Anchor and reporter for WGN Radio, where I host "The Opening Bell" business hour from 5-6am weekdays and then anchor . Compton worked for Clear Channel Radio under Randy Michaels and made the transition with him to Tribune when Sam Zell bought the company in 2007. Please Dont bring Sirott back! In 1946, the Tribune Company applied to the FCC for a construction permit to build a television station. WGN Radio AM 720 United States employs 59 employees. Youd hate it even more now, the entire schedule is repetitive! How long can you hear about Ross, Abigail, and the same ol s Nobody cares. [17], In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM radio band operating on 40 channels spanning 4250MHz. You can find a comprehensive archive of his material here. Backstory with Larry Potash. Here's WGN's weekday lineup, starting January 3: 4 to 6 a.m. WGN-TV simulcast Above: A few of the WGN Radio Newsroom reporters (I to r) Steve Bertrand, Dave Stewart, Rod Sierra and Wes Bleed. [70], This article is about the radio station. For the six years they were together at the station, Leff and Snyder invited me into their studio each week for a half-hour segment to talk with them and their audience about the news, my columns, my family or whatever else was on my mind. Updated: Aug 6, 2014 / 09:07 AM CDT. Cochran was always a rather annoying DJ. WGN's YouTube Page. While residing in TX 09/2015 DeCastro fired Bob and Marianne. Nexstar also dropped their affiliation with ABC News Radio and instead is supplying national news updates for WGN America's national newscast, NewsNation with WGN newscasters and audio from Nexstar-owned television stations. Bring back Bill & Wendy! Glad to see him go.but sirott is not the answer. I never could understand why WGN put him on the air so he could promote his mortgage business disguised as giving advice to people. A perennial ratings powerhouse, WGN Radio had double-digit audience shares and millions of regular listeners from the 1960s through the 1980s, when Wally Phillips, Bob Collins, Roy Leonard and other legendary broadcasters ruled the airwaves. This move caps off several weeks of major moves in Chicago radio, with WGN dropping Bill Leff and Wendy Snyder from middays and WXRT moving Lin Brehmers morning show to middays. Never a big fan of Steve Cochran and Bob Sirrot will be a lot better without his wife tagging along. WGN Radio is just another radio station. A new afternoon show and the full-time return of John Landecker highlight a slew of changes at WGN Chicago. 7 traffic and transportation anchor Roz Varon and former WGN-AM news anchor and current "Garry Meier . On July 25, 2017, it was reported that WGN would leave Tribune Tower in 2018 and relocate to a new studio and office across the Chicago River. These staffing changes were made over the course of months after Sean Compton began to oversee radio operations as Nexstar's Executive Vice President of WGN America, WGN Radio & Director of Content Acquisition. Article; Talk; English. The new Sinatra hour does not apply to me, I will miss Steve B at lunch, and the old schedule of news, weather, business, current events discussions. In addition, the retirement of Tom Joyner (last heard on Clubsteppin 95.1) is expected to set off more changes. Chicago, IL . . Jenkins and Donnelly are at their transmitter in the Wrigley Building in 1922. The station gained some early listeners, including Chicago Tribune publisher Col. Robert McCormick, who wrote to his mother, you cannot help being thrilled at the little box that picks sounds from the air, according to a WGN history published by the station in 1961. Chicago radio personality Art Hellyer, circa 1966. . He was notified after he got off the air Friday that it was his last show. Over many decades, WGN was a "full service" radio station. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Read; Edit; View history . Theres a number of stations out there that are celebrating 100-year anniversaries around this time, but in terms of stations that have remained the same kind of programming style for a century, that is kind of rare, said Dave Marzullo, 52, head of digital operations for WGN Radio and the stations unofficial historian. He was annoying and loud. Its not a talk station, in my opinion, and people who listen to that station in the morning probably want to listen to MUSIC. Following the 2014 season, Cubs radio broadcasts moved to 780 AM WBBM.[69]. Like Cochran, Sirotts resume is quite long an alum of WLS during its Musicradio era and WBBM-FM during its progressive rock era and worked for four local television stations in a variety of roles and a stint as a correspondent for CBS West 57th newsmagaine in the mid-1980s. : Bengston, Bob - Retired from radio. Weigel Broadcasting subsequently leased the low-power TV signal at 87.7 FM and turned it into a top-10 Chicago radio station with its MeTV FM oldies format. Required fields are marked *. Ill never understand the cut throat business that is radio. So long WGN youve lost another listener! WGWG-LP began an interim simulcast of WGN radio at 10 p.m. on December 31, 2014. WGN is a radio station that I used to listen to for entertainment, news and current events. Steve had such rapport with Dr. Listeners would feel respected. Im done. This afternoon news-oriented program led by Steve is a welcome addition to our WGN Radio weekday lineup.. One of her first personnel moves in December 2019 was naming veteran Chicago radio and TV personality Bob Sirott as morning drive host on WGN Radio. Thank God you got rid of Cochran! "Davlantes will continue to be heard frequently across the stations dayparts," according to WGN's announcement. Would love to see Pete McMurray have a permanent splot on WGN radio. Cuts from JAM jingle packages Top News, Talktrax, Talking Points, Non-Stop Power, You'll Like Our Style, Follow The Leader, Variety Pack, Nothing But Class, and Ameritalk are regularly featured in station identifications, sounders, and promotions. show. [65], Tribune Media was acquired by Nexstar Media Group for $4.1 billion in September 2019, marking the first time since 1924 that WGN radio would not be owned by any iteration of the Tribune Company. The Bill and Wendy Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, then streaming from noon to 1 p.m. The decision to replace Cochran with Sirott stunned many local media observers, given Cochran finished third in the all-important morning drive daypart in the last Nielsen PPM report. Chicago News Anchors: Past and Present. Not much different than the next. And thats all you hear all morning which is why I left. Over the years, WGN has waffled between the 1922 and 1924 origin stories to mark significant anniversaries, but settled on 2022 for the centennial, Marzullo said. WGN-TV and WGN Radio would remain with the original entity, which was renamed Tribune Media and was restructured to focus on the company's broadcasting, digital and real estate properties; the newspaper division which, in addition to the Chicago Tribune, included publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun was spun off into the standalone entity Tribune Publishing (known as Tronc from June 2016 until the company reverted to its former name in October 2018). Anna Davlantes loses her show from 1 to 4 p.m. and moves to a new role as investigative correspondent with special reporting, covering news stories in-depth. The city's first disc jockey was Halloween Martin, whose show, Musical Clock, was a morning staple on various stations from 1929 to 1946. In 2008, Kevin Metheny was hired by then Tribune CEO Randy Michaels as program director at WGN-AM 720 and charged with shaking up a Chicago radio institution and expanding its still large but aging audience. [68] On September 1, 2020, WGN Radio dropped ABC News Radio in favor of being an "audio news hub" for the co-owned NewsNation TV channel. But the station is hewing closer to its radio roots these days under Mary Sandberg Boyle, 46, a veteran radio producer and executive who became the first female GM at WGN Radio in 2019. Given Cochran had a solid track record and WGN ranked third in mornings, replacing him with Sirott doesnt make sense. You can find a comprehensive archive of his material here. Late-night hosts over the years have included Franklyn MacCormack, Ed "Chicago Eddie" Schwartz, Don Vogel and the husband-and-wife team of Steve King and Johnnie Putman. The city's first disc jockey was Halloween Martin, whose show, Musical Clock, was a morning staple on various stations from 1929 to 1946. I certainly dont patronize their advertizers! LOVE Bob and could not wait to return to WGN. As analyst Rich Greenfield would say, Good Luck Radio. Elliott Jenkins, left, and Thorne Donnelly, right, are the original owners of WDAP, the predecessor to WGN radio. WGN Radio is commemorating its anniversary with a TV documentary airing at 7 p.m. Thursday on sister station WGN-Ch. Above: (front Ito r) Bob Collins, Kathy O'Malley, Dean . . (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). Love Pete. In 1961, the WGN radio and television stations moved to a studio facility on West Bradley Place in the North Center neighborhood, a move undertaken for civil defense concerns in order to provide the station a safe base to broadcast in case of a hostile attack targeting downtown Chicago. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. And yesthe ever present I am right and you are wrong my way or nothing, THE last wordALWAYSand the continuous bashing of the current administrationWAY TOO POLITICAL for a morning drive personality The station used ABC News Radio for national news reports as the network's Chicago affiliate. : Station Deletions", "Col. Robert McCormick Dies; WGN-AM-TV Among Holdings", "McCormick Will Names Five To Head 'Tribune,' Stations", "Patrolman Leonard F. Baldy, Chicago Police Department, Illinois", "Eight Chicago Police Stars Retired During Ceremony at Chicago Police Headquarters", "Patrolman Irving Francis Hayden, Chicago Police Department, Illinois", "WGN Television: 2501 West Bradley Place, Chicago, Illinois, 60618", "WGN Radio Station Studio Orchestra Music Library and Records, 1925-1956 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music", "At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture", "Tribune Co. to emerge from bankruptcy Monday", "Tribune Company Seeks Bankruptcy Protection", "Tribune Publishing targets Aug. 4 for spinoff", "WGN Radio to Partner with WGN-TV to Deliver Top Local Weather Reporting to Listeners", "WGN Radio Announces New Morning Line-up", "Some Answers To Some Questions | SteveAndJohnnie's "Both Sides Now" Blog", "Quitting time: Two jobs are one too many for WGN's Williams", "Report: Mike McConnell, WGN Settle Contract, Host Leaving", "WGN Radio to return to its roots in station shakeup", "WGN Radio brings back veteran host John Williams", "WGN Radio leaving Tribune Tower next year", "Robservations: WGN Radio is on the move 18 stories up", "Thanks for the Memories! Heres everything you need to know about The Grinch sequel, plus the best books your kid can check out now. WGN Radio AM 720. In October 2008, WGN-TV began to provide forecasts for WGN radio (prepared by Tom Skilling and other members of the sister television station's weather staff), after it ended a ten-year forecast partnership with The Weather Channel. Conn joined WGN as afternoon host in 2015 after 25 years at Cumulus Media news/talk WLS 890-AM. Those plaques have since been distributed to families of the honorees, winding up in closets and gardens across the city. Lisa Dent. General manager Mary Sandberg Boyle at the WGN-AM 720 Radio studio in downtown Chicago on May 17, 2022. The station played small amounts of music during the mornings and afternoon hours, moderate amounts of music on weekends during the day, aired midday and evening talk shows, and sports among other features. (Phil Greer / Chicago Tribune). General manager Mary Sandberg Boyle at the WGN-AM 720 Radio studio in downtown Chicago on May 17, 2022. We belong to the listeners, Boyle said. Morning producer Mary Boyle was appointed General Manager of the station after former Station Manager Todd Manley was terminated on the first day of Nextar's takeover. Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:01 pm. If they would smarten up and get rid of him I just might start listening again. WGN Films. [3] In mid-1923 ownership was transferred to the Board of Trade,[4] and the next year the Whitestone Company, managers of the Drake Hotel, took control. Where sports, pop culture, and media meet, Sirott returns to morning shift; Cochran canned for second time from WGN. Whats more interesting here is the recently retired Joyner who is the same age as Sirott (70) said about the state of radio recently in Billboard: When I came along, you didnt have a lot of listening choices. Samuelson: It . WGN (AM) is broadcast in five states, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. On September 1, 1928 the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) ruled that this was two stations too many, and ordered that their operations be consolidated.

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