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Published on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 12:28
WGN-AM will be rearranging their daytime line-up next month. Beginning August 9th, their morning show loses a half-hour, a controversial new host from Cincinnati joins, and a veteran WGN voice moves yet again.
Here is what the new WGN line-up will look like next month:
5:00am-8:30am - Greg Jarrett
8:30am-12:30pm - Mike McConnell
12:30pm-3:00pm - John Williams
3:00pm-7:00pm - Garry Meier
The "Noon Show" is officially gone from the station.
John Williams now moves back to afternoons, a spot he held previously, before moving to the morning show slot following Spike O'Dell's retirement. He is replacing Steve Cochran, whose contract was not renewed last month. However, in essence, he is replacing the man WGN tried to hire to replace him. Bill "Willie" Cunningham was courted by WGN to join his Cincinnati radio co-worker McConnell into coming to Chicago, but at the last minute, Cunningham
decided to stay in his comfort zone of Cincinnati (and reap a big payday from his current employer for doing so). Williams, who was going to be pushed out, now stays with WGN.
John Williams also has a radio show in Minneapolis that airs from 1:00pm-3:00pm on WCCO-AM. WCCO will now be changing their schedule to keep Williams. Williams will now be working the 9:00am-Noon shift there, broadcasting the show from an unused WGN studio at that time. Feeling he was on the way out, Williams found this new job in Minnesota, was reportedly looking for a home there, and his son will be starting college there in a few weeks. Williams' contract with WGN runs to the Fall of 2011.
Mike McConnell comes to WGN-AM from WLW-AM in Ohio. He previously worked with Tribune CEO Randy Michaels at that station, along with other Tribune executives like Sean Compton & Kevin Metheny. He has been reportedly trying to learn as much about Chicago as possible in the last few weeks, since he has never lived here before this month.
WGN-AM is also reshuffling their news anchors to accommodate the new weekday line-ups. The following changes take effect on July 26th: News anchor Jim Gudas will move from afternoons to mornings. News anchor Steve Bertrand will now return to work with John Williams in the afternoon. News anchor Andrea Darlas will now shift to the afternoon/evening shift. Traffic reporter Mary Van De Velde will return to mornings, while traffic reporter Leslie Keiling will now be heard on Williams' and Meier's shows in afternoons.
The changes mentioned above only alter the morning and afternoon line-ups. The weekday nighttime remains the same:
7:00pm-10:00pm and fill-ins - Jim Laski
10:00pm-Midnight, Mon-Thur - Extension 720 with Dr. Milt Rosenberg
Midnight-5:00am, Mon-Thur - Steve King & Johnnie Putman
10:00pm-2:00am, Friday - Nick Digilio
2:00am-5:00am, Friday - Brian Noonan
The morning and afternoon changes are just the latest in a long string of changes for WGN Radio. Since morning star Spike O'Dell's departure and Program Director Kevin Metheny's hire, both less than two years ago, change has been the only constant at Chicago's radio station at AM 720.
