Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 31, 2008 at 07:58:26:
WBBM-FM names replacements for Eddie and Jobo: It's J Niice and Julian
CBS Radio's WBBM-FM 96.3 has named Jamar "J Niice" McNeil and Julian Nieh its new morning team, replacing the veteran duo of Eddie Volkman and Joe "Jobo" Bohannon, who were pulled off the air last month in what management said was a bid to take the station in a new direction.
"J Niice & Julian on the Radio" is set to make its debut Jan. 5 in the 5:30-10 a.m. slot. The two both were at Clear Channel's WIHT-FM in Washington a few years back. Nieh left that station to become WBBM's weeknight host in mid-2006 and McNeil joined B96 this spring in middays from Clear Channel's WHYI-FM in Miami.
?When we brought J and Julian to B96 we knew that they had the potential to work together in mornings," WBBM-FM General Manager Peter Bowen said in a statement. "I have no doubt that their passion and enthusiasm will translate into some incredible radio. J Niice and Julian are going to be an integral part of B96's continued growth and success in 2009 and beyond.?
McNeil has been interim host on the WBBM-FM morning shift since Volkman and Bohannon were sent home after their Nov. 21 broadcast.
Rebecca Ortiz, who slid into McNeil's old midday slot will continue in that interim role, while fellow weekend host Andrew "Jerzy" Wojtowicz is interim fill-in for Nieh on weeknights.
Volkman and Bohannon, in the final year of a seven-year deal that pays each $1.5 million annually, continue to be paid into next summer.
B96, Volkman said last month, "had to make a move because the youngest in the [station's targeted] demographic have heard us since they were in diapers and have to assume we're like 600 years old."
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)