by Paul Bean

A network of Vermont radio stations in the Northeast Kingdom have changed their ‘news on the hour’ broadcast from CBS, NBC and the Associated Press, to Fox News. 

Vermont State Senator Russ Ingalls (R.) of Essex County, acquired the radio stations in February in a deal with the Vermont Broadcast Associates, who owned stations in St. Johnsbury, Lydon, Littleton, Irasburg, Derby Center, and Newport.

Ingalls said he’d been warned he’d get blowback by switching to Fox News. But the response has been positive by a ratio of more than 140:1.

“Yeah, I’ve got a little bit of pushback but very minimal,” said Ingalls by phone Tuesday morning. “In emails to me and conversations I’ve received around 11 negative responses and over 1500 positive. I can’t go anywhere without people thanking me for switching news sources… I’ve heard this three times today.”

Ingalls aims to prioritize local news over national coverage, as he told WCAX-TV. This purchase marked the second recent sale of a Vermont radio chain to an in-state owner with political ties, following Myers Mermel’s purchase of Radio Vermont from the Squier family in January 2024.

Mermel was a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022. He is the former finance director for the presidential campaign of current ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.

Ingalls said picking Fox is not as much about making a political statement or selecting a specific station, but about having ‘news on the hour’ with a more positive tone about America. 

“It’s not just Fox news, it’s just about having something that is not always negative…It didn’t have to be Fox, it could have been Newsmax, and I’ve looked into some other organizations… It’s not about having Fox News as much as it’s not about having someone who doesn’t denigrate our country constantly… Just give me the news and I will make up my own mind after that. I don’t want to hear your opinion, just give me the news.”

Ingalls continued, “they can never come on with anything positive. They always have something on there that the world is ending. I understand the news can be tough at times. I just don’t want that all the time. We have a great country and I think we should be hearing some of the more positive stuff as well.”

Stations owned by Ingalls include, Hot AC “Moo 92” WMOO Derby Center, Country “JJ Country 94.5” WJJZ Irasburg, AC “Magic 97.7” WGMT Lyndon, Country “Kix 105.5” WKHX St. Johnsbury, Classic Rock “The Notch” 106.3 WMTK Littleton NH and 1490 WIKE/103.1 W276DK Newport VT, and AAA 1490 WSTJ/104.1 W281CC St. Johnsbury.

WVMT also uses Fox News for half of their national news spots, which run every half hour.