WGN Walk of Fame adds 10 today

WGN Radio Walk of Fame

WGN Radio Walk of Fame

Ten more broadcasting luminaries from the past and present of WGN AM 720 will be honored Friday with induction in the WGN Radio Walk of Fame.

This year’s honorees are late-night radio legends Eddie Schwartz, Franklyn MacCormack, Steve King and Johnnie Putman, newsmen Steve Bertrand and Lyle Dean, sportscaster Dave Eanet, Cubs broadcaster Ron Santo, host Lou Manfredini and executive Ward Quaal. Continue reading

Soul 106.3 cuts Ramonski Luv

Ramonski Luv

Ramonski Luv

Chicago radio veteran Ramonski Luv, once the city’s No. 1 nighttime host, is out after six months on WSRB FM 106.3, the Crawford Broadcasting urban adult-contemporary station.

It’s the second time in less than a year Luv has been dismissed for undisclosed personal reasons. Last July he was forced out after 14 years at iHeartMedia urban adult-contemporary WVAZ FM 102.7, where he hosted the top-rated evening show with Joe Soto. Continue reading

Jim Unrath 1937-2015

Jim Unrath

Jim Unrath

To generations of listeners, Jim Unrath was a familiar voice on classical music WFMT FM 98.7. To the legendary Studs Terkel, he was his right-hand man in the studio.

Unrath, whose career spanned 40 years at Chicago’s fine arts station, died Sunday in Stockton, California, at 78. He had been recovering from surgery to remove his spleen when he suffered heart failure, according to Lois Baum, a longtime friend and colleague at WFMT. Continue reading

Tribune won’t fill Steve Farber’s shoes

Steve Farber

Steve Farber

Tribune Broadcasting won’t be hiring a replacement for its senior vice president of operations after all, sources said Tuesday.

Others in the Tribune Media broadcasting unit are expected to divide the duties of Steve Farber, who resigned in April to become senior vice president of operations at Weigel Broadcasting, overseeing WCIU-Channel 26 and the Chicago-based company’s digital network operations.

Tribune Media spokesman Gary Weitman declined to comment. Continue reading

Decades opens ‘daily time capsule’ today

Bill Kurtis

Bill Kurtis

What better day to launch a television network that immerses viewers in the past than Memorial Day?

Monday marks the debut of Decades, the new digital subchannel from CBS Television Stations and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting. Each day’s programming will focus on a different era or theme through vintage series, popular movies and historical news footage. Continue reading

Urban programmer comes home to WGCI, V103

Johnnie D

Johnnie D

As iHeartMedia Chicago continues to redefine its urban contemporary brands, the company has hired a new assistant program director with old ties to a competitor.

One day after iHeartMedia raided rival Crawford Broadcasting and lured two top personalities from WPWX FM 92.3, it announced the hiring of Johnnie D as assistant program director of urban contemporary WGCI FM 107.5 and urban adult-contemporary WVAZ FM 102.7, effective June 1.

Johnnie D (whose real name is Johnnie Glover), previously held programming positions at Power 92 here as well as at stations in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The Chicago native most recently was music director and morning show producer at WVEE in Atlanta. Continue reading

WGCI raids top hip-hop jocks from Power 92

Tone Kapone

Tone Kapone

In a talent raid reminiscent of an earlier era in radio, iHeartMedia Chicago lured two top personalities Wednesday from Crawford Broadcasting’s competing hip-hop station.

In one fell swoop, iHeartMedia urban contemporary WGCI FM 107.5 stole midday host Frankie Robinson and afternoon host Tone Kapone (whose real name is Anthony May), both mainstays of Crawford Broadcasting’s WPWX FM 92.3. Continue reading