{"id":14255,"date":"2017-05-16T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=14255"},"modified":"2017-05-16T06:00:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T11:00:25","slug":"are-eric-kathy-fans-ready-for-a-hart-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/05\/16\/are-eric-kathy-fans-ready-for-a-hart-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric & Kathy ready for a Hart break?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart<\/p><\/div>\n

The most popular morning radio show in Chicago is in its third week without co-host Kathy Hart \u2014 and without explanation to co-workers or fans for her extended absence.<\/p>\n

After 20 years alongside Eric Ferguson on Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary WTMX FM 101.9,<\/a> Hart has insiders guessing if or when she\u2019ll return to \u201cThe Eric and Kathy Show.\u201d Even her bosses aren\u2019t sure what\u2019s up.<\/p>\n

Reached at home Monday, Hart, 52, declined to comment. Except for an abbreviated appearance May 1, she\u2019s been off the air since April 27. By all accounts, the show has gone on without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

The longer Hart is out of The Mix the more questions are raised and rumors are fueled. In response to inquiries about her leave of absence, management released a statement Monday pointedly crediting a \u201cgreat team effort\u201d for the success of the show. As if to underscore the message, the word \u201cteam\u201d appeared three times.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hart, of Eric and Kathy fame, is taking some time off and we are looking forward to her return,\u201d said Jeff England, vice president and market manager of Hubbard Radio Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, we want to assure our loyal listeners that the goal of \u2018The Eric and Kathy Show\u2019 team is to deliver the best in morning entertainment to Chicagoans every morning, as they have for 20 years. The success of the show is the result of great team effort, and we have no doubt that our team will continue to serve our community while entertaining our loyal audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nielsen Audio figures for April released Monday showed \u201cThe Eric and Kathy Show\u201d tied for first place in morning drive with a 6.9 percent share of all listeners. It shared the top spot with CBS Radio all-news WBBM AM 780\/WCFS FM 105.9,<\/a> anchored by Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy. Among listeners between 25 and 54 \u2014 the so-called money demo advertisers covet \u2014 \u201cThe Eric and Kathy Show\u201d has been ahead of all others for years.<\/p>\n

Like many show business partnerships, Ferguson and Hart\u2019s relationship off the air (and sometimes on the air) has been described as strained. Friends of both marvel that it has endured over two decades \u2014 an eternity by broadcasting standards. Friends also acknowledge that nothing lasts forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI continue to wish her the best and hope we have some kind of understanding soon,\u201d Ferguson, 50, said of his co-host. \u201cI look forward to her return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson told listeners at the end of Monday\u2019s show he\u2019s taking a few days off for a previously scheduled vacation and urged them not to read anything into that. \u201cThere\u2019s no conspiracy going on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Mix will be airing \u201cBest of Eric and Kathy\u201d tapes in his absence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most popular morning radio show in Chicago is in its third week without co-host Kathy Hart \u2014 and without explanation to co-workers or fans for her extended absence. After 20 years alongside Eric Ferguson on Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary WTMX FM 101.9, Hart has insiders guessing if or when she\u2019ll return to \u201cThe Eric... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14255"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14266,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14255\/revisions\/14266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}