DZL Chosen To Feed The Kat
• Chuck “DZL” Thompson has been named as the new Program Director of iHeartMedia Country WKKT (96.9 The Kat)/Charlotte. He inherits the care and feeding of The Kat from Meg Stevens, who in March was named Region Senior Vice President of Programming for the company’s Atlanta Region. The company didn’t have to travel very far to find their guy — DZL has been conveniently parked right across the hall programming Alternative sibling WEND (106.5 The End).
DZL reports to Chadwick “A.J.” Hausknecht, Region SVP of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Virginia-Carolina Region, who said, “DZL’s unique insight on the market, coupled with his talent, creativity and innovative style of thinking will ensure that the station continues to do great things in Charlotte. Because of his vision and passion, I’m thrilled to have DZL lead our team at 96.9 The Kat.”
DZL has been with iHeartMedia since 2002. He notably spent eight years as APD/MD/afternoon personality at The End/Charlotte until January 2017, when he transferred to the PD chair at Alternative sister WRXL (XL102)/Richmond. In August of that year he was called back to The End as PD, succeeding market legend Jack Daniel. DZL started his career at WZGC/Atlanta, and his other programming and promotions stops were in Rochester, NY, Columbia, SC and Canton, GA.
“I couldn’t be more excited to lead the super-talented team at 96.9 The Kat in a city known for a very competitive country radio landscape,” said DZL. “This tremendous opportunity wouldn’t be possible without the full support of our local and national program leadership teams at iHeartMedia. I look forward to continuing the consistent growth of one-of-the-most iconic and dynamic brands in our iHeartCountry family.”
• We understand that iHeartMedia has started a search to fill the PD position at The End.
