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When WLKF’s long-running “Polk County Live” morning show signed off on June 20, neither its hosts nor listeners knew it would be the last episode.
But a week later, regular guests in the Hall Communications studio at 404 W. Lime St. got a short text from Len Erickson, who helmed the morning program since August 2012.
“I’d like to thank you all for contributing to my radio show over the years. As of today, there’s no more Polk County Live. I really appreciate it. Take care,” Erickson wrote.
Those regular guests included Mayor Bill Mutz, Sheriff Grady Judd, LkldNow founder Barry Friedman, theater and film critic Jon Fedkiw, Col. Gary Clark of the Polk County Veterans Council and Florida Southern College political science professor Bruce Anderson, among others.
Local voices: The live news and interview program, which aired weekday mornings from 6-9 a.m., was called “Mayhem in the a.m.” for its first decade.
In 2022, it gained a new cohost, Lauriane Ciccarelli, and a new name, “Polk County Live.” The rebranding was announced at a luncheon to celebrate Erickson’s 10th anniversary with the program.
Ciccarelli, who is also a real estate lawyer, countered Erickson’s gruff humor with cheerful optimism as they blended banter with serious topics.
The show had 3.1K followers on Facebook, where it also streamed live. It touched on just about everything of significance in Polk County, including growth, road projects, local sports and tourism, mental health, veterans’ experiences, science, arts events and nonprofit efforts.
It was “somewhere that people could go to hear local voices,” Erickson said.
The time slot is now filled by nationally syndicated news magazine program “America in the Morning.”
Larger trend: The cancellation is a significant loss for the local community. But Polk County is just one of many markets where financial pressures have forced radio outlets to slash staff and scale back coverage.
Traditional radio stations have lost revenue as streaming services have peeled away listeners and online platforms like Facebook and Google have siphoned advertising dollars.
Hall Communications, which had 21 stations in five states in 2021, is down to 17 after divesting from Pennsylvania.
“Radio stations across the country — iHeart, all the big boys, everybody — we’re all struggling, and that’s because there’s so many other ways that people can get their media now,” said Nancy Cattarius, executive vice president of Hall’s four Central Florida stations.
The one exception is Christian radio stations, she said. “It hasn’t affected them very much.”
Hall Communications has made several strategic moves in recent years, including:
- Selling its four Lancaster, Pennsylvania stations in 2021.
- Letting the program director and morning cohost of MAX 98.3 FM adult hits station go in January.
- Selling a communications tower in New England in April.
- Apparently reaching a deal this month to sell its MAX 98.3 FM station to Lakeland resident James Campbell, president of The Joy FM Christian radio network.
Cattarius declined to discuss the potential sale, but said, “We have been taking a very close look at everything within the operation to make us stay as solvent as we can.”
‘A good run’: Erickson, 62, started broadcasting in the U.S. Army as a reporter for the American Forces Korea Network. He moved to Lakeland in 1998 and worked for WFLA News Channel 8 for 11 years as a photojournalist and news editor before joining Hall Communications in 2008.
Erickson said he hasn’t figured out his next move, but he doesn’t fault Hall. “They’re good people and they’ve got to run their business.”
He said he’s grateful for his 17 years with the family-owned company and proud of the service the morning program provided to the community.
“It was a good run,” he said.
The mayor said the show’s cancellation is “an unfortunate turn of events” for Lakeland. He praised Erickson for bringing “so much creativity, preparation, and relevance to the listening audience he broadly curated.”
But Mutz added, “It is a reflection of the changing nature of radio listeners and the economics for radio station owners.”
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