Posted on 11/05/2004 8:14:20 AM PST by 1 spark
Now that Disney/ABC Radio has appointed a new boss for news/talk WLS-AM (890), the fate of morning stars Don Wade and Roma finally may be resolved at last.
But in taking so long to get down to business, ABC unwittingly allowed a door to open for the Wades at another Chicago station.
Four months after Zemira Jones left as president and general manager for a top operations post at Radio One, ABC this week named John Gallagher, a 19-year ABC veteran, as his successor. Gallagher, who most recently was director of sales at WJR-AM in Detroit, also will head Radio Disney's WRDZ-AM (1300).
Gallagher inherits a station that has been without its morning-drive franchise since Sept. 14, when the Wades' last contract extension expired.
Long-stalled negotiations with WLS are getting under way in earnest just as a new suitor has entered the picture.
Salem Communications, which is about to acquire WIND-AM (560) in a swap with Univision Radio and transform the Spanish-language station into a general market news/talk outlet, is believed to be a serious alternative for the Wades.
Although Salem's official plan for WIND is to air Bill Bennett's syndicated morning show, luring the Wades from WLS would be a major coup.
Fueling the speculation is the fact that Salem's director of network programming is Tom Tradup, the former president and general manager of WLS who retained the Wades when the station turned to news/talk.
While most observers expect WLS to come to terms with the Wades eventually, the sudden emergence of another player provides a distinct advantage to the husband-and-wife team.
D&R will be back on the air at WLS on Monday morning! This is GOOD news!
About time. I love Terry O'Brien though so I'll miss her in the morning.
Now that WIND AM560 has Laura Ingram I no longer listen to WLS, although if they got rid of the liberal Roma I might think about listening.
There's a more recent column from Feder this week that states D&R have a tentative deal w/WLS for a multi-year, multi-million $ contract.
I miss Don and Roma, but I've grown to like Art and Teri.
I am sure, not being on the air these past few weeks has been killing Don.
I called in this morning...
dr. nick
What did you talk about?
I always how Don could stand to live with that woman. Is there such a thing as loving stupidity?
I was such a WLS junkie that i didn't even know WIND existed. WLS has really disappointed me this year. First they lose Garry M...and then Don and Roma. How stupid can they be? Maybe the competition helped to wake 'em up.
They were both very gracious in their closing commnets today, weren't they?
A_R
if this true, then i see don and roma going to 560am not wls...890
nick
I always wondered how......
i was the one that talked about the democrat meltdown and that they were in mourning...
nick
Now if they could figure out how to get Gary Meier back with Roe Conn in the afternoons, all would be right with the Talk Radio world at WLS.
how do you figure mary matlin and that knuckle head james carville...?
nick
roe cohn is a joke... jim johnson is clever and quick witted. i listen to doug buffoon on 670 on the way home now...
Bad news for WLS as far as I'm concerned. They were a bore. I stopped listening a long time ago. I just started again with the new hosts. Time to switch stations again. Oh well.
I think Roma is a loveable liberal. She is consistently kind and respectful to all callers. And to tell you the truth, i don't think she comes off as liberal as she did a few years ago. In fact...i think some of it was/is an act to counter Don's stance, just to make it interesting. With their son a marine, i can't believe she voted for anyone other than Bush.
I didn't hear the end what did they say?
nick
She's a phony. The whole thing is an act. Always has been. They even tried to mislead people into thinking they weren't married for a long time. Bunch of crap, show biz.
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