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Published on Tuesday, 08 June 2010 17:54
The Mike McConnell watch continues...
There is even more news about Mike McConnell's joining WGN-AM in August. This afternoon, McConnell spoke with Cincinnati Enquirer media columnist, John Kiesewetter, the same writer who first confirmed the rumor of McConnell & Bill Cunningham leaving WLW-AM for WGN-AM last week. In
John Kiesewetter's column this afternoon, Mike McConnell lets slip to the writer that he will be taking over John Williams slot at 9:00am beginning on August 9th. McConnell has been doing the 9:00am-Noon time slot for over two decades at WLW, so it seemed pretty obvious he would do that here in Chicago.
McConnell also confirmed the story that was exclusively mentioned on Chicagoland Radio & Media
last week of his secret Sunday afternoon visit to the Tribune Towers a few months back. He claims to have been very impressed with WGN's showcase studio that overlooks Michigan Avenue. McConnell told Kiesewetter: "Some people may not like that, but I liked that. I like the energy of people watching. I always liked it when people toured the studio and looked in on you."
McConnell also regretted not being able to say goodbye to his WLW fans, since Clear Channel yanked him off the air abruptly once they found out he was not resigning with the station and the WGN-AM story came out.
He now finds himself with a lot of free time on his hands. "I haven't had this much time off since I got my first newspaper route at age 12," McConnell said.
He says he will now just find a Chicago apartment, read the Chicago Tribune and listen to WGN. (Sucking up to the Trib bosses already?)
Fans of John Williams will want to start saying their goodbyes now. In just over one year's time, WGN has gone from bragging about how much they love Williams as their morning show host and station anchor, to moving him to late mornings, to forcing him out of the station before his contract ends. Quite a year at WGN.
