WDEL has tweaked its programming line-up
Long-time anchor Allan Loudell moves to the 9 a.m. slot be with a show carrying the name Del-AWARE that will run through the noon hour.
The show will focus on news and issues with lengthier reports from the WDEL news people who will also delve into health and other issues. Loudell is bringing along his daily trivia question.
No word on whether Allen will still be checking in with pundits and experts throughout the world, a strategy that over the years gave his shows on WDEL and WILM a public radio-vibe.
There was a time when then-Senator Joe Biden would call in and the two would match wits in discussing obscure nations and under-the-radar foreign policy issues.
Loudell remains an old-school (pardon the numerous cliches) anchor who doesn’t share the president’s love of Twitter. Loudell’s last Twitter post was apparently made back in 2014. His Facebook site does have recent posts.
Is Facebook a cult? http://t.co/8g86cLyyAN #netDE
— Allan Loudell (@LoudellWDEL) July 28, 2014
Susan Monday, who held down the morning talk slot at WDEL, will continue to host her show from DBC Media’s news station in Sussex County The show was simulcast to both stations and upstate fans can still listen in to her show on their computers or mobile devices.
https://twitter.com/SuMoSpeak/status/1057331416076374016
Conservative talker and columnist Rick Jensen will still to bring his sometimes biting commentary and weekly sampling beer segment to the early afternoon slot with syndicated financial advice commentator Clark Howard coming in later in the afternoon.
At 4 p.m., Chris Carl takes over the afternoon drive, with news from Delaware and elsewhere.
“The decision to make this programming change was not an easy one and is a result of several months of planning and discussion, and listening to what our audience was telling us they wanted,” Carl, WDEL’s news and programming director, stated in an Email message. “In today’s “fake news” world, we’re making the conscious decision to focus on fact-based reporting – highlighting the extensive resources we are devoting to our news product. The change will also allow us to make WDEL even more relevant to our region.”
Monday is less political than Jensen and did not provide the blunt, sarcastic and sometimes humorous views we saw for years with liberal former News Journal editor/restaurant columnist Al Mascitti
Mascitti’s departure and the arrival of the plain vanilla style of Monday were not warmly received in the state’s liberal community.
While other stations have dismantled or sharply cut back their news operations, WDEL has doubled down and kept much of its news staff in place. A few years ago, it acquired an FM frequency that might have made more bucks with a music format.
DBC showed audience share gains over the summer at its flagship stations WDEL and WSTW. – Doug Rainey
