Jen Lada joining Chmura, Neitzel on ESPN Milwaukee
Jen Lada, the Marquette University grad and WITI-TV (Channel 6) alum who’s become an Emmy-winning sports reporter at ESPN, is coming back to Milwaukee. Sort of.
Starting Aug. 31, Lada is joining Gabe Neitzel and former Packers star Mark Chmura weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. on WKTI-FM (94.5), the sportstalk station branded as 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee. Neitzel and Chmura have hosted the “Gabe & Chewy” show in that time slot since last June.
Lada is a good get for ESPN Milwaukee. After graduating from Marquette, she worked as a sports reporter-anchor at WREX-TV in Rockford, Illinois, before joining Channel 6 in 2006. She left in 2013 to join Comcast SportsNet in Chicago, and jumped to ESPN a little more than two years later.
Since then, she’s been a national host and features reporter, appearing on ESPN’s “College GameDay” and “College Football Live.” She won a Sports Emmy earlier this year for outstanding short sports documentary for “Hilinski’s Hope,” about a South Carolina quarterback and how the loss of his brother affected him on and off the field.
ESPN Milwaukee is also tweaking its afternoon lineup, swapping out Greg Matzek’s noon show for Dan LeBatard’s
two-hour show from ESPN’s national network, and reuniting Marquette basketball broadcasters Steve “The Homer” True and Tony Smith. The Milwaukee station’s lineup as of Aug. 31:
5 to 7 a.m.: Keyshawn, J-Will & Zubin (from ESPN Network)
7 to 9 a.m.: Jen Lada, Gabe Neitzel & Mark Chmura
9 to noon: Wilde and Tausch (Jason Wilde and Mark Tauscher)
Noon to 2 p.m.: Dan LeBatard Show (ESPN Network)
2 to 4 p.m.: Steve “The Homer” True & Tony Smith
4 to 6 p.m.: Scalzo and Brust (Greg Scalzo and Ben Brust)
ESPN Milwaukee is owned by Good Karma Brands, the Milwaukee-based sports media company that also owns WTMJ-AM (620) and WAUK-AM (540), among other broadcasting properties.
Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.