KDKA names midday host

KDKA (1020) has a new midday host. Kevin Miller, late of “Supertalk” WWTN-FM (99.7) in Nashville, Tenn., will take over the airchair from 12:15 to 3 p.m. weekdays starting May 14. The move truncates the 12 p.m. “total news hour” and also bumps Fred Honsberger back to the 3 p.m. afternoon drive shift he had held at KDKA until fairly recently.

In a prepared statement, KDKA program and news director Marshall Adams said he was impressed with Miller’s ability to take “ownership of hot issues, and how involved he gets in his material.” That includes Miller’s coverage of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when he paid his own way to New York City to report from “Ground Zero.”

A native of northeast Ohio and a former Army reservist, Miller previously worked in North Carolina, Alabama and New Hampshire and has also contributed to MSNBC, Fox and CNN; various websites and articles describe his politics as conservative (among other indications, he’s been a guest of the Heritage Foundation, which supports generally conservative causes and candidates).

Miller is a good “get” for KDKA. A rising star in the talk radio field, Miller was five times named “Commentator of the Year” in Alabama broadcasting by the Associated Press and also was a finalist for the NAB’s Marconi Award. While at WPTF in Raleigh, N.C., he regularly appeared on Nancy Grace’s CNN talk show to discuss the Duke University lacrosse team investigation. His stay at WWTN was relatively brief, running from August 2006 until his show was canceled abruptly in March. (The station still hasn’t deleted his bio from its website.)

Besides his obvious news-talk credentials, Miller also brings to Pittsburgh what the Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh called “a self-deprecating humor typified by the description he chose for himself as ‘the round mound of sound.'”

A KDKA release quotes Miller as saying that working in Pittsburgh is “a dream come true … Personally and professionally, it’s thrilling to be a part of the heritage and tradition of KDKA.” In addition to his 3 to 5 p.m. hosting duties, Honsberger is expected to become a key contributor to KDKA’s hourlong newscast that begins at 5 p.m., Adams said. The noon news will become a 15-minute broadcast anchored by KDKA’s Barbara Boylan.