Re: Lewis Lazare on the recent WLS-AM schedule changes

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: So what happens to Bill Leff? Has anything been said? I would rather keep Bill than listen to Amy flirt with anything with a pulse. Not that i will be able to listen the show anymore anyway...my commute usually extends into the 6pm hour (as I am sure lots of others listeners do too). : : WLS' Shomper expects cutting hour from Roe Conn show to pay off : : April 9, 2009 : : LEWIS LAZARE : : Roe Conn's going to have a little less to say. His show, which had been five hours, an hour longer than most talk shows, has been shortened to 2 to 6 p.m. Ace programming director Bob Shomper believes ending the show an hour earlier will allow the popular radio host to offer a tighter program. : : Since Shomper jumped to news/talk WLS-AM (890) from WGN-AM (720) last December, he and his boss, Citadel Broadcasting Market Manager Mike Fowler, have been tweaking the WLS lineup in ways that are producing the desired effect: increased ratings strength for the station. : : Shomper believes the latest tweaks this week will add to WLS' momentum. And Conn could very well get an additional boost from the arrival in early May of former WMAQ-Channel 5 reporter Amy Jacobson as his new sidekick. : : The shortened Conn show means the syndicated, three-hour Sean Hannity show now starts at 6 p.m. on weekdays, followed at 9 p.m. by the three-hour syndicated Mark Levin show, both of which have been strong performers for WLS. : : Shomper said he has no problems with Hannity's show bleeding into the afternoon drive slot, because in many other major markets, Hannity is the main afternoon drive offering, and it pulls strong ratings. : : New start times for the Hannity and Levin shows also mean fans of the "Coast-to-Coast AM" syndicated show now hear that program on WLS starting at midnight, instead of 1 a.m. But some fans of that overnight show have told us they aren't happy that WLS has cut the four-hour show to only two hours and inserted at 2 a.m. a two-hour helping of another syndicated show called "Midnight Radio Network" (a k a "Midnight Trucking Radio Network") produced by WLS-AM parent Citadel Broadcasting. MRN's Web site describes the show as "an integral part of the fabric of the nation's trucking industry," which says a lot about its target audience. : : Shomper defends the programming move, however, and says "Midnight Radio" is making money for the station. Which in these difficult times for the radio business is a huge plus. : : : (Chicago Sun-Times)

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