UPDATE–Steve and Johnnie rumored to be leaving WGN radio.
Read Update Nov. 12, 2010….Good News For WGN As Management Fired
UPDATE…Read the story below and then check out the latest shift changes at WGN on April 9, 2010.
This is but yet another post concerning WGN radio. I would not write about this matter if I did not care.
I have been a WGN radio listener since a teenager. Therefore I am not pleased to write this post. At every point in my life WGN radio was there with me. In times of great political intrigue in Illinois or the nation I turned to WGN for insight and commentary. When sick with colds late at night and unable to sleep I headed to AM 720. When traveling back and forth between Sturgeon Bay and home in the 1980’s, or between Madison and home in the years thereafter the voices of the hosts and callers made my travels faster and more lively. In fact James Warren on Sunday night during his time there was always the best at keeping me thinking and up-to-date on politics. At home every radio was preset to WGN. I fell asleep with the station, and the first broadcast of each day was from Chicago.
And then….and then…..
Bad corporate decisions, a desire to compete for an audience that is not a natural base for the station, and some jarring on-air personalities including the new morning man has brought many to ask what is happening to our beloved WGN Radio?
A Chicago blogger compiled the following list of troubles.
Among the changes in the past two years, the lists includes:
– allowing Spike O’Dell, their #1 rated morning show host to completely leave the station
– bungling the hiring of his replacement, by first offering it to Steve Cochran, but then giving it to John Williams, after Cochran didn’t immediately jump for joy at the lowball offer given to him
– after giving John Williams the morning slot, they then took it away from him just a few months later
– they brought in a complete unknown to be the morning show host. While Greg Jarrett is competent, talented voice and had an impressive resume, his only connection to Chicago was that he once worked with Tribune CEO Randy Michaels in Florida.
– Kathy & Judy, the beloved female hosts of the mid-morning show were removed from the air with almost a full year left on their contract, to make room for John Williams, who they yanked off of the morning show. There was no attempt to move the duo to a different time shift, angering fans, many of whom have not listened to the station since
– when John Williams moved to the morning show, his shift was left with no host for almost four full months. A seemingly unending roster of fill-in hosts, many of whom had no business on Chicago’s airwaves took over, plummeting ratings and angering fans even more
– Garry Meier was finally hired to take over the early afternoon spot. While this move brought a new audience to WGN, it took a long time before the WGN faithful finally warmed up to his style of humor
– soon after Kevin Metheny was brought on board to be WGN’s Program Director, he went on Steve Cochran’s radio show and said on the air, “I like you. I just don’t like your show.” Way to improve station morale, Mr. New Boss…
– Wes Bleed, the talented News Director who had loyally been with the station since the 80’s was let go
– Many weekend shows where cut from the schedule, including Steve Dale’s popular Pet World program and the weekend edition of Sports Central
– these weekend shows were replaced by divisive political agenda shows, hosted by Jerry Agar, Shawn Wasson, and Simon Badinter
– the usual fill-in hosts, such as Nick Digilio and Dan Deibert, where now being passed over for fill-in duties to give the controversial political talkers more air time
– some on air hosts were shaken up when their longtime producers were fired with no notice
– numerous memos were often sent to staffers, angering them to the point the memos were ridiculed on the air and leaked out to journalists like Robert Feder. These memos micromanaged every aspect of the on air staffs’ every breath, telling them how they could & could not talk with callers and even telling them to not worry about being truthful, just be “edgy”
– a new weekend show was added that was little more than a three-to-four hour infomercial for the Tribune Company’s blogsite, ChicagoNow, featuring mostly non-radio people talking on the radio and plugging their blogs
– Bill Leff was hired on a part-time basis for fill-ins and as host of the ChicagoNow infomercial, a hire that was pretty universally cheered. However, after being passed over for many fill-in jobs for the political talkers and not being happy as hosting a show where he had to constantly train (and in at least one case, fight with) non-radio people, he abruptly quit
– then there was the hiring of one particular non-radio person to be a radio show host for the historic WGN radio: convicted felon and disgraced Chicago politician, Jim Laski.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 
I am so disappointed with all the changes at WGN radio. Where is Steve Bertrand? What did you think hiring Jim Laski? I have told my friends that I am going to listen to NPR now. I still miss K and J. When Spike left, that was the beginning of all the disruption. A Used to Be Fan of WGN. ( Also where are the rankings or ratings that you used to publish?) Please take all these comments to heart.
After listening to WGN for over 50 years it saddens me that there are only Steve and Johnnie, Orion and Nick to listen to occasionally. I have become an NPR listener as I can no longer tolerate the insidious talk shows on WGN! I used to have WGN on 24 hours a day and now it’s barely half an hour. The firiing of Kathy and Judy was the last straw. Wally Phillips and Paul Harvey must be turning over in their graves about now.
I became a WGN listener when I moved to Chicago in1970. I have stayed loyally because I have liked the on-air personalities and the community spirit of the station. I have bragged to relatives in other parts of the country where good radio is just non-existant, that WGN is one of the good things I would miss if I were to move away. Not any more! I hate just about every change that has occurred in the past year or so.
Why would a wonderful institution be handed over to Kevin Metheny, a loser from loser stations? Why would a great station line-up be methodically stripped of talent and infused with opinionated losers? Controversial diatribes and stupid games are not what I listen for in radio. I like my news, weather, traffic and sports woven together with intelligent talk radio. I am listening to John Williams, and Steve Cochran, and Steve and Johnnie, and Nick Digillio and otherwise tuning out. I want my WGN back! I miss Kathy and Judy, Wes Blied, Dave Stewart, and others!
There are other choices and I’m checking in on them when the non-talent is on the air.
In the 50’s Wally Phillips captured my attention and I’ve been a loyal listener ever since. The changes that I’ve listened to over the past 18 months are driving me and my family away. The only shows that offer any interest are John Williams and Steve and Johnny. If the purpose for these changes was to change the WGN demographics, congratulations because we are gone. The king is dead, long live the king.
Please bring back Steve Cochran to afternoon drive. He was the only thing good about driving from the suburbs back in to the city everyday. Unbelievable that these changes have been made. I want my Steve back.
absolutely!
I have listened to WGN radio since moving to Streator, Illinois from Minnesota back in 1981 when i was 21. While I missed my hometown in Minnesota, I loved being able to listen to and get to know the radio personalites at WGN. Wally, Bob Collins, Spike, Steve and Jonny, Jon Williams, Roy Leonard. Then over the years as hosts retired or in Bob’s case died, i go used to the new talent they brought in. I grew to really like Steve Cochran. We moved to southeast Wisconsin in 1991 and I was thankful the radio station came in so well up here. My radio was ALWAYS tuned to WGN-but no more. It is even painful for me to listen to Jon Williams now as I feel sorry for how they have treated him-and now Steve Cochran! i just don’t get it. It is so sad to see a radio station that has been an institution die out because of management’s stupidity. Perhaps all the tremendous talent that has either been fired or been lessened can start their own station.
Why do you think Kevin Metheny is called Pig Virus? One can only surmise, with Swine Flu still on the loose. WGN used to be a station you could rely on to not be forceful in its politics. Though the hosts may lean in one political direction or another, they didn’t let it infiltrate their shows. They welcomed varying opinions. Now, Greg Jarrett spews right wing propaganda any chance he gets. I like Garry Meier and enjoy listening to him, but Steve Cochrane seems to be getting a raw deal. Granted I don’t know everything, but it would seem that Steve’s political and programming views don’t fall in line with ‘management’. Hiring Laski, now that’s funny. Except for Lou Manfredini on Saturdays, no WGN for me on the weekend, unless it’s the Cubs or Hawks. The only thing WGN ‘management’ is going to do is manage to sink to the bottom of the ratings barrel
WGN is not going to succeed with the current management. They are ruining what was a great station. When Kathy and Judy were fired, and all the “controversial” hosts brought in, they killed a great station. There is no one except John Williams who is worth listening to, and t hey are even making him talk about things that are not of his choosing. And why did they hire the crook, Laski?
Wow, I just happened to fall into this blog site and after reading the entries, I realized that I am not the only one that has felt betrayed by a station to which I have been so loyal over all these years. WGN, NPR and WBBM were the only stations on AM that I listened to with the majority of the time on WGN. I am not a big fan of TV. Now, it is only Steve and Jonny and Nick. How sad. The end of and era. What are they thinking?
I can’t stand Gary Meyer. I loved listening to Steve Cochran in the late afternoon on my way home from work! What the heck is management thinking?????? WGN is beginning to such big time! Gary just complains too much.