NEW BLOG (WSAU) The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awards gala was Saturday night in Madison. As in past years, the Midwest Communications stations in Wausau won multiple "best in state" awards.

WSAU news was honored twice. We won best coverage of breaking news for our special reports after the Weston prayer-death trial. I anchored these special reports, with Matt Lehamn reporting live from the Marathon County courthouse. We also won for best use of audio in a news story for our report on Marathon County's mock disaster drill last year. Matt Lehman reported this story for the WSAU Wisconsin Morning News and our Wisconsin Weekend program.

Terry Stevens, who produces hundreds of the commercials you hear on our stations, won both first and second place awards for his work.

Joe Cassady, the afternoon host on 101.9 WDEZ,won for best radio personality.

One of my commentaries, Christmas Under Attack, won third place for best radio editorial.

Meteorologist Lee Ann Oukley won honorable mention for best weather, among many awards for our weather partners WSAW-TV.

Our sister station in Green Bay, WTAQ-AM, was honored as best news operation, and is the winner of the station of the year award for the third consecutive year.

All of these awards were for work done in 2009, a very challenging year for broadcasters. Many stations across the state suffered revenue losses and staff cuts. Our stations held the line despite the tough times. Stations that maintained their on-air quality did very well at the WBA awards, and those same stations will benefit the most as the economy improves.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager-Midwest Communications, Wausau
5.16.10

In the photos above, Matt Lehman and Joe Cassady hold their WBA awards. The author is in the picture below.