iHeartMedia Country 101.1 WNOE New Orleans has appointed Ashley Wilson as Program Director.
Wilson joins WNOE from Renda Broadcasting’s “99.9 Gator Country” WGNE Jacksonville FL where she spent the past year as Assistant Program Director/Music Director. She has also worked at Beasley’s 95.7 WKML Fayetteville NC as MD/Morning Co-host and Curtis Media’s “Highway 106.1” WMMY Boone NC.
Wilson supplants David Dean at WNOE. Dean was promoted in September to the Program Director role at “95.5 The Bull” KWNR Las Vegas.
iHeartMedia announced today that Ashley Wilson has been named Program Director for 101.1 WNOE, New Orleans Country Station, effective immediately. iHeartMedia New Orleans has a strong cross-platform presence and includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — encompassing more than eight stations comprised of music, talk and news formats.
iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company. As Program Director, Wilson will be responsible for the day-to-day programming operations for 101.1 WNOE. She will work closely with on-air personalities and sales to oversee the station’s on-air content, digital footprint and music programming. In addition, Wilson will serve as the station’s PM drive host. She will report to Angela Watson, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia New Orleans.
“We’re so excited to have Ashley join New Orleans team,” said Watson. “She has an amazing background that ranges from on-air hosting to social media and I’m confident that she’s going to make a huge impact at 101.1 WNOE.”
Wilson joins iHeartMedia New Orleans from Country station WGNE-FM in Jacksonville, Florida, where she served as the station’s Assistant Program Director and midday on-air personality. Her background also includes Business Development Specialist, Music Director, Traffic Director and Station Manager positions for stations in North Carolina, where she began her career at WMMY-FM. Wilson is a graduate of Appalachian State University.
“I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to join the team at iHeartMedia New Orleans,” said Wilson. “101.1 WNOE is an excellent heritage station with a strong connection to its Country music fans. I’m looking forward to taking over the reins and continuing the success of the iHeartCountry brand in New Orleans.”
iHeartMedia is the leading media outlet in the New Orleans market with multiple platforms, including its broadcast stations; live events; data; and its digital businesses and platforms, including mobile, social and its own iHeartRadio, the leading all-in-one streaming music and live radio service – with more than 1.4 billion app downloads and 100 million registered users.
I can see 104.1 in NOLA becoming Alt 104.1 soon or Z 104.1 today’s hit music.
I can’t. The station is still successful enough in its longtime Country niche that I doubt that iHeart would risk taking on Entercom’s B97 (WEZB) directly. Also, it’s not like Cumulus is doing that well with Alt 92.3 (WZRH).
104.1 has never been country.
Sorry about that; I misread “104.1” (KVDU) as a reference to WNOE (on 101.1). That station might be flippable–even though I’m still not sure if a direct competitor to B97 would be best.
Agreed about going against B97 on that signal…they’ve tried it repeatedly and it hasn’t worked. They just flipped 104.1 to the current format in August; it seems unlikely that they’ll blow it up so soon.
104.1 The Spot has been in its present format since August — and iHeartMedia does not let trolls dictate formats.
So you’re not an iHeart format captain then? Good to know.
I forgot that it was the spot on 104.1.
104.1 won’t be going CHR again anytime soon. One main reason why Voodoo flipped was to move the station musically away from WFMF, whose signal contour has significant overlap with KVDU’s. It was getting to the point where KVDU was clearly affecting WFMF’s numbers, so they flipped to Variety Hits, which fills a niche in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
There are 104.1 the Spot billboards on I-10 and I-12, plus teaser spots running on 96.1, 101.5, and 102.5, so they’re clearly looping in the Baton Rouge listeners/billing.