Chicago Radio: Mark Zander OUT As PD At WERV

Mark Zander

Digity Chicago General Manager Brian Foster has announced the immediate exit of Mark Zander -- the Program Director of both WERV 95.9 FM The River and WRXQ 100.7 FM Q Rock, as well as afternoon drive on WERV-FM, according to CRM.

Zander, a Chicago radio veteran of such stations as WLUP-FM, WCKG-FM, and WXXY-FM, had been with the company (then owned by NextMedia) since October 2010, beginning as a weekend host on WERV-FM. From there, he began doing weekday fill-in shifts at both WRXQ-FM and WERV-FM, which lead to full-time roles, and a few months later, the Program Director job for each of the rock stations.

Under Zander's leadership, classic rocker WERV-FM is having its best ratings ever, while hard classic rocker WRXQ-FM underwent a successful re-branding to Q Rock 100.7 and saw its ratings increase, as well. Both stations have also been able to keep fairly stable line-ups since Zander took over, after years of of having DJs come and go through a revolving door.

No official reason is being given for Zander's release. CRM reports insiders say that personality conflicts and disagreements about station directions between Zander and Digity management may have played a role in the parting of ways.

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