Bruce St. James

Bruce St. James, a Phoenix radio import who never caught on as morning personality at WLS 890-AM, is out after 16 months at the Cumulus Media news/talk station. Wednesday was his last day on the air.

Marv Nyren, vice president and market manager of Cumulus Chicago, confirmed that St. James was no longer hosting mornings. Chicago radio veteran Ramblin’ Ray Stevens will be filling in “until we find a permanent replacement,” according to Nyren, who declined further comment.

WLS 890 AM

St. James did not respond to requests for comment.

"Arizona, I'm coming home," St. James posted on Facebook. "Chicago is an amazing city and I truly enjoy it here (even with the snow!), but for a variety of reasons I need to be back in the Valley." He added he was "looking at some different opportunities, some in radio, some not."

The move up to WLS marked a career pinnacle for St. James, a native of Washington, D.C., who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and spent more than 20 years as a host and program director in Phoenix. Earlier he worked for stations in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Judy Pielach continues as morning show contributor on WLS.

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey WLS ranked 27th in mornings with a 0.9 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 93,200. The morning show St. James inherited from Erich Mancow Muller in December 2020 was in 14th place with a 2.4 share and 133,200 weekly cume.

Tuesday’s comment of the day: Richard Klicki: Congrats, Neil Holdway! ACES is lucky to have such a great editor and a truly good person leading the organization.