Todd Stroger joins WVON as morning co-host

Maze Jackson and Todd Stroger

Former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger just became the latest politician to transform himself into a Chicago radio talk show host.

WVON 1690-AM has signed Stroger as co-host of Maze Jackson’s morning show, the Midway Broadcasting African-American news/talk station announced today. The show airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Already a familiar voice to WVON listeners, Stroger has been sitting in with Jackson as a regular guest host for months. The co-host position officially has been vacant since Charles Thomas, the former political reporter, resigned last summer.

WVON

“Todd joining the team is a no-brainer in a town where politics is a second sport,” said Melody Spann Cooper, chairwoman of Midway Broadcasting. “I’m excited about what we are doing with talk radio in this town right now, and Maze and Todd are so much a part of it.”

WVON program director Todd Ronczkowski said: “Maze and Todd really know their audience and connect with them in a way that has not been seen in Chicago in decades.”

Stroger, 56, who headed the Cook County Board (after the death of his father, John Stroger) from 2006 to 2010, previously served as a Chicago alderman and Illinois state representative.

Another former Chicago alderman, Cliff Kelley, stepped down in March after 25 years as a talk show host at WVON. His interim replacement from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays is the team of Matt McGill and Kimberley Egonmwan.

Other local ex-pols who've made the leap include former U.S. congressman Joe Walsh, now evening host at Salem Media WIND 560-AM, and former Chicago alderman Ed Vrdolyak, who previously hosted afternoons on WLS 890-AM and the former WJJD.

The last time WVON appeared in a Nielsen Audio survey, its morning show tied for 39th place with a 0.3 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 33,600.