KSL NewsRadio is adjusting its early afternoon lineup. Brightside makes its debut on Monday, with changes for Maria Shilaos in the process.
What We Know: KSL Brightside is set to air weekdays from 1-3 PM. That moves Maria Shilaos — who previously hosted Midday with Maria from 12-3 PM — down to hosting only Utah’s Noon News from 12-1 PM. The new program will be seen on YouTube from 12-1 PM before airing on KSL NewsRadio from 1-3 PM. Ethan Millard and Alex Kirry will anchor the new program. Most recently, Kirry had been hosting afternoons on sports talk sister station 97.5 KSL Sports Zone. Millard had been working as a financial advisor since exiting the previous iteration of the show — The Nightside Project — in 2022.
What They Said: “The Nightside Project drew a remarkably loyal audience, including a generation of young listeners who used the show as their entry point into the news and the world around them. Those listeners are adults now, and we know they’re hungry for the kind of smart, engaging, and genuinely fun conversation people have come to expect from Ethan and Alex.” -KSL Vice President Sheryl Worsley
What Remains Unclear: What this means for Maria Shilaos and the rest of the KSL NewsRadio lineup. While she previously hosted a three-hour show, a daily “Best Of” version aired from 7-9 PM in the station’s lineup. With Shilaos now focusing on a one-hour afternoon news program, it would seem likely that additional changes will be coming to the KSL NewsRadio schedule in the near future.
What It Means: The move marks another extension of Bonneville’s commitment to digital content. A YouTube exclusive show, followed by a two-hour show on the heritage news/talk station, shows a commitment to reaching younger audiences. It also keeps local programming on the station from 5 AM to 11 PM daily, which is something few stations can say. It’s especially impressive for a station in a market like Salt Lake City (#27).
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
