WADL Keeps News Director Hire in the Family

By Michael Malone
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

A few weeks after “disgorging” the independent station of Kevin O’Brien and his news director, the plot thickens at WADL Detroit, as owner Kevin Adell’s wife has been named the new news director.

Joelle Lukasiewicz “has strong ties to the Detroit television market, working as an Emmy Award-winning news reporter for WXYZ, WDIV, FOX, and UPN,” says WADL in a press release.

Notes TVSpy:

Lukasiewicz, who once worked as a reporter at Detroit’s WXYZ and WDIV, currently hosts WADL’s “Motor City Movie Night,” which airs every Saturday.

A WADL spokesperson told TVSpy today that the station considered “a lot of people” for the job but Lukasiewicz was chosen because she has “a strong connection” to the market.

WADL’s news output includes a 9 p.m. newscast.

Last week, Matt Stevens, who was WADL news director for a few days before his bizarre dismissal, told his side of the story on his blog. 

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.