Green Bay Radio: Katie & Nick Join Otis Day For Mornings On WKSZ

Katie, Otis and Nick

Nick Vitrano and Katie Schurk will join their longtime friend and former colleague Otis Day as co-hosts of the new morning show on WKSZ 95.9 KISS.

It’ll be a reunion for the three on-air personalities, all of whom have worked together previously at WIXX-FM, as another big piece in the recent local morning radio market shakeup falls into place.

“They’re my friends, so I’m very excited about working with my friends,” Day said. “A lot of times ... you start a job and you make friends at work. The benefit we have is we’re already friends and now we get to work together again.”

He prefaced Wednesday's news by telling listeners that as soon as it was announced he was coming to KISS to do mornings, "one thing kept getting brought up over and over and over again from everybody I talked to": bringing Schurk and Vitrano on board with him.

They’ll join Day on the air from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays for “KISS-FM Mornings with Otis, Katie and Nick” once their noncompete agreement with their former employer has been resolved or expires. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, but radio companies often have on-air talent sign a noncompete contract to prevent them from going to direct competitors immediately after leaving.

Both KISS (WKSZ) in Appleton and WIXX (101.1.) in Green Bay are Contemporary Hit Radio stations serving the northeast Wisconsin market. KISS is owned by Woodward Community Media and WIXX by Midwest Communications.

Vitrano and Schurk — the longtime “Nick and Katie” component of the recently ended “Murphy in the Morning” show on WIXX — took listeners by surprise when they announced Dec. 8 they had made the difficult decision to leave the station. Their statement, along with one by WIXX, was posted after their final broadcast on the same day. Their departure came less than two weeks after Jim Murphy, the show’s popular and well-regarded namesake, retired on Nov. 28 after 32 years as the morning host.

Chris Carson started as the new WIXX morning host on Dec. 14, going solo on “Carson in the Morning” as Midwest searches for a co-host.

Day, who left WIXX after 24 years to pursue a career outside of radio in 2022, returned to the air Dec. 18 to take over the KISS morning slot held by “The Jake and Tanner Show” for the last six years. KISS parted ways with hosts Jake Kelly and Tanner Jay on Nov. 15.

Jim Murphy's retirement on Nov. 28 from WIXX-FM's "Murphy in the Morning" show after 32 years was the catalyst for his longtime co-hosts, Katie Schurk and Nick Vitrano, to ultimately decide to leave the station as well..