Tag: AM720 WGN
Media: July 2023 • Catching up with Mr. Wert
After more than four decades in the media business as a sales manager/general manager/vice president for places like WLS-TV, The Loop AM & FM radio stations, NBC-5 Chicago, and the Tribune Company, Larry Wert considers himself semi-retired. “But I’m working way more than I should be, considering I’m semi-retired,” he admits. “I’m working on […]
Media: June 2023 • Powering WGN AM 720
Mary Boyle is the first female general manager in WGN Radio’s history. The rest of the industry has taken note. This past month she was once again named one of the Most Influential Women in Radio by **Radio Ink Magazine. Her journey up the ladder, to the top job at the most iconic Chicago […]
Media: May 2023 • Andrea’s Illini Calling
After decades of working at WGN Radio and WGN Television, Andrea Darlas has fond memories of her time there. “I loved all the people I worked with at WGN. Working with Spike O’Dell was a joy. He was a legend. Being his news anchor for five years is probably the highlight of my career. I […]
Media : December 2022 • Baby Onions – It’s Chuck Swirsky
Chuck Swirsky is in the midst of his 25th season as an NBA play-by-play man, and his 15th year doing radio play-by-play for the Bulls. Next month he’ll do his 2000th game. “If everything goes according to plan,” he says, “it will happen on January 13, a Friday night, against Oklahoma City.” That’s a […]
Media: September 2022 • Garry Meier • Hall of Famer
Garry Meier’s podcast is now in its seventh season, and it’s fair to say it has found an audience. According to the podcast, monitoring/rating service, Listen Notes, the Garry Meier show is in the top 1.5% of podcasts worldwide. So what does he talk about on the show? “I’m going to quote a listener who […]
Media: February 2022 • “Call it a Comeback”
For many years Nick Digilio held down the overnight fort at WGN Radio (720 AM). In that slot, he developed an enthusiastic following. He thinks the daypart itself was part of the reason for that. “A lot of people who listened were at work,” Nick says, “and if you’re working overnights, you’re probably doing […]
Media: October 2021 • Ofman’s Chicago Sports Story
George Ofman has been part of the Chicago media community for more than 40 years now. Here’s an indication of how long he’s been doing this. His first job in the business was in a medium that doesn’t exist anymore. He worked for an outfit called Sportsphone. Imagine it. It was a phone […]
Media: June 2021 • “Steve King’s Cult 45”
People in Chicago know Steve King for his four–decade run as a radio DJ and talk show host (WLS, WGN), but before his legendary radio career began, he was doing something else entirely. “I was a full-time musician. That was my career in the early ‘60s. Even when I first got into radio (1966), If […]
Media: March 2021
Bob Sirott has been part of the Chicago media landscape now for a half-century. “Geez, don’t remind me,” he says. “Yeah, that’s true. 1971 was the first year on the air at WBBM-FM. First, it was just doing weekends, and fill-ins, and summer stuff, and at the end of the summer, they either rewarded […]
Media: November 2020
When you have already been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the National Radio Hall of Fame, and you are featured in the radio wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you might think that there isn’t really anything left to accomplish. But when John Records Landecker recently got […]
Media: August 2020
Andy Masur knows his new gig as radio play-by-play man (WGN Radio) for the White Sox is a great opportunity, but he also realizes who he is following. “There’s a little pressure because it’s not so easy to replace someone like Ed Farmer (who passed away a few months ago). I don’t ever feel you […]
Media: December 2018
As 2018 comes to an end and a new year begins, it’s time once again to pay tribute to the people who passed away this year. Once again, we lost some of the all-time Chicago greats. Among them, the long-time anchor and reporter Warner Saunders. Saunders’ award-winning 29-year stint at NBC-5 in Chicago touched countless […]
Media: October 2016
In 2014, when WGN Radio unveiled their Walk of Fame, two of the inductees were their long-time overnight team – the husband and wife radio duo of Steve King and Johnnie Putman. “That was one of those pinch-me moments,” King says now. “To be mentioned in the same breath as Wally Phillips and Bob Collins […]
Recent Comments