One Bismarck Radio Company Dumps Its Long-Time Morning show

It's not us; it's actually one of our competitors, but it's still sad.

iHeart Media Guts North Dakota

They say you haven't been in radio until you have been fired. Unfortunately, that is the case for a long-time morning show host on 101.5 FM in Bismarck. iHeart Media has dismissed Ginger G in one of the biggest radio purges in recent history.

According to Radio Insight and Ginger G's social media page, she was let go last week by the company. Ginger had this to say, “After 14 incredible years doing mornings on Rock 101 and on the air in Bismarck-Mandan, I’m absolutely heartbroken to share that I’m one of the many affected by the recent iHeartMedia layoffs."

Ginger also spent some time with us here at Townsquare Media. We sure wish her the best going forward. Even though we are competitors, we have the utmost respect for our fellow broadcasters, and we sure hate to see jobs disappear. Especially when they are replaced by out-of-market voices. That is exactly what has happened to iHeart Media, not only in Bismarck, but all across the state. This leaves iHeart Media Bismarck with ZERO local live shifts on their three FM stations. Even their longtime AM station, KFYR, also reportedly fired a local show, leaving that station with only ONE local show.

The same thing happened to iHeart Media Grand Forks (where I spent over 28 years in my radio career). All of my former co-workers are now looking for jobs. This market was also completely stripped of all full-time local shows. Minot also has zero local shows on their FM stations. Again, it's very sad.

iHeart's North Dakota terminations appear to be a part of a large-scale move to release local talent in just about all their markets across the country. What does this mean for the listener? It means their radio stations will no longer have actual local people doing local radio. No local content, local entertainment, no contests or giveaways, news, sports, no one to talk about severe weather events, and keep you informed, and very little reference to our North Dakota cities.

Our Commitment to Local

At Townsquare Media, I'm happy to say that we are committed to LOCAL and our local personalities. We live in the community and are very proud to be a part of it. We love to be at local events, keep you entertained on-air with local content and giveaways.

At Townsquare Media, we have four FM radio stations (US 103-3, Cool 98.7, Hot 97-5, & 96.5 The Walleye), all with local personalities with strong local connections to Bismarck-Mandan, and North Dakota for that matter.

* I've been with US 103-3 & Cool 98.7 (Rick Rider-Rockin' Rick) for almost 7 years.

* Scott McGowan has been with Cool 98.7 now for 25 years.

* Bromo has been with 96.5 The Walleye for 6 years.

* Andi Ahne has been on Hot 97-5 now for 5 years.

We will continue to strive to bring you great local radio and serve the local communities we love in the Capital Region.

Once again, our hearts go out to our fellow broadcaster, Ginger G, and you will be missed.