Donovan Reynolds, coordinator of the University of Michigan's public radio and television services, has resigned effective Wednesday.

Reynolds was director of Michigan Public Media, the umbrella organization that covers WUOM, 91.7-FM; affiliated radio stations in Flint and Grand Rapids; Michigan Television, the public-TV channel that broadcasts as WFUM from Flint; and the Michigan Channel, which carries U-M programming on the local Comcast cable system.

The news was confirmed by Julie Peterson, U-M spokeswoman, who offered no explanation for his departure. Reynolds did not respond to messages left on his home answering machine Wednesday.

"It's our policy not to comment on personnel matters,'' Peterson said. "We thank him for his 10 years of service to the station.''

Appointed to lead Michigan Radio in 1996, Reynolds created a furor shortly thereafter by changing WUOM's sleepy classical music format to a jazzed-up mix of news and talk, adding such National Public Radio mainstays as "Car Talk,'' "Fresh Air with Terry Gross'' and "Talk of the Nation.''

"I was the Antichrist,'' he recalled in a 2004 interview with The News.

Yet the gamble paid off in increased listenership and fundraising. Recent Arbitron ratings indicate that WUOM is the most popular radio station in Ann Arbor, ahead of all the Detroit and Ann Arbor commercial stations. It routinely exceeds its fundraising goals.

In 1999 WUOM was named the Best Station in America by the Public Radio Program Directors Association.

Reynolds came to U-M from Michigan Public Radio in Lansing, where he had been executive director. A graduate of Michigan State University, his background includes three years as executive director of California Public Radio and three years as bureau chief in the Sacramento news bureau of California Public Radio.

Peterson would also not comment on a possible successor to Reynolds.

His exit follows that of Michael Coleman, deputy director at Michigan Public Media, who left in July to become the general manager of WDET, the public radio station associated with Wayne State University in Detroit.

© 2006 Ann Arbor News