WRR Classical 101 FM revamps its on-air lineup

by PegNews wire

Beginning Tuesday, WRR listeners will hear some new voices on the air. The new line-up reflects the station’s commitment to keep the classical format exciting and engaging.

“The station has aggressively recruited the best announcers to complement each air shift,” Greg Davis, WRR General Manager said. “The trio of new voices brings varied, but highly professional, backgrounds to WRR, and with existing announcers, creates perhaps the most dynamic on-air staff in recent station history.”

The new line-up includes:

• Kevin Pytcher assumes the duties as host of The Going Home Show (3-7 p.m. weekdays). He comes to WRR from El Paso with an extensive radio and television background. He has spent the past several years working in television in the Sun City, as promotions manager for the PBS affiliate and a broadcast and internet producer/writer for the leading news station. But his first love is radio, where he got his start after high school as an announcer and as classical music director of KTEP-FM. Along the way, he earned a degree in communication from the station's licensee, U.T. El Paso.
• Ed Blaylock is the new evening host (7 p.m.-midnight weekdays). Blaylock is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a degree Radio, TV, and Film. His radio experience began on campus at KNTU FM where he hosted a classical music program. He is an actor who has appeared in stage productions, children’s' educational theater, summer stock theater, industrial videos, played character roles in independent feature motion pictures, and appeared in local and national television commercials.
• Matthew Erikson joins the WRR team as the evening host on weekends (7p.m.-midnight Saturday and Sunday). A recent Texas transplant and "passionate" music lover, Erikson was The Fort Worth Star-Telegram classical music critic from August 2006 to January 2008. A native of New England, he graduated from Amherst College and has a Master's degree in piano performance from the Hartt School in Hartford, Conn. Prior to coming to Fort Worth, he was an arts writer for The Hartford Courant. His articles have also appeared in The Boston Globe.

They join WRR’s announcers:

• Christopher Hackett, host of The Morning Show,
• Adriana Bate, host of mid-day music on weekdays including Classic Café
• Karen Moyer, mid-day host on weekends, and
• Peter Van de Graaff, host of Music All Night.

Kurt Rongey, who split his time between programming duties and hosting The Going Home Show, now will focus strictly on overseeing all operational functions at WRR.

In addition to the on-air staff changes, WRR also is revamping some programming features. In an effort to provide more localized programming, WRR has discontinued several syndicated symphony series, such as the Chicago and San Francisco symphonies, and has reworked several locally-produced programs. Main Event, a WRR-produced show featuring new CD releases of classical music, will now air from 10-11 p.m. on Fridays, Command Performance, a program featuring listeners’ requests, will air Sundays from noon- 1 p.m. and the programs, Music of the Metroplex and Theme and Variations have been discontinued.

Source: WRR