Milwaukee Radio: No Badmouthing For Carole Caine

Carole Caine

Carole Caine is looking for a job — and a new career adventure — and is not badmouthing her employer of 30 years at WKLH 96.5 FM.

Caine told the Milwaukee Business Journal she is free of a no-compete clause she had with WKLH owner Saga Communications Inc.’s Milwaukee Radio Group. However, so far no Milwaukee radio executives have contacted her with offers to hire one of the most popular on-air personalities in southeast Wisconsin.

Caine’s departure from WKLH-FM June 29 led to one of the biggest audience outcries in recent decades in the Milwaukee media business.

When Rich Kirchen at the Milwaukee Business Journal asked Caine whether executives with other stations might view her as too expensive for their budgets, she said: “I know that the radio industry has changed quite a bit. Revenues have been down for everybody. That’s just a fact. The economy is starting to come back a little bit, but I’m not as expensive as you may think.”

Dave & Carole

Her co-host Dave Luczak remains at WKLH anchoring the morning show. The station July 6 added Dorene Michaels as a news reader on the show. She previously worked at sister station WHQG-FM (“The Hog”/102.9) reading news and as a fill-in announcer.

“Carole is well aware of the reasons that led to the decision over the last year not to renew her contract,” Milwaukee Radio Group vice president Annmarie Topel said via email Wednesday. “At her request, we even provided a letter to her that went into great detail. We will continue, however, to keep those matters confidential out of respect for Carole.”

Caine said she had no inkling the station was going to let her go. WKLH, which has been known for nearly three decades as Milwaukee’s classic-rock station, rebranded itself “Hometown Rock” in April with an increased emphasis on 1980's music from rock artists.

“I knew that they were changing things up,” she said. “I didn’t know how big the change was going to be."

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