Cumulus Media is playing Program Director shuffle in Chicago and Minneapolis.
James Kurdziel will relocated from Minneapolis to Chicago as Program Director of Alternative “Q101” WKQX. Kurdziel has been programming Classic Rock 92.5 KQRS Minneapolis since May 2020 and rose to VP/Classic Rock for the company last September. He will also now take on the expanded role of VP/Classic Rock and Alternative. Prior to KQRS, he spent 21 years at Alternative “103.3 The Edge” WEDG Buffalo NY rising from an intern to PD/midday host.
At WKQX, Kurdziel fills the opening created by April’s exit of Troy Hanson as VP/Rock Programming and WKQX Program Director.
Succeeding Kurdziel as Program Director of Classic Rock 92.5 KQRS Minneapolis will be Wade Linder. Linder had been in Chicago since 2014 with four years as PD of defunct Classic Rock “97.9 The Loop” WLUP and then moved to Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM in March 2018. It marks a return to the station that he first joined in 1990 as Music Director. He then served as PD of Rock “93X” KXXR Minneapolis from its launch in 1997 until moving to Chicago. Linder will also continue to handle special projects for the Cumulus Corporate Programming team.
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has appointed James Kurdziel as Program Director for Q101/WKQX-FM in Chicago, Cumulus Media’s biggest Alternative station. Cumulus Media also expands Kurdziel’s corporate programming leadership role, upping him from VP, Classic Rock, to the newly created position of VP, Classic Rock and Alternative, for the company. Kurdziel moves to Chicago from Cumulus Minneapolis, where he was Program Director for Classic Rock station KQRS-FM. Before his arrival in the Twin Cities, Kurdziel programmed acclaimed Cumulus Alternative FM, The Edge/WEDG-FM in Buffalo, NY.
Concurrently, Cumulus Media has appointed Wade Linder as Program Director for Classic Rocker 92 KQRS-FM in Minneapolis. In addition to his new role with 92 KQRS-FM, Linder will also continue to handle Special Projects for the Cumulus Corporate Programming team. Linder moves to Cumulus Minneapolis from Cumulus Chicago, where he has been Program Director for Classic Hits station 94.7 WLS-FM since 2018, following four years as Program Director for the former Chicago Classic Rock station WLUP-FM. Prior to that, Linder spent nearly two decades programming Cumulus Minneapolis Rock station 93X/KXXR-FM.
Brian Philips, Chief Content Officer, Cumulus Media and Westwood One, said: “In our careers, we may never again hit upon the perfect alignment of circumstances which made this deal possible. Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul have always generously shared people and ideas. We believe we’ve landed the ideal combination of star programmers to ensure the ongoing success of these stations.”
Marv Nyren, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Chicago, said: “One of the benefits of having great talent throughout Cumulus is that when multi-market opportunities like this come up, we create a win-win-win situation. Having an experienced talent like James Kurdziel take over the reins of Q101 couldn’t happen at a better time and the entire staff in Chicago will benefit from his leadership and expertise. While WLS-FM will miss Wade’s knowledge and total professionalism, he gets to go back home and stay within the Cumulus family.”
Shelly Malecha Wilkes, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Minneapolis, said: “Congratulations to James Kurdziel. James has done an outstanding job in Minneapolis and, while we will miss his daily presence, this is a wonderful opportunity and we’re very happy for him. We’re also very excited to have Wade Linder back at Cumulus Minneapolis. Wade was an original architect of KQRS and KXXR. He’s a very strong Program Director and the right guy to lead the legendary KQRS. Welcome home, Wade!”
The appointments are effective immediately.
