Sources are telling The Midnight Sun rumors swirling for days Bernadette Wilson, host of conservative talk radio station AM 750, FM 103.7 KFQD’s mid-morning show would be let go at the end of the year have now become fact. In a text exchange this afternoon KFQD station manager Joe Campbell said “We plan to take the morning talk show in a different direction in 2016.” Several sources have also confirmed the station today began looking for fill-in hosts through at least the end of next week until a new permanent host can be seated.
As we reported in September, the morning show’s ratings had sagged since the departure of Wilson’s one-time co-host and now Mayor, Ethan Berkowitz. That coupled with the Tea Party flavor of Wilson’s show that didn’t seem to fit with the broad appeal news-talk format the station is pursuing led us to speculate the station could replace her if either the show or the ratings didn’t change. It appears time may have run out for both.
Wilson has had a turbulent run in her short stint since taking over the morning show full-time. This past May Wilson returned from maternity leave to lead a character attack on former co-host Berkowitz, who was then embroiled in a mayoral runoff election. She appeared on KFQD’s afternoon program, The Dave Stieren Show, to play a clip from their time hosting together she claimed vindicated comments by Dr. Jerry Prevo of Anchorage Baptist Temple that Berkowitz actually supported incestuous relationships between fathers and sons.
In late November Wilson was listed as lead sponsor of a referendum petition to repeal a new ordinance adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s non-discrimination code. Interestingly, even though Wilson is the lead sponsor of the drive, KFQD podcasts don’t list any instances of the subject being discussed while Wilson was hosting. I can say from personal experience station management rarely tells hosts what subjects they can and can’t talk about, but being the lead sponsor of a contentious ballot fight while on the air daily may have been a bridge too far.
*Reader supplied editorial note: Casey Reynolds hosted the wildly successful Casey Reynolds Show on KFQD during the same time slot prior to Bernadette Wilson’s tenure.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.