WIXX announces 'Huggie and Natalie in the Morning' after flurry of changes in the time slot
Kendra Meinert
GREEN BAY - The local morning radio show drama of the last couple of months appears to be over.
WIXX-FM has announced that "Huggie and Natalie in the Morning" will fill the vacancy left when longtime host Jim Murphy retired on Nov. 28 after 32 years and his "Murphy in the Morning" co-hosts, Katie Schurk and Nick Vitrano, announced 10 days later they had left the station.
The new program from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays will feature Daniel Amsden, better known as "Huggie" by listeners since joining the Midwest Communications contemporary hit radio station in 2022 as the PM drive host, the position vacated by Otis Day, who left to pursue a career outside of radio after 24 years at WIXX.
Amsden's co-host is Natalie Jansen, whose previous radio experience is in Milwaukee, including sales for Saga Communications and on-air work at rock station 102.9 The Hog (WHQG-FM), according to Radio Insight.
Their exact start date was not revealed in a Friday video announcement posted on the WIXX Facebook page, but Huggie tells listeners to "tune in next week."
The announcement of the new morning show comes after a flurry of changes at WIXX and fellow CHR station 95.9 KISS-FM (WKSZ) in Appleton, owned by Woodward Radio Group.
After the departure of Murphy, Schurk and Vitrano at WIXX, Chris Carson was introduced on Dec. 14 as the new morning show host as the station looked for a co-host to join him. On Jan. 10, the station announced Carson was no longer with WIXX as it had "decided to move in a different direction with WIXX mornings."
On Jan. 2, 95.9 KISS-FM shared the news that Schurk and Vitrano were joining Day for its “KISS-FM Mornings with Otis, Katie and Nick” show. KISS ended its previous morning program, "The Jake and Tanner Show," in mid-November after six years. Day, after a 20-month absence from radio, returned to take over the time slot on Dec. 18.
Schurk and Vitrano will be on the air with him once their noncompete agreement with WIXX has been resolved or expires. The terms of that agreement have not been disclosed.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 orkmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X@KendraMeinert.