{"id":25815,"date":"2020-06-10T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=25815"},"modified":"2020-06-10T06:00:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T11:00:06","slug":"wgn-radio-cancels-rick-pearsons-sunday-spin-music-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2020\/06\/10\/wgn-radio-cancels-rick-pearsons-sunday-spin-music-show\/","title":{"rendered":"WGN Radio cancels Rick Pearson\u2019s \u2018Sunday Spin\u2019 for music show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Rick Pearson<\/p><\/div>\n

With a presidential election less than five months away, WGN 720-AM<\/a> is about to drop its weekly political talk show to add another nostalgic music program to its lineup.<\/p>\n

\"The Sunday Spin: Politics with Rick Pearson,\"<\/a> hosted since 2013 by the chief political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, airs from 5 to 7 p.m. Sundays on the Nexstar Media Group news\/talk station. Its final broadcast will be this weekend.<\/p>\n

The show originally aired from 7 to 9 a.m. Sundays, but was moved in December to accommodate the addition of \u201cThe Sinatra Hours with Dave Plier,\u201d a showcase for the music of Frank Sinatra, from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Sundays.<\/p>\n

Pearson declined to comment on the cancellation Tuesday, but later tweeted:<\/a> \"It's been great to be a part of a legacy radio station and trying to help inform about the politics and policies behind the headlines.\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

John Williams<\/p><\/div>\n

Starting June 21, WGN's revamped Sunday lineup will include legal expert Karen Conti from 5 to 7 p.m., \"After Hours with Rick Kogan\" from 7 to 9 p.m., and the new \"Sunday Standards with John Williams\" from 9 to 11 p.m.<\/p>\n

Williams, who continues to host middays and \"The Wintrust Business Lunch\" during the week, will host and produce the new show, billed as featuring \"classic standards from the Great American Songbook.\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the hits we play go back 85 years, others go back 15 years,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe music is really nice to listen to, and that\u2019s the idea. I think there\u2019s something really big about WGN Radio, a 50,000-watt AM station, energizing this music all over again \u2013 and getting people something they need right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Sandberg Boyle, general manager of WGN, said \"Sunday Standards\" was inspired by the popularity of \u201cThe Sinatra Hours,\" which catapulted the station from 25th place to second on Sunday mornings. Both music shows were the brainchild of Sean Compton, the executive vice president of Nexstar Media Group overseeing WGN.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of \u2018The Sinatra Hours\u2019 has proven there is an appetite for nostalgia,\u201d Boyle said. \u201cThis music is hard to find, and certainly not on free over-the-air radio. John Williams has a passion for this kind of music, so it\u2019s a natural fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artists on \"Sunday Standards\" will range from Sammy Davis, Jr., Nat King Cole and Burt Bacharach to Linda Ronstadt, Barry Manilow and Amy Winehouse, according to the station.<\/p>\n

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, WGN tied for third place overall with a 5.2 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 352,500.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dick Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Tuesday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Raza Siddiqui:<\/strong> We lost a good friend. Dick Johnson was a giant in Chicago television, but that wasn\u2019t who he was to us. He was our friend. I first met Dick when I was a news stringer on a story in Braidwood. He gave me some advice: Always grab an ice cream when in a small town. It\u2019s delicious! Years later I asked him about that. His reply: \"I\u2019ve given you so much advice and that\u2019s what you remember?!\" He did always give me great advice. As a stepdad, I frequently had questions about kids, and as a man who always put family and friends first, he always gave me solid advice. I will always appreciate that. He was a funny, approachable, silver-lining kind of guy, which again was good because we sometimes covered terrible stories, but working with a genuinely caring person always made it easier. He touched everyone he got to know. My kids always asked to see him when they visited the station. Grateful to have had him as a friend. We will miss him. Thinking of his family tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a presidential election less than five months away, WGN 720-AM is about to drop its weekly political talk show to add another nostalgic music program to its lineup. \"The Sunday Spin: Politics with Rick Pearson,\" hosted since 2013 by the chief political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, airs from 5 to 7 p.m. Sundays... 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\/25815"}],"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=25815"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25824,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25815\/revisions\/25824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}