scheduled future events
Date Event Source
May 3 The Midnite Jamboree will end after a 75-year run, as the owners of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop where the Jamboree has been held, and which has brokered the time slot from WSM, goes out of business due to "circumstances out of (the shop's) control." [21]

Deaths
Date Name Age Notability Source
January 1 Dan Reeves 78 Football player (Dallas Cowboys), coach (Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons) and broadcaster (color commentator for the NFL on Westwood One Sports) [22]
January 15 Ralph Emery 88 Country music disc jockey (WSM—Nashville) [23]
February 12 Frank Beckmann 72 German-American talk show host (WJR—Detroit) and sportscaster (Michigan Sports Network) [24]
February 15 P. J. O'Rourke 74 Political satirist and journalist, frequent panelist on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! [25]
March 13 Mary Lee 100 Scottish singer and broadcaster (Radio Clyde) [26][27]
March 17 Bobby Nalzaro 58 Filipino broadcast journalist and radio commentator [28]
April 18 Sid Mark 88 Ämerican radio host best known for his Frank Sinatra-themed broadcasts that aired from 1957 to 2022 [29]

See also

References
  1. "WWHX Is Now 100.7 FM". Radioinsight.com. January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  2. "Alternative X107.5 Debuts In Cedar Rapids". Radioinsight.com. January 3, 2022. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  3. "Binnie Makes Musical Shifts In New Hampshire". Radioinsight.com. January 6, 2022. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  4. Lacitis, Erik (January 28, 2022). "So long, 'KOMO Country': KOMO Radio sold, gets new name". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. Venta, Lance (January 28, 2022). "A Northwest News Battle Arises In Seattle As KOMO Is Set To Become KNWN". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  6. "WMIA Drops All 90s; Launches New On-Air Lineup As DJ Laz Returns To Mornings With Kimmy B". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  7. Venta, Lance (February 14, 2022). "Friends Of WLRN To Take Over Management Of South Florida Public News/Talker". RadioInsight. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  8. "Rumba 106.1 Debuts In Philadelphia". Radioinsight.com. March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  9. Venta, Lance (February 25, 2022). "Ideastream Sets Cleveland Public Radio Frequency Change Date". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  10. Morona, Joey (September 15, 2021). "WKSU, WCPN deal approved by Kent State, combined NPR station to operate at 89.7 FM starting in 2022". cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  11. Littleton, Cynthia (April 4, 2022). "'Grand Ole Opry' Owner Sells Minority Stake to Atairos and NBCUniversal for Nearly $300 Million". Variety. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  12. Venta, Lance (April 18, 2022). "Q101 Branding To Return To WKQX Chicago". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  13. Venta, Lance (2022-04-20). "Marquee Broadcasting Acquires WHIZ Media Group". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  14. Hannahs, Nichole (April 20, 2022). "Littick Discusses Sale of WHIZ Media Group". WHIZ News. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  15. WOGL Rebrands As Big 98.1 Radioinsight - April 28, 2022
  16. Blumenthal, Jeff (April 28, 2022). "Looking to shed oldies image, Audacy goes 'BIG' with 98.1 WOGL rebrand". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  17. Gajewski, Ryan (April 29, 2022). "Danny Bonaduce Taking Medical Leave From Radio Show to "Focus on My Health"". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. Venta, Lance (February 11, 2022). "SBS To Acquire WPYO Orlando & WSUN Tampa". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  19. Venta, Lance (March 28, 2022). "Power 95.3 Orlando To Sign-Off Thursday". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  20. Venta, Lance (April 29, 2022). "SBS Begins Stunting On 95.3 Orlando & 97.1 Tampa". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  21. "Famed Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville up for sale". AP NEWS. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  22. Newberry, Paul (January 1, 2022). "Former Broncos, Falcons, Giants coach Dan Reeves dies at 77". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  23. Country Music Hall of Famer, Nashville broadcasting star Ralph Emery dead at 88
  24. WJR's longtime voice Frank Beckmann dies at 72 The Detroit News, February 12, 2022
  25. Evans, Greg (February 15, 2022). "P.J. O'Rourke Dies: Satirist, Author & NPR Panelist Was 74". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  26. "'An exceptional comedic talent': Tributes paid to British dance band star Mary Lee for 100th birthday". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  27. "Glasgow's 'true variety starlet' Mary Lee Milroy dies aged 100 | Glasgow Times". www.glasgowtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  28. Lagunda, Kevin A.; Lim, Cherry Ann T. (17 March 2022). "Tri-media personality Bobby Nalzaro dies". SunStar. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  29. "Philadelphia Radio Icon Sid Mark Passes At The Age Of 88". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
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