Erich Mancow Muller
Yep, it’s Mancow on The Loop.
Erich Mancow Muller, the veteran radio rabble-rouser and one of Chicago’s best known shock jocks, has been chosen as morning personality at WLUP FM 97.9, the Cumulus Media classic rock station announced Monday. Continue reading
Anna Davlantes
Five months after joining WGN AM 720 as a full-time contributor, Anna Davlantes is shifting from Steve Cochran’s morning show to Roe Conn’s afternoon show.
The former Chicago television news anchor will hold forth with Conn from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting March 16, according to Todd Manley, vice president of content and programming at the Tribune Media news/talk station. Continue reading
Wrapports
Sun-Times editorial employees represented by the Chicago Newspaper Guild will vote on a proposal Monday that would forestall layoffs for six months at the financially troubled newspaper.
But there’s a catch: The moratorium on layoffs is tied to an agreement to reduce six full-time positions to part-time ones in areas where management expects to reduce coverage. Continue reading
Rob Elgas and Marion Brooks
Another rising star is leaving Chicago’s NBC-owned station.
Rob Elgas, who co-anchors WMAQ-Channel 5’s 4:30 p.m. weekday newscast with Marion Brooks, is leaving NBC 5 after 13 years to pursue unspecified "new opportunities." His last day on the air will be March 13. Continue reading
The startup of WRME LP 87.7, the Weigel Broadcasting oldies station branded as MeTV FM, gets in the groove this weekend with the debut of a weekly four-hour dance music party.
Airing from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturdays, “Dance With Me” will spotlight disco classics from the ’70s through the early ’80s. Neal Sabin, the creative force behind MeTV FM, refers to the show as “ ‘Saturday Early Night Fever’ — for all us boomers who don't stay up late.” Continue reading
Steve Downes, Pete McMurray and Dan McNeil
Following a couple of dry runs off the air this week, Chicago radio veterans Pete McMurray and Dan McNeil are set to debut Tuesday as the newly minted morning team on Hubbard Radio classic hits WDRV FM 97.1.
Joining the duo from 5:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays will be news anchor Kathy Voltmer, a holdover from the morning show hosted for 14 years on The Drive by Steve Downes. Continue reading
A Cumulus Media spokeswoman has denied a report here Thursday that WLS AM 890 is dropping Rush Limbaugh’s syndicated talk show.
“This is not at all accurate. Any report to the contrary is false,” she said. Continue reading
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh, who’s been a fixture on WLS AM 890 for more than 25 years, is about to get the bum’s rush from the Cumulus Media news/talk station, sources said Wednesday.
If all goes as planned, Limbaugh’s syndicated talk show, which airs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, will be dropped by the end of March, according to insiders at WLS. Continue reading
Fred Mitchell
Chicago Tribune sports columnist Fred Mitchell, White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone and the late White Sox broadcaster Bob Elson have been named recipients of Ring Lardner Awards for Excellence in Sports Journalism.
The three will be honored at a dinner May 4 at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson Boulevard. Proceeds will benefit the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. Continue reading
Oprah meets the press: Writers Gordon Walek, Mary Gillespie and Robert Feder with Oprah Winfrey (March 14, 1990)
Oprah Winfrey announced Tuesday that she’s closing Harpo Studios and consolidating her production operations in California. “I’ve spent more time there than anywhere else,” she said in a statement, referring to the Near West Side complex that once housed her eponymous talk show — and many of her dreams. “I am so proud of what we created.”
Winfrey’s announcement brought back memories of a morning in March 25 years ago when she opened the doors of Harpo Studios to members of the press for the first time. TV critics and writers from around the country flocked like pilgrims to the Chicago media mecca. Continue reading
