WKQX gets new program boss

Troy Hanson

Troy Hanson

Troy Hanson, corporate program director of rock formats for Cumulus Media, Friday was named program director of WKQX FM 101.1, the company’s alternative rocker in Chicago.

Hanson replaces P.J.Kling, who has been program director since 2012. A holdover from Merlin Media ownership, Kling previously was interim operations manager of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and director of user insight for Tribune Interactive.

Moving here from Atlanta, Hanson will continue his corporate duties overseeing rock programming for Cumulus stations.

“We are very fortunate to have someone like Troy leading the charge at WKQX,” Peter Bowen, vice president and Chicago market manager of Cumulus Media, said in a statement. “His experience and leadership will only build upon our brand position and ratings success moving forward.”

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, WKQX tied for 14th place with a 3.0 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 1,323,300. Among men between 18 and 34, the station ranked second with a 6.8 share and 263,000 cume.

Hanson joined Cumulus in 2013 from Cromwell Radio Group in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was operations manager and program director. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, he previously held on-air and programming jobs in Duluth, Minnesota; Saginaw, Michigan; Milwaukee, Des Moines, Detroit and Miami.