The first changes since the departure of Kevin “Pig Virus” Metheny has already taken place.
In his goodwill mission to win back listeners, WGN Radio boss Tom Langmyer is bringing back Sports Central, and fired two weekend hosts, among other changes. In Phil Rosenthal’s Tower Ticker blog, Langmyer stated: “The goal of WGN weekends is to make our programming more relevant, warm, upbeat, and all Chicago. The lineup will better fit with the mindsets of our weekend listeners as well as be fun to listen to.”
And for the past year and-a-half or so under the direction of Pig Virus (hell to the yeah, I‘ll continue to use the name), it certainly hasn't been that.
Out is ChicagoNow, the inane Saturday morning radio show which featured bloggers from Tribune’s attempt to create a blogger community. Also gone is weekend political talk show hosts Jerry Agar and Shawn Wasson (Agar is a conservative talker; Wasson is a liberal one.)
One good thing to come out of ChicagoNow however, is former Q101 (WKQX-FM) host Alex Quigley (who is WGN’s interim PD) and Amy Guth's program, which has garnered praise from their on-air chemistry. Their reward? Both will continue to host a weekend show on WGN Radio from 1-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sunday.
Also returning is SportsCentral, with new host Glen Kozlowski. He'll sit alongside Quigley from 4 to 6 p.m. every weekend. And Nick Digillo’s Sunday night show moves to Saturday nights, airing from 6 to 10 p.m.
Longtime host Milt Rosenberg’s nighttime show (Extension 720) is now extended a day, and Steve and Johnnie Putman’s show gets an extra two hours on Monday mornings, which will now run Monday through Friday from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. for the full five hours.
Meanwhile, Simon Baditner – who has a French accent (you have GOT to be kidding me) - has been cut to two hours to Sundays from 6 to 8 p.m.
Remember, all programming is subject to sports pre-emptions. Enjoy the new weekend lineup, radio lovers – it's certainly better than what was offered previously.
No comments:
Post a Comment