When a heritage station blows up a morning show, the easy move is to panic, import somebody from somewhere else and hope the audience follows the memo. Mix 100 KIMN is taking a different route. KSE Media will launch Denver’s Morning Show with Nina Blanco and Josh Griesemer on Tuesday, September 8, and the new combination is built around two people who already understand the station, the market and the rhythm of the product they are being asked to carry forward.
That distinction matters. After the recent departures of Jeremy Padgett and Katy Mitchell, Mix 100 could have treated mornings like an empty chair that simply needed to be filled. Instead, it is elevating Nina Blanco, one of the station’s most visible internal success stories, and pairing her with Josh Griesemer, who already has continuity with the existing morning operation. This is not a total reset. It is a strategic rebuild from inside the house.
Nina Blanco Has Been Quietly Building Toward This Moment
Blanco joined Mix 100 in April 2023, initially handling a limited afternoon window from 2 to 4 p.m. That alone tells you something about how carefully KSE has developed her. She was not handed the keys to the building on day one. She was given a lane, allowed to establish herself and then progressively trusted with more responsibility.
By September 2024, she had moved into full afternoon drive. A few months later, she added Music Director duties.
That progression is significant.
Afternoons tell you whether a personality can connect in one of the most important dayparts on the station.
Music Director duties tell you management trusts their judgment beyond the microphone.
Now mornings tell you the station believes she can become part of the daily emotional architecture of the brand.
That is how development is supposed to work.
Her Denver History Gives This More Weight
Blanco is not learning Denver while trying to build a morning show.
She already has history in the market.
She previously hosted mornings at 95.7 The Party KPTT, giving her direct experience in the exact daypart she is about to re-enter. She also held multiple roles at Flo 107.1 KFCO, adding another layer of Denver-market familiarity before returning to mornings at Mix.
That matters because morning radio is intensely local in a way other dayparts sometimes are not.
Traffic matters.
Weather matters.
The city’s moods matter.
The little neighborhood references matter.
The cultural shorthand matters.
A morning host who already understands those things begins with an advantage.
Blanco does not have to study Denver.
She has already lived radio there.
The Resume Also Travels Beyond Colorado
Her career also includes time at Now 96.3 KNOU St. Louis and nights at 101.5 WCIL-FM Carbondale, giving her experience across multiple markets and different versions of contemporary radio.
That breadth matters because good morning talent needs range.
You need the instincts to know when to be funny, when to get out of the way, when to lean into a local story and when to simply let the music do the work.
You also need enough format fluency to understand how the same personality has to behave differently depending on the station.
Blanco has seen those environments.
Now she gets to synthesize them into one of the most visible jobs on Mix 100.
Josh Griesemer Is The Continuity Piece
The other half of this move is Josh Griesemer, and his value should not be underestimated.
Morning shows are not just collections of names.
They are systems.
There are clocks, prep routines, internal rhythms, recurring features, handoffs, technical patterns and dozens of small things that only become obvious when somebody who knows them leaves.
Griesemer already understands the machinery of Mix mornings.
That makes him an important bridge.
While Blanco becomes the new co-anchor of the daypart, Griesemer provides continuity from the previous iteration of the show.
That can dramatically reduce the chaos that usually accompanies a morning reset.
This Is A Better Kind Of Reset
There is a meaningful difference between replacing a show and rebuilding one.
Replacement says:
These people are gone, so find new people.
Rebuilding says:
What pieces do we already have that can become stronger in a different configuration?
Mix appears to be doing the second.
Blanco has momentum.
Griesemer has continuity.
The station already knows both.
That reduces risk.
It also creates a cleaner internal story for the staff: advancement is possible here.
That matters more than many companies realize.
The Music Director Piece Is Especially Interesting
Blanco’s Music Director role gives this move another layer.
Morning hosts are often separated from the station’s music strategy, especially at larger or more structured operations.
Blanco is already involved in that side of the product.
That means she understands what the station is trying to sound like, not just what she is supposed to say between records.
That can make a morning show more coherent with the rest of the station.
It can also make the personality sharper because she understands the musical context surrounding the content.
For Hot AC, that matters.
The format has to balance familiarity, energy, adult appeal and enough contemporary relevance to avoid sounding stale.
A morning host who also understands the music architecture can help the entire station feel more unified.
An On The Dial Perspective
This is exactly the kind of move radio should make more often.
Develop people internally.
Give them progressively larger responsibilities.
Let them learn more than one part of the product.
Then when a major opening appears, look down the hallway before looking across the country.
Blanco’s path from a limited afternoon shift to afternoon drive to Music Director to mornings is not just a promotion story.
It is a case study in development.
And pairing her with Griesemer instead of tearing the whole morning show down to the studs suggests KSE wants evolution, not chaos.
That is smart.
Denver’s Morning Show Now Has To Earn The Name
Of course, branding something Denver’s Morning Show comes with expectations.
You cannot use a name like that and then sound like a generic show that could be airing anywhere.
The program has to live in Denver.
It has to sound like the city.
It has to know what people are talking about before they get to work.
It has to become part of the commute.
It has to create enough personality that listeners recognize the voices before they recognize the clock.
That is the real challenge.
The name is aspirational.
Now the show has to grow into it.
The Opportunity Is Bigger Than Just Replacing Jeremy And Katy
That is the wrong frame anyway.
Nina Blanco and Josh Griesemer do not need to imitate what came before.
They need to build something that reflects who they are.
That means chemistry.
Timing.
Risk.
Repetition.
Listener familiarity.
And time.
Especially time.
Morning shows do not become institutions in six weeks.
They become institutions because people hear them through ordinary mornings until the show becomes part of the ordinary itself.
That is the opportunity now.
September 8 Is Not The Finish Line It Is Day One
The launch date matters, but the real story begins after it.
The first inside joke.
The first caller who becomes a regular.
The first morning when a local story breaks and the show owns it.
The first promotion that feels uniquely theirs.
The first moment when somebody in Denver thinks:
I LIKE THESE TWO TOGETHER.
That is when a lineup becomes a show.
Mix 100 has chosen to build from people it already knows.
Nina Blanco brings market history, on-air growth and programming credibility.
Josh Griesemer brings continuity and operational familiarity.
Now they get the chance to turn those pieces into something larger.
And if KSE gives them room to develop instead of demanding instant perfection?
DENVER’S MORNING SHOW MAY HAVE JUST FOUND A MUCH MORE INTERESTING SECOND ACT.
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