WCCO Radio operations manager abruptly leaves station

Andy Bloom, who took over operations at WCCO Radio and two other Twin Cities stations in April, is already out.

A Minneapolis native who had written commentaries for the right-leaning media company Newsmax and served as communications director for a Republican congressman from Ohio, Bloom had pushed for the news-driven WCCO to become a more issues-oriented station that would appeal to conservative listeners.

"The fact is, the majority of News-Talk radio listeners are center-right," Bloom wrote in an internal memo to WCCO employees, according to a story in City Pages last August. He advised his staff to "stop chasing off the Right" by giving "info-mercials" to guests with "left-leaning agendas."

Bloom had been guiding WCCO's search for a new morning host following the retirement of John Hines in September. That spot remains open.

Reached by phone late Wednesday, Bloom called WCCO "a legendary station. I wish them the best of luck in the future." Bloom, who also had been running the music stations JACK FM and Buz'n FM, declined to comment further.

Local managers and representatives of Entercom Communication, the nation's second-largest radio network, which bought the local stations last year, would not comment.