Is it a done deal that Mike McConnell will take over the 9 am time slot now occupied by John Williams at WGN-AM (720)?
At least a couple of Chicago media pundits apparently have concluded that is indeed the slot McConnell will fill at WGN-AM, at least based on remarks the Chicago-bound radio host made to Cincinnati Enquirer media writer John Kiesewetter in a column that ran Tuesday. "McConnell debuts 9 a.m. August 9 on WGN-AM he said" is the line in Kiesewetter's column that seemed to answer the question about what role the new host will play at WGN. But McConnell's assertion wasn't in actual quotes in Kiesewetter's column, though it suggests that is what McConnell said to the writer.
In any event, McConnell's remark to the Cincinnati writer was apparently news to WGN-AM general manager Tom Langmyer who, in an e-mail to us Wednesday, had this to say about McConnell's comment and his future role at WGN-AM: "That would be odd coming from him (McConnell), because HE doesn't know what specific slot he'll be working in, because it has yet to be determined." Of course, that said, it's still entirely possible McConnell could show up in the 9 am time slot on WGN in August, which could signal the end of the road for Williams at WGN. But a WGN spokeswoman said again Wednesday that the station "will be making an announcement within the next 2 months" about what McConnell will do at the station.
Lewis Lazare has written the Media Mix column for the Chicago Sun-Times for the past seven and a half years.
We do not like mike mcconnell because he is extremely opiniated and cuts people off when he is losing an argument with a listener calling in. We do not listen to WGN as much as we used to during mcconnell's time on the air. Gary Meier, John Williams and Gregg are great. What ever happened to Jim Laski? He was well liked.
M.Rice