{"id":3260,"date":"2014-05-01T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=3260"},"modified":"2014-05-01T03:24:04","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T08:24:04","slug":"loop-kqx-programmer-goes-out-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/05\/01\/loop-kqx-programmer-goes-out-on-top\/","title":{"rendered":"Loop, 'KQX programmer goes out on top"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jim<\/a>

<\/a> Jim Richards<\/p><\/div>\n

Leaving Chicago will be \u201creally bittersweet\u201d for veteran radio programmer Jim Richards, who guided two of Chicago\u2019s legendary rock stations to the top of the ratings among their respective audiences.<\/p>\n

After two years as operations manager of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9<\/a> and alternative rock WKQX FM 101.1,<\/a> Richards, 47, is headed to San Francisco to become operations manager\/program director of Cumulus Media\u2019s KFOG FM and KSAN FM.<\/p>\n

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, the Loop ranks No. 1 in its target demographic of men between 25 and 54, while WKQX ranks No. 1 among men between 18 and 34 and men between 18 and 49.<\/p>\n

While a search is under way for Richards\u2019 replacement in Chicago, PJ Kling continues as program director of WKQX, and Zakk Tyler (born Dominic Joseph Zaccagnini) serves as acting program director of the Loop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really bittersweet,\u201d Richards told me Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s great to get back closer to my\u00a0fianc\u00e9 [Dr. Vanessa Kaleb] and to work with [KSAN morning hosts] Lamont & Tonelli again. But we have such a great team here, and I\u2019ve built relationships that will last for life.\u00a0My Chicago experience has been the highlight of my life and career \u2014 so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

A protege of Merlin Media CEO Randy Michaels, Richards was named to his current post in May 2012, when the Loop and WKQX were under Merlin Media control. Since January, they\u2019ve been operating under a local marketing agreement by Cumulus Media, which retained Richards at the Chicago combo.<\/p>\n

In addition to holding top programming posts on the West Coast and in the Midwest for Jacor Broadcasting and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Richards was vice president of content for Tribune Interactive during Michaels\u2019 tenure as CEO of Tribune Co.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to have a programmer of Jim\u2019s caliber and pedigree lead our efforts in the Bay Area,\u201d Troy Hanson, corporate program director\/rock for Cumulus Media, said in a statement. \u201cHis product passion, digital thought process and strong talent management acumen are second to none. We look forward to Jim duplicating his precise success in Chicago into a big win for us in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaving Chicago will be \u201creally bittersweet\u201d for veteran radio programmer Jim Richards, who guided two of Chicago\u2019s legendary rock stations to the top of the ratings among their respective audiences. After two years as operations manager of classic rock WLUP FM 97.9 and alternative rock WKQX FM 101.1, Richards, 47, is headed to San Francisco... 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\/3260"}],"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=3260"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3269,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3260\/revisions\/3269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}