{"id":15465,"date":"2017-09-12T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=15465"},"modified":"2017-09-12T22:39:45","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T03:39:45","slug":"rebranded-eric-morning-share-billing-melissa-whip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/09\/12\/rebranded-eric-morning-share-billing-melissa-whip\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebranded \u2018Eric in the Morning\u2019 to share billing with \u2018Melissa & Whip\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Eric Ferguson<\/p><\/div>\n

After 21 years as \u201cThe Eric & Kathy Show,\u201d Chicago radio\u2019s top-rated morning program will officially be known as \u201cEric in the Morning with Melissa & Whip,\u201d sources said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Host Eric Ferguson is expected to unveil the new name during Wednesday morning\u2019s show on WTMX FM 101.9,<\/a> the Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary station.<\/p>\n

The rebranding was prompted by the departure of Kathy Hart after 21 years as Ferguson\u2019s co-host on The Mix. Hart had been off the air since late April, but the station formally\u00a0severed ties<\/a> with her last week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Melissa McGurren, Brian \u201cWhip\u201d Paruch and Eric Ferguson<\/p><\/div>\n

The new title reflects Ferguson\u2019s status as solo host while recognizing the roles of longtime contributors Melissa McGurren and Brian \u201cWhip\u201d Paruch as key members of the cast. No new personnel are expected to be added to the show.<\/p>\n

McGurren and Paruch were said to be included in the new name at Ferguson\u2019s insistence. \u201cEric said it was important to him that they were part of it too,\u201d according to one insider at the station.<\/p>\n

Hart\u2019s exit also has drawn the attention of the competition. WKSC FM 103.5, <\/a>the iHeartMedia Top 40 station known as Kiss FM (and home of Ferguson's rivals Christopher \u201cFred\u201d Frederick and Angi Taylor), this week unveiled billboards on Chicago area expressways that read: \u201cKathy Hart, Thank You For 21 Incredible Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kiss FM<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 21 years as \u201cThe Eric & Kathy Show,\u201d Chicago radio\u2019s top-rated morning program will officially be known as \u201cEric in the Morning with Melissa & Whip,\u201d sources said Tuesday. Host Eric Ferguson is expected to unveil the new name during Wednesday morning\u2019s show on WTMX FM 101.9, the Hubbard Radio hot adult-contemporary station.<\/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\/15465"}],"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=15465"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15473,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15465\/revisions\/15473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}