http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder241.html

Print this page

WJMK 'growing up' with oldies audience

July 24, 2003

BY ROBERT FEDER ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

By design, Chicago's favorite oldies station has always been in something of a time warp. But as of today, WJMK-FM (104.3) will be turning back the clock in more ways than one.

Gone is a bloated playlist that had stretched the definition of "oldies" to include such '80s pop stars as Phil Collins, Lionel Richie and the Police. Now the Infinity Broadcasting station has returned to hits from the late-'50s to the mid-'70s, appealing to the 35-plus crowd that came of age between the era of Elvis and the debut of "Grease."

Gone, too, is the station's "Magic 104.3" moniker. Now it's back to the more straightforward "Oldies 104.3."

"It seems more appropriate to what we're doing," program director Charley Lake said of the slogan shift. "When the station made what turned out to be a really ill-advised move away from the [original] format, changing the name was one way they tried to distance themselves. Well, we don't want to distance ourselves from the format."

Today's relaunch of WJMK has been in the works since Dave Robbins arrived as vice president and general manager, and Lake took over as program director earlier this year.

"We're not reinventing radio programming here," Lake said. "We're just dressing our station up--and I'd like to think that it's going to sound a lot better."

One more big adjustment is the expansion of news on John Records Landecker's morning show and the addition of newscasts at noon and 4, 5 and 6 p.m. via Metro Networks/Shadow Broadcast Services.

"We're growing our station and our product up a little," Lake said. "Our audience likes to know what's going on in the world, and it's our goal to reflect that. We deal with an adult audience, so why not give adults more of what they want?"

Still undetermined is a replacement for Big John Howell, who was released last week after four months as afternoon host. While Chicago radio veteran Fred Winston remains the top choice, John Calhoun, another part-timer who's been filling in on the shift, also has surfaced as a solid candidate.

In the latest Arbitron quarterly survey, WJMK tied for ninth place overall with a 3.1 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 777,000.

Tracking: 'Ding Dong' auction

*Dr. Frances Horwich, the Chicago television pioneer who died at age 94 in 2001, left a brilliant legacy of children's programming as "Miss Frances" of NBC's "Ding Dong School." With no children to survive her, she also left a vast collection of art, artifacts and awards.

At 7 tonight on WTTW-Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight," correspondent Rich Samuels previews an auction of Horwich's estate, to be conducted Saturday and Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., where she lived in retirement. Items include her 1953 Peabody Award, an original Charles Schulz "Peanuts" cartoon about her, hundreds of bells (her television trademark) and an array of Native American art. "Hopefully her things will find good homes," Samuels said.

For additional information, see: www.networkchicago.com

*Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper talks up sports movies tonight on Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period." Hosted by Tom Arnold, the gabfest will air following the White Sox post-game show at about 9:30 p.m. and again at about 11:30 p.m.

*Tava Smiley, the drop-dead gorgeous former correspondent on Channel 11's "Wild Chicago" who went on to star as Chloe Morgan on ABC's "General Hospital," has a new gig. She's been hired as East Coast correspondent for the syndicated magazine show "Extra."

*Fresh from "The Other Half," former Chicago radio loudmouth Danny Bonaduce has another television deal in the works. The ex-"Partridge Family" imp and his wife, Gretchen, have signed to co-host "Danny and Gretchen's Last Chance," a new talk show/relationship series to be syndicated by Stone Stanley Entertainment.

*Bob Stroud, midday personality and king of "Rock 'n' Roll Roots" at WDRV-FM (97.1), will turn up on WBBM-Channel 2's morning newscast Monday in his other persona--as lead singer of the Cryan' Shames. He's been fronting the classic Chicago band since January.

"It's a fantasy come true for a kid from Kalamazoo who bought all of their 45s and saw them twice growing up," Stroud said. "Never did I realize that when I bought my first Cryan' Shames record at [age] 15 that I'd join the band at 51."