Posted by Bud on June 11, 2010 at 19:15:39:
Clear Channel gets very upset when Randy Michaels and his Tribune Company steal away their talent -- something that Michaels has been doing ever since Sam Zell brought him on board within the Tribune Company.
As soon as the Clear Channel corporate offices in San Antonio found out about Mike McConnell's plans to exit WLW-AM and join the Tribune-owned WGN-AM, they removed him from the air, not letting him say goodbye to his longtime fans. They also removed any trace of him from company websites and killed his email account. The only connection that Mike McConnell had left to Clear Channel was his syndicated weekend show, simply entitled "The Weekend with Mike McConnell," which was syndicated and distributed by Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio Networks.
Clear Channel is now taking that away from him, too.
The show will now be called "The Weekend Show" and will start auditioning new hosts for it very soon.
Yesterday, Premiere Radio Networks sent a message on to all of that show's affiliates stating, "As reported in the trades, Mike McConnell will be leaving WLW in Cincinnati for WGN in Chicago. Mike will continue to host The Weekend Show for the next several weeks. After that time, The Weekend Show will begin showcasing a variety of top talk hosts in a live, entertaining three hour Saturday Noon to 3PM Eastern Time show."
McConnell's syndicated weekend show is not heard on any Chicago radio station.
McConnell was given a syndicated weekend show in the spring of 2006, by the (then) Vice President Programming for Clear Channel Radio, Sean Compton, who has since been stolen away from Clear Channel to come to the Tribune Company by former Clear Channel CEO, Randy Michaels.
McConnell is set to begin his daily radio show for WGN-AM on August 9th at 9:00am, forcing out WGN veteran John Williams.