We don't envy the task facing Bill Leff. The ex-sidekick of WLS-AM (890) afternoon drive host Roe Conn has been tapped to host a new morning show on Tribune Co.-owned WGN-AM (780) called "ChicagoNow Radio," debuting Nov. 14. The program, which will air on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon when sports programming doesn't interfere, will feature a rotating cast of bloggers from www.chicagonow.com, the Web home for no fewer than 126 bloggers that is part of the Chicago Tribune Media Group's efforts to appear in sync with the times.
In announcing the new program, WGN Program Director Kevin Metheny obviously had to reach more than a bit to come up with a basic description of the concept: "This will be a crazy collision of experiences and perspectives." Perhaps. But it also sounds as if the program will be chaotic and hard to follow, with so many different bloggers with different areas of interest talking amongst themselves while Leff tries to tie it all together.
Obviously, the Tribune Media Group is trying to use its radio outlet to promote the ChicagoNow venture. It's called synergy. But "ChicagoNow Radio" may very well prove yet another irritant to tens of thousands of formerly loyal WGN listeners who have turned off the station in recent months as Metheny has tried to update and modernize the sound to attract a younger audience.
While some listeners would argue that change has not been good for Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720), now the station's General Manager Tom Langmyer can just point to the 2009 Marconi Radio Award for best news/talk radio station to help silence his critics. Langmyer picked up WGN's award at a ceremony Thursday in Philadelphia. The Marconi Awards are handed out annually to honor excellence at radio stations and among on-air radio personalities.
WGN's 2009 Marconi Award comes after a period earlier this year when the station made a number of changes in its on-air talent lineup to help give the station an edgier profile. The changes, which upset a number of the station's longtime listeners, included the abrupt departure of mid-morning personalities Judy Markey and Kathy O'Malley.
The 2009 Marconi win is by no means WGN's first. In fact, the latest win marks the 10th time since the Marconi Awards were first presented in 1989 that WGN has been a recipient of one. The last win came as recently as 2007, when WGN was named major market station of the year.
Looks as if news/talk WGN-AM (720) is taking a Web-centric approach in naming its new news director Charlie Meyerson, who comes to the radio station from its sibling newspaper operation, the Chicago Tribune. At the Trib, Meyerson most recently was a senior producer for the paper's Web site. chicagotribune.com. He also has been a frequent contributor to WGN radio news programming. "This has been a quest for a rare individual who can lead our accomplished news professionals forward in gathering and delivering news through traditional, emerging and as-yet-undeveloped technologies," said WGN Program Director Kevin Metheny. Unlike many who are in the news business and Web-focused, Meyerson has been around in the business a few years. Some 30 years ago, Meyerson joined the news team at WXRT-FM (93.1), before leaving there in 1989 to serve as WNUA-FM's (95.5) news and public affairs director.
For the thousands of fans who undoubtedly miss them, we're sure it's been much too long since Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey were unceremoniously dumped from their mid-morning show on Tribune Co.-owned news/talk WGN-AM (720). But here's a chance for their loyal supporters to reunite with the beloved radio hosts. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Ann Sather Restaurant at 909 W. Belmont Ave., will host "A Visit with Kathy & Judy." It's a benefit for the Broadway Youth Center of the Howard Brown Health Center, and a chance for well wishers and loyal listeners to meet and greet the former WGN radio team.
The get-together at Ann Sather is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will include light refreshments and a buffet of a variety of Ann Sather specialities. The cost is $20 per person, and advance reservations are required. The number to call is 773-348-2378. The Broadway Youth Center, located at 3179 N. Broadway, offers social and support groups, housing and job placement assistance and performance classes, among other things, to all youth 24 and under.
Veteran WGN-AM (720) reporter Max Armstrong is joining Farm Progress as director of broadcasting effective July 6. Armstrong will oversee Farm Progress' recent addition of a new broadcast unit providing radio, television and enhanced Web programming for the agricultural market. Armstrong has been an agribusiness reporter at WGN for over 30 years.
In addition to his new duties at Farm Progress, Armstrong will continue to co-host with colleague Orion Samuelson WGN's agriculture program "The Morning Show," at 5 a.m. on Saturdays. In pursuit of the news of agriculture, Armstrong has originated broadcasts from every state in America and at least 30 foreign countries.
News/talk WGN-AM's (720) loss has now become news/talk WLS-AM's (890) latest gain. Citadel Broadcasting-owned WLS has picked up "Steve Dale's Pet World," which for many years had been part of WGN's Sunday lineup. But Dale and several other weekend hosts were dumped by WGN a couple of months ago when the station began revamping its host and programming lineups to create an edgier sound.
Dale's show will air from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays on WLS, and an additional hour-long show will be available online on demand at www.wlsam.com. Dale's first live program is this Saturday. Dale also is the host of two nationally-syndicated programs and has been hosting local radio in Chicago for the past 12 years.
WLS Program Director Bob Shomper previously held that job at WGN before he jumped to WLS last fall. Shomper appears to be interested in retaining at WLS some of the hosts who for many years made WGN a popular destination for a large number of listeners -- though the demos of those listeners tended to skew older. Bill Moller, another former WGN weekend host who did a personal finance-oriented show, let go along with Dale, also has been auditioning for a berth at WLS.
Creepy. Chicago attorneys Greg Adamski and Karen Conti, hosts of Tribune Broadcasting-owned WGN-AM'S (720) "Legally Speaking," will host a mock trial of the closing arguments in the murder prosecution of Drew Peterson for the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, on Thursday, May 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. The event will be open to the public and taped for broadcast on WGN on June 14 and 15. "The People v. Drew Peterson" will feature Greg Adamski as moderator, Karen Conti as prosecutor and lawyer Joseph R. Lopez as Peterson's defense attorney. Retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Neville will preside. A professional jury consultant will be present to screen and select jurors who will be taken from the audience. We're told the event is intended to be an "educational exposition," based only on facts that have been publicly reported.
If there are any lingering doubts in the radio world that Program Director Kevin Metheny was brought on board to shake up and expand the somewhat older-skewing audience base at news-talk WGN-AM (720), the Chicago debut on Sunday of Frenchman Simon Badinter and his "Simon Rendezvous" show should quickly dispel them.
Badinter may be a stranger to Chicago and WGN listeners, but he is very much a known quantity -- and something of an oddity -- in Cleveland. Yes that would be Cleveland, Ohio, where rivers used to catch on fire and where Metheny was based before he abruptly turned up at WGN in December to replace Bob Shomper, who abruptly jumped to news/talk WLS-AM (890) as program director.
For the past two years Badinter, who was born and raised in Paris, France, has been doing his "Rendezvous" schtick at WTAM-AM (1100), and Badinter has had a fun time playing his worldly sophistication off against the somewhat more provincial mindset of his Cleveland listeners (no offense intended Clevelanders!) But Badinter would tell you that his radio show's real appeal has less to do with his aristocratic Frenchness than it does with the wide-ranging topics he chooses to discuss every week and the heated debates he apparently sparks with lots of listeners. Recently, for instance, he has addressed gay marriage and the cojoined themes of drugs and rock 'n roll. "My show is not really about what Simon says, it's about the passion my listeners have for the topics we debate," Badinter told us.
For his part, Metheny isn't predicting how Badinter will fare with many current WGN listeners who aren't necessarily used to interacting with an aggressively-opionated radio talent like Badinter, but Metheny is sure hoping he'll draw fresh, younger ears to the station. The curious -- young or old -- can tune in to Badinter's first three-hour WGN show at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Is an announcement imminent? News/talk WGN-AM (720) is said to be in the final stages of deciding what it is going to do about filling its mid-afternoon host slot, which has been vacant since John Williams moved to morning drive late last year. Sources indicated veteran Chicago radio broadcaster Garry Meier is still a frontrunner for the job, and he and his wife, who serves as his agent, were believed to be in the final stages of negotiations. But money was said to be a sticking point that could force WGN to go with a different scenario. If WGN does fill the mid-afternoon job shortly, the new host will face a big hurdle right away. The Chicago Cubs baseball season begins Monday, which mean WGN's mid-afternoon show will be preempted often over the next six months.
Judd Sirott, nephew of veteran local broadcaster Bob Sirott, has been named host of Cubs Central Pregame, heard before every Chicago Cubs broadcast on WGN-AM (720). Sirott will assist Pat Hughes and Ron Santo in the Cubs radio booth, handling one inning of play-by-play each game and updating the Major League Baseball scoreboard. He also will contribute to Cubs Postgame, including Cubs Plus, the expanded postgame show heard after most games.
Sirott has been the host of Chicago Blackhawks Pregame, Postgame and intermission reports on WGN, a role in which he will continue in addition to his new Cubs duties. Prior to joining WGN, Judd Sirott called National Hockey League games nationally for HDNet for the two years. Previously, Sirott, 39, was the voice of the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves from the team's inception in 1994 to 2006.
