HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – WHTC Radio is making a few programming changes, starting Monday, February 1, according to Holland Market Manager Kevin Oswald.
WHTC Morning News with host Gary Stevens, will now air from 5:30 to 9:00 a.m., Monday through Friday.
Talk of the Town starts earlier, after the 9:00 a.m. newscasts from CBS and WHTC morning anchor Peg McNichol. Talk of the Town will run through 11:30 a.m. weekdays.
The Holland Public Schools feature moves to 7:15 a.m. Wednesdays.
Destination Downtown with Holland’s Visitors Bureau has a new destination: 8:35 a.m. Thursdays. Travel Michigan moves to 7:15 a.m. Fridays.
Oswald said the changes make sense and answers listeners requests for more open-line time during Talk of the Town.
“We’re planning on starting off each day with an open-line segment right after the news and weather at 9:00 a.m.,” he said. “We’re also reaching out to community leaders and newsmakers to bring a variety of new voices to the program.”
Listeners will hear new music for Patty Vandenberg’s “What’s New Around Holland” show, which airs during Talk of the Town just after 10:20 a.m. weekdays, featuring community events and activities, as well as the most-current obituaries.
Talk of the Town, created in 1959 by Bill Gargano, featured Gargano and eventual co-host Julius “Juke” Van Oss.
Mr. Van Oss served as solo host from 1981 to 2016, when he died at age 92. He made Talk of the Town Holland’s back fence for neighborly conversation on the issues of daily community life.
Mr. Van Oss was inducted into the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame on July 14, 2009. (Visit WHTC’s Remembering Juke page.)
Talk of The Town now features host Gary Stevens chatting with local, state, and national guests, and listener’s phone calls, a combination that has made Talk of the Town a Holland tradition for more than 60 years. Most days, he features a lighthearted animal story from what we call Juke’s Animal File.
“With these ‘tweaks,’ it will be easier for all of us,” Stevens said. “We can stress information more during Morning News, and be able to have more comment on that information during Talk of the Town. We hope to be able to be a clearinghouse of information and opinion weekday mornings in what we believe to be something unique, not only along the Lakeshore, but overall in Michigan.”
Interviews are shared online as podcasts, at whtc.com/podcasts-talk-of-the-town.
Anyone who’d like to suggest guests or topics can call during open-line segments, (616) 395-1450; email WHTC at whtcnews.mwcradio.com or send a message via whtc.com/contact-us.
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